Tuesday election results of interest

Kentucky ousts one-term Republican Gov. Fletcher, elects Democrat Steve Beshear: Fletcher was the first Republican elected Governor of Kentucky since 1967. Fletcher's term was plagued by scandal, racking up nearly 30 indictments including his own on a misdemeanor. His opponent, Steve Beshear, is a former state representative, Attorney General, Lt. Governor, and private practice attorney. Beshear's campaign ran on a platform of cleaning up state government and opening up casino gambling to generate $500 million in new revenues. Pundits are already speculating on what the win could mean for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, who is up for reelection in 2008.

Virginia Democrats take control of State Senate: Democrats picked up four seats needed to take control of the State Senate. Republicans held the House, but Democrats were able to pick up three seats there. With Democrat Tim Kaine in the governor's office and Sen. Jim Webb's surprise win last year, Virginia is now officially a Battleground State for 2008.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour wins reelection in a landslide: Gov. Barbour, running on his performance in the aftermath of Katrina, won by "the widest margin of any state Republican in modern times," calling Republican wins in Mississippi a "big conservative mandate" for the state. Republicans almost pulled off a clean sweep of statewide races, winning seven of eight with General Attorney General Jim Hood being the only Democrat win. Democrats did, however, win back control of the State Senate by a narrow margin.

Out west, Utah voters reject school vouchers: In a closely watched referendum, voters in the conservative state of Utah overwhelmingly rejected a statewide school voucher program that would have used public funding to subsidize private schools. According to the article, this was the first voucher referendum in the country since 2000, and since 1972 voters have rejected ten voucher referendums by an average of 68.6%.

Closer to home, here's an anecdote about getting out the vote.

In Knoxville, there was a non-partisan election for an at-large City Council seat. It was the only contested race in a runoff election.

The incumbent is an establishment Republican, who touts his work on the Reagan and Bush I campaigns and appointments by Republican presidents. There were reports of East Tennessee Republican elite making calls for him, including a popular U.S. Congressman, despite this being a "non-partisan" race.

His challenger has spent his career working with the homeless and feeding the hungry, and runs a non-profit community kitchen and job placement assistance program. It was his first run for political office.

This was an opportunity for progressives to pick up an easy win in a low-turnout election where anything can happen. The county Democratic Party chair made impassioned pleas for Democrats to get out and vote. He was criticized for injecting partisan politics into the "non-partisan" race.

The incumbent won 58% to 42%, which was closer than expected. Turnout was a dismal 6.5%, which means that only 1000 more progressives out of 85,000 registered voters could have showed up at the polls to give working people and the less fortunate a seat at the table.

There's a lesson in there somewhere about getting out the vote, regardless of your party persuasion.