March 23, 2014

Montana Ex-Guardsman Now Must Fight to Keep Senate Seat Given to Him

 

            This article talks about a Senate race in Montana. John Walsh was given the seat after it was vacated by Max Baucus, who became the U.S. Ambassador to China. Walsh is a Democrat, looking to hold the seat which has been controlled by the Democrats since 1913. This is somewhat surprising since Montana tends to be very conservative. They voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 by a 14 point margin, and have low state taxes and little state regulation.

Republicans have criticized Walsh for his work in the state emergency management division. Both parties realize that this a very important seat to win in the upcoming mid-term election. The Republicans have a very good chance of taking over control of the Senate. If the Democrats could help retain this seat, it will go a long way towards their power in the Senate. Although he has had a very short time in office, he has been attacked by Republicans for the way he has handled his position. Democrats have supported him in return. He has not had a very long time in office, but it is not surprising that both sides have voiced their opinions on him considering the upcoming election.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/politics/montana-ex-guardsman-now-must-fight-to-keep-senate-seat-given-to-him.html?ref=congress&_r=0

March 6, 2014

Why your vote for Congress might not matter

This article discusses how lots of seats in the House of Representatives are not going to be close elections because of how the states are gerrymandered. In five states in the south, there are a total of only 9 democratic congressmen. In fact, most states that are gerrymandered favor the republicans. Illinois is the only that that is gerrymandered in favor of the democrats. There are also states, such as Iowa, that are not gerrymandered at all. This is because in Iowa, the group assigned to redistrict the state is made up of two legislative staffers so there is no political interference. Last time that Iowa redistricted, they ended up placing two incumbents against one another for a seat in the House. I believe that more states should implement systems of redistricting similar to Iowa’s. This would help to insure that every congressman has an equal chance when running for election. Implementing a system like that would also make sure that congressmen listen to their district more. This would be due to them not being almost guaranteed re-election because of the district mapping. If they know that their re-election is not guaranteed, they will listen to the public more often.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/politics/gerrymandering/