On November 2, the Green Party nominee for Saline County, Arkansas Collector was elected. This is a partisan race. The nominee, Joy Ballard, was the only candidate listed on the ballot. She received 19,131 votes. Various write-in candidates received, together, 8,484 votes. Saline County is the 8th most populous county in Arkansas, and is just west of Pulaski County, which contains Little Rock.
The Connecticut Working Families Party had been on the ballot for some district and local office ever since 2002, but until 2010 it had never been on the ballot for a statewide office. This year, for Governor, it appears to have polled 2.2%. It cross-endorsed the Democratic nominee, Dan Malloy. The race between Malloy and the Republican nominee, Tom Foley, is very close and still contested, although it seems Malloy is more likely to be declared the winner. The only other candidate in the race, Thomas Marsh, the Independent Party candidate, polled approximately 17,700 votes.
An 83-year-old Pennsylvania voter, on the way home from the hospital in an ambulance, persuaded the ambulance driver to stop first and let him vote. He voted while lying on a stretcher. See this story.
According to this story, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin has no plans to call an early special session of the legislature to consider gubernatorial succession. West Virginia elects its governors during presidential election years. Governor Manchin will be resigning as Governor very soon, to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. Democratic Party legislators and the Governor seem to feel that the Senate President, Ray Tomblin, will automatically become Governor and will hold office until November 2012.
Not everyone agrees with that. The West Virginia Constitution says when a governor leaves office with more than a year remaining in the term, an election will be called to fill the vacancy. The problem is that the Constitution doesn’t say when that special election should be.
Ray Tomblin has been a Democratic legislator in West Virginia continuously since 1974. He is in the middle of his 4-year State Senate term. The article seems to suggest that he plans to become Governor and also remain a State Senator, although this is not explicit.
Here is the Vermont Progressive Party’s summary of the legislative race results. The party believes it has seven state legislators, although one of them may face a recount. Thanks to Terry Bouricius for the link.
