Eric Ostermeier

@quorumcaller The same cycle Oklahoma Democrats won 8 of 9 statewide offices (all but Corporation Commissioner) oklahoma.gov/elections/elec…

I can't believe this happened! A Democrat won every single county in Wyoming!

The death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in 2013 ended a storied Capitol Hill political career that spanned more than three decades. Or so it seemed. notus.org/money/frank-la…

@ceblam_ Slightly more than half (13) - Gore (OK), Walsh (MA), Neely (WV), Barkley (KY), Barbour (NJ), O’Mahoney (WY), Gillette (IA), Lodge, Jr (MA), Humphrey (MN), Goldwater (AZ), Gorton (WA), Lautenberg (NJ), and Conrad (ND)

@SmartPolitics How many senators have won full terms to both seats? I know Goldwater and Humphrey did, but I don’t remember the rest of the list.

If elected in November, Sherrod Brown would be the 23rd U.S. Senator to have held both seats from his state during the direct election era smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2026/04/27/she…

Kansas Democrats are poised to field a record number of US Senate primary candidates this cycle smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2026/04/22/do-…

Some real suspense in Virginia! I'll be going live at 6:45 and as always with these, we will stay live and uninterrupted until we get a call. Hope you'll come along for the ride tonight.

Mark Sanford is looking to become the 5th South Carolina U.S. Representative to serve three interrupted terms in the chamber, and the 1st since the 1800s #SC01 tinyurl.com/32f68zxv

@DaveMeyer This study includes ascended governors, so Keen Johnson (1939) and Lawrence Weatherby (1951) - both subsequently elected - are included. But so is James Black (1919, loss), so KY is 67% since 1914 (corrected map on site).

@SmartPolitics There have only been five gubernatorial reelection attempts since Kentucky changed its constitution to permit a second term. Democrats Paul Patton, Steve Beshear, and Andy Beshear were reelected. Republicans Ernie Fletcher and Matt Bevin were not. 60% reelection rate.

Vermont governors have won their last 23 reelection attempts, leading the nation at 94 percent since 1914 tinyurl.com/4rk5phxm

@RBSalt All the WY losses were 1962 or prior (mix of Dems & GOPers). Incumbents there have won 8 in a row since then.

The real question is, why is Wyoming so low? Alaska is understandable

Gubernatorial incumbents have won the same percentage of elections in midterms (433 of 611, 70.9 percent) as presidential cycles (251 of 355, 70.7 percent) since 1914 smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2026/04/01/a-s…

The best showing by a Texas Libertarian does not rank in the Top 70 of the 400+ U.S. Senate candidates in party history #TXSEN smartpolitics.lib.umn.edu/2026/03/22/wha…

Two former House members who served federal prison time within the past dozen years have lost 2026 comeback bids: Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) Steve Stockman (R-Texas) One more to go, with Chris Collins (R-Fla.) running in FL19. Collings previously was a House member from New York.

The 10 Democrats on the Illinois US Senate primary ballot in 2026 is a party record (9 in 1932). The 16 DEM and GOP US Senate primary candidates this cycle is also a state record (14 in 2004).

We will be back tomorrow night at 8pm ET with another just-the-results livestream special for the Illinois primary. Set a calendar alert, bookmark the link (do people still do that?), and *please* spread the word!! youtube.com/live/RPBAhd5VG…

Will South Dakota face its first primary run off? Nominees have won outright (35+%) across the 32 gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House primary elections held since the 1985 law was enacted tinyurl.com/ym6tmf4u

Wisconsin will host a record 4th consecutive open Supreme Court election in 2027; prior to this cycle the state had hosted back-to-back open seat races just 4x (1961 & 1963; 1977 & 1978; 1980 & 1983; 1995 & 1996) tinyurl.com/37m5jys9

I'll be doing another just-the-results livestream tomorrow night for the GA-14 special election. We'll go live when polls close at 7pm and we won't stop until we've got a result. Here's the link. Please spread the word - we depend on word of mouth!! youtube.com/live/odh4LwR9A…

Wrote about the past few times US Senators were pulled into party primary runoff elections: news.bgov.com/bloomberg-gove…

@SeanTrende Also 64 percent. Interesting time capsule.

I scored 64% on the Burnham Liberal Test (1964) — "Mixed / Moderate." 39 questions from Suicide of the West. Take it yourself: burnham.millermanschool.com