We are all no doubt familiar with the old adage that "all politics is local." So while the election results were generally encouraging for Republicans at a national level and pretty decent at the state level (taking both the State House and Senate while losing the governorship), it's rather disappointing for me to consider how things shook out locally. In what was in most respects an excellent year for the GOP, 2010 was not a banner election for Republicans in my particular neck of the woods.
Starting with the Fifth Congressional District, where Democrat Keith Ellison reelected with 67.69% of the vote.
In the state Senate District 44, Democrat Ron Latz was reelected with 65.10% of the vote.
In my state House district, Democrat Ryan Winkler was reelected with 64.64% of the vote.
This again in a Republican year and against some of the best candidates the GOP has fielded of late in these races.
Taking it down even further to my neighborhood and its surrounding area, here are the percentage of vote totals that these Democrats received at the precinct level:
Ellison 57.5%
Latz 62.51%
Winkler 61.4%
Here's how Democrats in state wide races fared in my precinct:
Dayton 53.84%
Ritchie 61.09%
Otto 59.24%
Swanson 63.24%
Voters in our precinct did give Fraters Libertas endorsed candidate Richard Strong 27.84% of the vote in the race for Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor District 4 (the most for any of the candidates), but that still wasn't enough to put him over the top.
In summary, in a year featuring strong voter discontent with Democrats and a desire to "throw the bums out," two out of three of my neighbors who voted pulled the lever for Democrats which in most races meant "keeping the bums in." So at a certain level, I can sympathize with conservatives in California who were left scratching their heads after the election and asking, "Why not us?". I am living Minnesota, but feeling California.
