| Although the
primary focus
of this web site is the presidential campaign, one cannot ignore the
battle
for control of Congress, as well as the campaigns for governorships and
state legislatures that will be occurring around the country.
The first step for the parties is recruiting strong candidates. In the House, Democrats only need to pick up six seats to regain control and have made "Speaker Gephardt" a rallying cry. Democrats also need to gain six seats to take control in the Senate, but most observers believe that will be a much more difficult task. How much, or if, the impeachment vote will hurt Republicans, remains to be seen. In general, candidates of both parties will likely have an ever more difficult time getting their own messages through to the voters, as interest groups seek to influence the debate with their "issue advocacy" ads. There are many interconnections between the national presidential campaign and activity in the Congress and state legislatures. One of the key steps toward gaining credibility for presidential candidates is collecting endorsements from elected officials. In 2000, several members of Congress are themselves running for president--Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) and Rep. John Kasich (R-OH). Candidates who hold elected offices must take care not to miss too many votes or lose track of their district responsibilities; at the same time, they can use their seats to advance their candidacies, for example by introducing key pieces of legislation or holding high profile hearings. During the course of the year, public policy debates in Congress naturally intrude into the presidential campaign as well. The dynamics of presidential and congressional campaigns may be closely tied. For example in 1996, the Clinton campaign successfully cast the election as a vote on "Dole Gingrich." The political parties develop sophisticated plans so that their resources will achieve gains at all levels, "from president to dogcatcher." In the summer and fall of 2000, "coordinated campaign" or "Victory 2000" efforts that seek to advance the entire slate of a party's candidates gear up. A strong presidential candidate can benefit a party's down-ticket candidates, while a lackluster candidate may hurt its candidates by discouraging voters from turning out. Looking at individual voting decisions, there are voters who seek to balance their vote, "to do least harm," by casting a vote to put Congress in the hands of one party and the presidency in the hands of the other party. In sum, the dynamic between congressional and presidential campaigns should not be ignored. |
Politics1.com
Center for Voting
and Democracy's "Monopoly Politics 2000" (Aug. 29, 2000)
National Republican Congressional
Committee
National Republican Senatorial Committee
Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Libertarian
Candidates
for U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
Green
Party Candidates
Reform Party
Candidates
AFL-CIO--Labor
2000
National Committee for an Effective
Congress
People for the American
Way's "Recall the Right: Power Vote 2000"
National Conference of State Legislatures' Initiative and Referendum Database
Democrats did surprisingly well
in U.S.
Senate races, defeating five incumbent Republicans and gaining a 50-50
tie. In the House, Republicans maintained the majority they first
won in 1994, but Democrats gained two seats to pare the margin to 221
Republicans,
212 Democrats and 2 Independents.
|
| U.S. Senate | |
| 34
Seats Up...
Republicans defending 18 incumbents and 1 open seat Democrats defending 11 incumbents and 4 open seats 6
Incumbents Defeated...
11 New
Members Elected...
|
| DE - Thomas
Carper
(D) defeated incumbent William Roth (R) by 56% to 44%
FL - Open seat C. Mack (R) - Bill Nelson (D) defeated Bill McCollum (R) by 51% to 46% MI - Debbie Stabenow (D) defeated incumbent Spencer Abraham (R) by 49% to 48% MN - Mark Dayton (D) defeated incumbent Rod Grams (R) by 49% to 43% MO - Mel Carnahan (D) defeated incumbent John Ashcroft (R) by 50% to 48% * NE - Open seat B. Kerrey (D) - Ben Nelson (D) defeated Don Stenberg (R) by 51% to 49% NV - Open seat R. Bryan (D) - John Ensign (R) defeated Ed Bernstein (D) by 55% to 40% NJ - Open seat F. Lautenberg (D) - Jon Corzine (D) defeated Bob Franks (R) by 51% to 47% NY - Open seat D. Moynihan (D) - Hillary Clinton (D) defeated Rick Lazio (R) by 55% to 43% VA - George Allen (R) defeated incumbent Charles Robb (D) by 52% to 48% WA - Maria Cantwell (D) defeated incumbent Slade Gorton (R) by 49% to 49% |
D gain
D gain D gain D gain D gain - R gain - - R gain D gain |
*Jean Carnahan
appointed
to fill the seat.
| U.S. House | |
| All
Seats Up...
Democrats won 9 seats formerly held by Republicans... defeating 4 incumbents and winning 5 open seats Republicans won 7
seats formerly
held by Republicans...
