Parliament and Congress

Back in 1972 Kenneth Bradshaw and David Pring brought out a classic book "Parliament and Congress". Now in the Twenty First Century the former Clerk of the House of Commons, William McKay [Editor of the current version of Erskine May] and the former Parliamentarian of the House of Representatives, Charles Johnson, [who was responsible for versions of 'House Practice' and 'House Manual'] have brought out a successor. They discussed the book on C-SPAN's Q & A.

Gubernatorial Races

As you would expect this blog has concentrated on the Senate and House races in Tuesday's forthcoming US Elections. But while the British continue to debate whether it is a good idea to have a number of elections and a referendum on the same day, many US voters have a number of votes to cast - in addition to the Congressional elections.

A number of States will be choosing their Governors. The Democrats will be defending 19 governships, whilst the Republicans defend 18. The latest ratings from Cook can be viewed here. California is currently held by the Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger . The race to replace him pits Jerry Brown (Democrat) against Meg Whitman (Republican). A map of California (and its 53 congressional districts) is available here.

In the last forty years four of the eight Presidents have been former Governors (Carter (Georgia), Reagan (California) , Clinton (Arkansas), and George W Bush (Texas)) - while Nixon failed to win the California gubernatorial race in 1962 against Pat Brown, father of Jerry.



(Nixon's "last press conference", 1962 - after his defeat in the California gubernatorial election)

C-SPAN reports on gubernatorial races can be viewed by clicking the link on the name of the State.

Massachusetts
Texas
Illinois
Iowa

Arkansas

Blanche Lincoln is fighting to save her seat in the Senate. Cook regards the race as "leaning Republican". CNN reported earlier this week that, "she is losing the woman vote to Republican John Boozman by eight points. She performs strongest in the east, while Boozman wins every other region of the state." Lincoln continues to fight to the last minute - and this week she released this video



The State has three "open seats" in the House of Representatives - The 1st District (north east of the State) has been represented by the Democrat Marion Berry since 1997. (not to be confused with the former Mayor of Washington, Marion Barry). The seat is listed by Cook as a "toss up". It is being contested by Chad Causey, Berry's former Chief of Staff and Republican Rick Crawford, a "farm broadcaster". Vic Snyder is also standing down - in the 2nd District. His seat, in the centre of the State and which includes Little Rock, is being fought for by Democrat Joyce Elliott and Republican Tim Griffin, the the research director of the RNC in 2004. This seat is listed by Cook as "likely Republican". John Boozman has vacated his 3rd District seat in order to run for the Senate. Republican Steve Womack is the likely winner of the race against David Whitaker (New York Times rates this seat as 'solid Republican' while their "FiveThirtyEight Forecasts" puts Womack's chance of winning at 99.9% (down from 100% on October 15th))  

The fourth district (is being defended by Democrat Mike Ross against former Miss Arkansas, Beth Anne Rankin. The seat is ranked by Cook as "likely Democratic".

Colorado

I noted on Monday that some of my family from South Wales moved to the anthracite coal city of Scranton. Some moved on from there to Denver, the major city in Colorado. That state will attract some interest in the elections next week.

The Senate seat currently held by Michael Bennet is listed by Cook as a "toss up". Bennet replaced Ken Salazar, who resigned his Senate seat in 2009 in order to take up the post of Secretary of the Interior. He is being challenged by Ken Buck. He beat the "establishment" Republican candidate, Jane Norton in the primary. He was favoured by tea party activists and has been controversial up to the election, reportedly telling a rally “Sen. Inhofe was the first person to stand up and say this global warming is the greatest hoax that has been perpetrated … the evidence just keeps supporting his view, and more and more people's view, of what’s going on,”

Three of the State's seven districts are regarded as competive. Ken Salazar's older brother John, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2004, is vulnerable in the 3rd District. The seat, which accounts for over half of the State's land mass - in the east and south - is a Cook "toss up". His Republican opponent is Scott Tipton. The Fourth District - in the West of the State was won in 2008 by Betsy Markey from Marilyn Musgrave. It is currently listed as "leans Republican". She faces a challenge from Cory Gardner.   Ed Perlmutter, has represented the 7th District (covering the Denver suburbs on three sides) since 2006. He is being challenged by the Republican Ryan Frazier. Cook rates the seat as "leans Democratic".

The Denver Post's election website is accessible from here.

A Week to Go

A week today and it will be election day in the US. Early voting is possible in many state. According to a list published in Roll Call Vermont was open for early voting from September 20th, with South Dakota from 21st. If you are a voter in the US check the last day, and what documents you are required to bring with you. Louisiana ends early voting today, and the final day does vary between states.

If you want to follow the news direct from the US, the following websites are available

CNN
MSNBC
USA Today
Washington Post
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Politico
C-SPAN