Mircowsky Wyns Sinet Seet!

[DaShi]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/11/17/us/politics/politics-us-usa-elections-murkowski.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

November 17, 2010
Sen. Lisa Murkowski Wins Alaska Write - In Campaign
By REUTERS
Filed at 3:19 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday became the first U.S. senator in half a century to win as a write-in candidate.

Election returns from a lengthy counting process in Alaska showed that Murkowski narrowly defeated conservative Tea Party movement favorite Joe Miller to win re-election.

Miller, backed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, had defeated Murkowski in the Republican primary campaign in Alaska, prompting Murkowski to mount a write-in campaign.

[DaShi]

And Pelosi stays on as Dem House leader...

NOVEMBER 17, 2010, 2:31 PM
House Democrats Re-Elect Pelosi as Their Leader

By CARL HULSE
3:07 p.m. | Updated The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, was re-elected on Wednesday to lead the Democrats in the next Congress, despite her party’s loss of more than 60 seats and its majority control of the House in the midterm elections.

Officials said that Ms. Pelosi defeated Representative Heath Shuler of North Carolina in an internal party vote, 150 to 43. Mr. Shuler acknowledged before the vote that he had no chance to win, but he wanted to give disgruntled Democrats a chance to register their opposition to Ms. Pelosi’s leadership anyway.

Earlier on Wednesday, the House Democrats defeated a motion to delay the leadership election by a vote of 129 to 68. The 68 votes in favor of a delay showed the fractures in the caucus over Ms. Pelosi continuing as the party’s leader. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, one of those pushing for a delay, said he believed the vote sent a substantial message.

Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland was expected to be re-elected as the No. 2 Democrat.

With a new Republican majority taking control of the House beginning in January, Ms. Pelosi will be the Democratic leader in the new Congress; Mr. Hoyer would become the party whip.

Meeting separately, the House Republicans chose John A. Boehner of Ohio to be their leader and the new Speaker of the House, as expected.

In the midterm election campaign, Ms. Pelosi became something of a lightning rod for public anger over some of the sweeping and costly legislation passed during the past two years. Republican candidates frequently singled her out for attack in their campaigns. Many of the House Democrats who went down to defeat earlier this month were moderates with ties to the speaker.

But it was precisely because of the sweeping defeat the Democrats suffered in the elections that Ms. Pelosi said she wanted to stay on as the caucus’s leader. In her letter to colleagues announcing that she intended to run for minority leader in the new Congress, she said she wanted to resist efforts by the new Republican majority to undo the signature legislative accomplishments of the past two years — overhauls of the health care system, financial regulation, Social Security and Medicare.

Mr. Shuler, the former college quarterback who won his third term representing North Carolina’s 11th District, publicly called on her not to run. After the vote, Mr. Shuler said the vote showed that concerns about Ms. Pelosi’s leadership went beyond a few conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats.

“It came out pretty much as we expected,” he told reporters, adding that “it wasn’t about winning the race, but it was about having a voice within our caucus.”

Ms. Pelosi became the first female Speaker after Democrats gained a majority in the House in 2006. She has been a prolific fundraiser, collecting more than $200 million for the party since joining the leadership in the House in 2002.

[Boris Godunov]

Didn't someone ask me when the last time was someone won a write-in campaign for Senate?

Looks like Miller isn't going to go quietly, either, which is delicious. Fight on, Joe!

[Egbert]

What is a "write in campaign"?

[-Jrabbit]

It's when a candidate does not qualify to appear on the pre-printed ballot, but runs for office anyway. Voters must manually "write in" the name. These votes are subject to challenge/disqualification for misspelling, illegible handwriting, etc. Plus, of course, they cannot be included in any machine-based tally system and must be counted by hand.

This is only the third time in US history that a Senate seat was won via write-in.

[BeBMan]

Just checked Wiki to find out what a "write-in candidate" is. Seems like an evil concept to me:

A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name

Electing people against their will

[rah]

Mickey Mouse can usually be counted on getting votes in almost any election.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Just checked Wiki to find out what a "write-in candidate" is. Seems like an evil concept to me:



Electing people against their will

There is no compulsion to accept the election results. The electee can simply decide not to take the oath of office.

[BeBMan]

Hoped that Would be kinda fun though:

"I say we elect this guy as president if he agrees or not, that will really teach him!"

[Egbert]

It's when a candidate does not qualify to appear on the pre-printed ballot, but runs for office anyway. Voters must manually "write in" the name. These votes are subject to challenge/disqualification for misspelling, illegible handwriting, etc. Plus, of course, they cannot be included in any machine-based tally system and must be counted by hand.

This is only the third time in US history that a Senate seat was won via write-in.

Thanks for the explanation. I had never heard of this.

[Lorizael]

I think we should make it so that all candidates are write-ins. If you can't spell your candidate's name (or remember your candidate's name without seeing the (D) or the (R) next to it), you don't get to vote for the candidate!

No, I've never heard of Jim Crow. Why do you ask?