Inside Elections

June 24, 2010 Senate Ratings

June 24, 2010 · 9:00 AM EDT

Same Party but Two Very Different Candidates

June 24, 2010 · 9:00 AM EDT

As we crawl toward November, I’m fortunate to interview more and more candidates. Each candidate is unique, but I don’t know that I’ve seen two so very different candidates in a matter of one hour as I did recently, when I interviewed Arizona Democratic Senate hopeful Rodney Glassman and then…

Link Between Grayson, Tea Party Questioned

by Nathan L. Gonzales June 23, 2010 · 9:00 AM EDT

One of Rep. Alan Grayson’s pollsters is running for the state House in Florida as a Tea Party candidate, fueling Republican suspicions that the Democratic Congressman is using a newly formed third party to boost his own re-election bid.

On Friday, Victoria Torres, 44, of Orlando qualified to…

June 18, 2010 House Ratings

June 18, 2010 · 10:18 PM EDT

South Dakota At-Large moved to Toss-Up/Tilt Democrat

June 18, 2010 · 3:05 PM EDT

GOP primary voters selected state Rep. Kristi Noem to take on Cong. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D) in South Dakota's At-Large District. Noem is just the kind of challenger who creates a big headache for the Democrat. Move from Democrat favored to Toss-up/Tilt Democrat. This contest must now be…

Idaho 1 moved to Lean Democrat

June 18, 2010 · 3:04 PM EDT

Freshman Democrat Walter Minnick has been moved from Toss-up/Tilt Republican to Lean Democrat. State Rep. Raul Labrador, the upset winner in the May GOP primary, benefited from the implosion of the Republican frontrunner, Vaughan Ward. Until Labrador demonstrates that he is putting together the…

Louisiana Senate: Saved by the Cycle

June 18, 2010 · 3:01 PM EDT

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) was supposed to have two tough fights this cycle – one for renomination and one for reelection. But those scenarios haven’t materialized yet, and Election Day is less than five months away.

Vitter was thought to be vulnerable on the right after his connection…

Arkansas 2 moved to Lean Republican

June 18, 2010 · 3:01 PM EDT

State Sen. Joyce Elliott won the Democratic runoff, dramatically increasing the chances that Republican Tim Griffin will win the seat in the fall. Incumbent Vic Snyder (D) is retiring.

Elliott is the majority leader of the state Senate, and her liberal views in this Little-Rock-based district…

Let’s Poke Holes in the ‘Anti-Incumbent’ Hype

June 18, 2010 · 3:00 PM EDT

My heart sank when I saw my friend Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post write about this cycle’s elections and whether they really deserved the “anti-incumbent” moniker that they have received. Damn it, I thought, there goes another half-written column that I have to toss into the trash.

But Chris…

Virginia 2: Shifting Tides

June 18, 2010 · 2:59 PM EDT

Republicans don’t believe Democrats won Virginia’s 2nd District in 2008. They believe they lost it, and they plan to take it back in November.

GOP Cong. Thelma Drake narrowly survived the Democratic wave in 2006 but was swept out two years later. Now freshman Cong. Glenn Nye (D) is a top GOP…