The Effect of Term Limits on the 2011 Legislative Elections

Historically, the Democrats had strong majorities in both houses of the Louisiana Legislature. That began to change starting in 1995. At that time, the GOP tidal wave of 1994, which was part of a larger anti-Clinton tidal wave across the South, finally reached Louisiana. That tidal wave was further augmented by a FBI gambling probe […]

“Bayh Bayh” to the Senate Democratic majority ?

When we analyzed what we thought would happen with US House races this year, we looked at the Obama percentage in each district, the voting record of applicable House incumbents on controversial issues, and their 2008 re-election percentage. We deliberately did not perform the same analysis with the US Senate races this fall because: (1) […]

Aftershock of the “Massachusetts Miracle”

Last week, when we wrote on the “Obama plunge”in the wake of Republican Scott Brown’s upset victory in Massachusetts, we noted that a combination of 2008 Presidential election returns, 2008 House of Representative election results, and the voting record of House members on the “Big Three” of the stimulus, “cap and trade” and Obamacare could […]

New Orleans Mayors race – a tale of two elections

What a difference an election cycle makes. After the 2006 New Orleans Mayor’s race, it was thought that a white candidate (even a Landrieu, whose patriarch was the last white mayor) had no future in a citywide election. Last night’s election provided some surprises, but there are also some things that need to be noted.

Will voters “clean (Nancy Pelosi’s) House” this November ?

When we analyzed the Massachusetts election returns on January 19, we noted the presence of a phenomenon called the “Obama plunge”, which refers to the drop-off in Democratic support since the 2008 Presidential election in major statewide and/or Congressional elections. This drop-off is fueled by an energized conservative base and a significant plunge in Democratic […]