Last week, the voters of Kentucky’s State Senate district 2, centered on Paducah, re-elected independent State Senator Bob Leeper.  Leeper was first elected to the State Senate in 1990 as a Democrat, and re-elected as as Democrat in 1994 and 1998.  However, then he became a Republican and won as a Republican in 2002.  Then, he became an independent and was re-elected as an independent in 2006, and now he has again won re-election as an independent.

Many of his election races have been close.  This year he won a 3-person race with 46.3% of the vote.  His Democratic opponent, Rex Smith, received 43.8%, and his Republican opponent, William East, received 10.0%.  The 2006 election had been even closer:  he received 41.1%; his Democratic opponent, Carroll Hubbard, received 40.9%; his Republican opponent, Neil Archer, received 18.0%.

Leeper is chair of the Senate Budget Committee.

Last week, Rusty Kidd, Georgia’s only independent state legislator, was re-elected.  He faced one opponent, a Democrat.  Kidd won 57.3%-42.7%.  Kidd was the only independent who was able to qualify for either house of the Georgia legislature by petition this year.

On November 5, Kidd was hospitalized because a small bone in his neck was broken, but he is expected to be back at work well before the session opens.  He has been in a wheelchair for the past decade because of a past motorcycle accident.

Kidd is the son of Senator Culver Kidd, who is no longer living.  Senator Kidd was the author of the 1986 Georgia ballot access reform bill that lowered the statewide petitions from 2.5% of the number of registered voters, to 1%, and also provided that parties that poll at least 1% of the number of registered voters for any statewide race are ballot-qualified for all statewide offices.  It is because of Senator Kidd’s 1986 bill that the Georgia Libertarian Party has been on the ballot for the statewide offices, with no petitioning needed (except for the party’s initial petition in 1988), for over twenty years.

Last week, Wisconsin voters in the 25th Assembly district elected Bob Ziegelbauer to the legislature as an independent in a 3-way race.  Ziegelbauer polled approximately 50%; the Democratic nominee polled approximately 35%; and the Republican nominee polled approximately 15%.  Ziegelbauer had been in the legislature as a Democrat since 1992.  He became an independent because he opposes any tax increase in 2011.  Ziegelbauer also serves as the elected County Executive of Manitowoc County.

This is the second election in a row at which an independent has been elected to the Wisconsin legislature.  In 2008, Jeffrey Wood had been elected as an independent.  Like Ziegelbauer, he was an incumbent.  He had been elected in prior years as a Republican.  Wood did not run for re-election in 2010.