About Smart Politics

Smart Politics is a non-partisan political news site authored and founded in 2006 by Dr. Eric Ostermeier, a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. If you have any questions about Smart Politics please contact the author.

Smart Politics publishes original, data-driven reporting and analysis of public policy, campaigns, and elections for Minnesota, Upper Midwestern, and national politics, complimenting the wide array of public events and programs convened by CSPG and the Humphrey School to promote and develop a more informed and engaged citizenry.

Smart Politics was redesigned in Spring 2011 by Shane Nackerud.

Smart Politics header image of the Minnesota State Capitol courtesy of flickr user tboard and used under a Creative Commons license.

Smart Politics graphic design by Kelly Clarke.

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"Media Myth Exposed: Loss of Democratic Governorships Not Key to Obama's
2012 Battleground State Prospects"

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Governor vs. Governor vs. Governor

May 16, 2012

The last election cycle saw five ex-governors attempt to win back their old jobs, with success stories in California (Jerry Brown), Iowa (Terry Branstad), and Oregon (John Kitzhaber). But in 1904, the State of Wisconsin saw three governors on the general election ballot: two-term Republican incumbent Robert La Follette, former two-term Democratic Governor William Peck (elected in 1890 and 1892), and former two-term Republican Governor Edward Scofield (elected in 1896 and 1898). La Follette - with Teddy Roosevelt at the top of the ticket winning the presidency - cruised to an 11.3-point victory over Peck with 50.5 percent of the vote. Scofield ran a distant fourth on the National Republican ticket with just 2.7 percent - also losing to Social Democrat William Arnold who received 5.5 percent, but beating Prohibition and Socialist Labor candidates.

A Vote for No One

May 9, 2012

More than 50,000 North Carolina residents who voted in the Tuesday's Republican presidential primary opted for 'no preference' on their ballot, or 5.2 percent. That marks the second highest percentage of those who have done so in the 40 years of the modern primary era, behind the 9.8 percent who indicated no preference during George H.W. Bush's rout over Pat Buchanan in the state twenty years ago in 1992. In 2008, 4.0 percent were likewise noncommittal, with 1.7 percent voting no preference in 2000, 3.8 percent in 1996, 1.0 percent in 1988, 2.7 percent in 1980, and 1.7 percent in 1976.

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Barrett vs. Walker II: A History of Wisconsin Gubernatorial Rematch Elections

Governor vs. Governor vs. Governor

A Vote for No One

SMART POLITICS ACROSS THE 50 STATES