Inside Elections

2010 House Ratings (August 23, 2010)

August 23, 2010 · 3:17 PM EDT

Are Voters Really Moving Beyond Race?

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 23, 2010 · 10:59 AM EDT

From Barack Obama’s election as president to a white Congressman fending off African-American challengers in a majority-black district, have Americans moved beyond race as a determining factor in their vote choice?

A couple of weeks ago, Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, the white, Jewish…

Is Michelle Obama Democrats’ Secret Weapon?

by Stuart Rothenberg August 17, 2010 · 9:00 AM EDT

“The White House is hoping that Michelle can do for Barack what Laura did for George and the GOP four years ago,” wrote Washington Post political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson recently, in an August 11, 2010 article that reported on efforts to get the First Lady heavily involved in this year’s…

New Iowa Caucuses GOP Poll: Both Accurate and Meaningless

by Stuart Rothenberg August 16, 2010 · 3:17 PM EDT

Can a poll be both correct and totally, utterly meaningless? Absolutely, and the new TheIowaRepublican.com/Concordia Group LLC survey conducted by Voter Consumer Research is a great example.

GOP pollster Jan van Lohuizen’s firm is one of those survey research firms that is widely trusted by…

Ohio 16: Suicide Squeeze

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 13, 2010 · 4:01 PM EDT

Two years ago, John Boccieri was a Democratic superstar, a top recruit, a fresh-faced state legislator with a military record who, by this time last cycle, was on his way to taking over an open seat that had been in Republican hands for three decades. Today, he’s in grave danger of losing…

Wisconsin Senate: Declaration of Independence

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 13, 2010 · 4:00 PM EDT

Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold (D) is one of the Senate’s long-standing mavericks, but after 18 years, Republicans think the brand is wearing thin.

Feingold’s vulnerability is evidence of a dramatically shifting landscape. At the beginning of the cycle, the Democratic senator wasn’t close to being…

Smoot’s Charge: Hold at Least 50 Senate Seats

by Nathan L. Gonzales August 12, 2010 · 10:01 AM EDT

Last in a series of profiles of committee independent expenditure directors.

Democratic operative Brian Smoot has been in tough spots before, but preserving the Democratic majority in the Senate this fall tops the list.

As director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent…

Rothenberg’s Dangerous Dozen Open House Seats

by Stuart Rothenberg August 10, 2010 · 9:56 AM EDT

Competitive open seats usually follow the direction of the overall cycle, so with House Republicans poised for large gains, it should be no surprise that most of the open seats that flip will be headed their way. The districts at the top of the list are more likely to flip, with at least the…

Ratings Changes in WV, FL, NV, & WI Senate races

August 9, 2010 · 2:47 PM EDT

West Virginia (Open; Goodwin, D) -- Add as Democrat Favored

Senator Robert Byrd’s death has created a special election to fill the remaining two years of his term. Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin is likely to win his party’s nomination in the August 28 primary, while businessman/former state GOP…

2010 Senate Ratings (August 9, 2010)

August 9, 2010 · 2:38 PM EDT