7 Incumbents
Defeated
on Nov. 7, 2000
41 New
Members Elected
|
| AZ-1 | Open R. Salmon (R) J. Flake (R) elected | |
| AR-4 | M. Ross (D) defeated incumbent J. Dickey (R) | D gain |
| CA-15 | Open T. Campbell (R) M. Honda (D) elected | D gain |
| CA-27 | A. Schiff (D) defeated incumbent J. Rogan (R) | D gain |
| CA-31 | H. Solis (D) defeated incumbent M. Martinez (D) in the primary | |
| CA-36 | J. Harman (D) defeated incumbent S. Kuykendall (R) | D gain |
| CA-48 | Open R. Packard (R) D. Issa (R) elected | |
| CA-49 | S. Davis (D) defeated incumbent B. Bilbray (R) | D gain |
| CT-2 | R. Simmons (R) defeated incumbent S. Gejdenson (D) | R gain |
| FL-4 | Open T. Fowler (R) A. Crenshaw (R) elected | |
| FL-8 | Open B. McCollum (R) R. Keller (R) elected | |
| FL-12 | Open C. Canady (R) A. Putnam (R) elected | |
| ID-1 | Open H. Chenoweth (R) C. Otter (R) elected | |
| IL-10 | Open J. Porter (R) M. Kirk (R) elected | |
| IL-15 | Open T. Ewing (R) T. Johnson (R) elected | |
| IN-2 | Open D. McIntosh (R) M. Pence (R) elected | |
| IN-7 | Open E. Pease (R) B. Kerns (R) elected | |
| MI-8 | Open D. Stabenow (D) M. Rogers (R) elected | R gain |
| MN-2 | M. Kennedy (R) defeated incumbent D. Minge (D) | R gain |
| MN-4 | Open B. Vento (DFL) B. McCollum (DFL) elected | |
| MO-1 | Open W. Clay Sr. (D) L. Clay (D) elected | |
| MO-2 | Open J. Talent (R) T. Akin (R) elected | |
| MO-6 | S. Graves (R) defeated incumbent P. Danner (D) | R gain |
| MT | Open R. Hill (R) D. Rehberg (R) elected | |
| NE-3 | Open B. Barrett (R) T. Osborne (R) elected | |
| NJ-7 | Open B. Franks (R) M. Ferguson (R) elected | |
| NY-1 | F. Grucci (R) defeated M. Forbes (R) in the primary | |
| NY-2 | Open R. Lazio (R) S. Israel (D) elected | D gain |
| OH-12 | Open J. Kasich (R) P. Tiberi (R) elected | |
| OK-2 | Open T. Coburn (R) B. Carson (D) elected | D gain |
| PA-4 | Open R. Klink (D) M. Hart (R) elected | R gain |
| PA-19 | Open B. Goodling (R) T. Platts (R) elected | |
| SC-1 | Open M. Sanford (R) H. Brown (R) elected | |
| RI-2 | Open R. Weygand (D) J. Langevin (D) elected | |
| TX-7 | Open B. Archer (R) J. Culberson (R) elected | |
| UT-2 | Incumbent M. Cook (R) defeated in primary J. Matheson (D) elected | D gain |
| VA-1 | Open H. Bateman (R) J. Davis (R) elected | |
| VA-2 | Open O. Pickett (D) E. Schrock (R) elected | R gain |
| VA-7 | Open T. Bliley (R) E. Cantor (R) elected | |
| WA-2 | Open J. Metcalf (R) R. Larsen (D) elected | D gain |
| WV-2 | Open B. Wise (D) S. Capito (R) elected | R gain |
| Democrats gained one
governorship, taking
the balance of control of the statehouses from 30 Republicans, 18 Democrats
and 2 Independents to 29 Republicans, 19 Democrats and 2 Independents.
Governorships up in 11
states
DE -- Tom Carper (D) open seat -- Lt. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) elected, defeating businessman John Burris (R) 59.2% to 39.7%. IN -- Gov. Frank O'Bannon (D) re-elected, defeating Rep. David McIntosh (R) 57.5% to 42.4%. MO -- Mel Carnahan (D) open seat -- State Treasurer Bob Holden (D) defeated Rep. Jim Talent (R) 49.1% to 48.2%. MT -- Marc Racicot (R) open seat -- Lt. Gov. Judy Martz (R) defeated Insurance Commissioner Mark O'Keefe (D) 51% to 48%. NH -- Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) re-elected to a second term, defeating former Sen. Gordon Humphrey 48.74% to 43.76% with state Sen. Mary Brown (I) at 6.36%. NC -- Jim Hunt (D) open seat -- Michael F. Easley (D) elected, defeating former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot 52% to 46%. ND -- Ed Schafer (R) open seat -- banker John Hoeven (R) defeated Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D) 55.0% to 45.0%. UT -- Gov. Mike Leavitt (R) /Walker re-elected to a second term, defeating former congressman Bill Orton (D) /Hale 56% to 42%. VT -- Gov. Howard Dean (D) re-elected to a fifth term (assumed office in 1991), defeating Ruth Dwyer 50.4% to 37.9%. WA -- Gov. Gary Locke (D) re-elected to a second term, defeating talk show host John Carlson (R) 58.4% to 39.7%. WV -- Rep. Bob Wise (D) defeated incumbent Gov. Cecil Underwood (R) 50.1% to 47.2%. Also,
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