2007: Another Great Year to be a Democrat!
(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)
As many of you know, last night was election night in municipalities across Colorado, as well as in several places nationwide. And November 6, 2007 continued a national trend we saw last November: Democrats winning big.
There were two governor’s seats up in two pretty red states last night: Kentucky and Mississippi. In both states, Republican incumbents were running for re-election. While we didn’t see the results materialize the way we wanted in Mississippi, we certainly saw great results in Kentucky, where Democrat Steve Beshear won by nearly 20 points over the culture-of-corruption-plagued GOP incumbent. And even in Mississippi, while we lost the Governor’s mansion, Democrats took control of the state senate, and kept control of the Mississippi House.
But Kentucky and Mississippi were only the tip of the iceberg. In another state that is at least pink, Virginia, Democrats gained seats in the State House and won control of the State Senate in some pretty costly legislative races. Virginia is now controlled by a Democratic governor, and recently elected a new Democratic U.S. Senator, as well. Maybe they’ve been watching us in Colorado!
Here in Colorado, I’m pleased to report lots of Democratic victories around the state. Heck even here in Canon City — about as Republican as you can get in Colorado — the former County Democratic Party Chair, Pat Freda, was the first-place finisher in a battle to win an At-Large seat on the city council. Old-fashioned shoe-leather won the day here in Fremont County. Democrats saw wins in Lakewood, with new council members Kellen and Quinn joining Mayor Murphy. Several progressives were re-elected to critical school board seats in Colorado Springs. Thornton and Westminster saw great progressive wins in their city council races. The top vote-getter in the at-large school board race in Pueblo District 60 was the Democrat that was heavily cheered at the Jac-X-Pres dinner on Friday night.
That was my stream-of-consciousness listing of just a few of the many Democratic victories last night here in Colorado. I haven’t seen a comprehensive list anywhere — so use the comments section to let us know about victories by progressive Dems (yes, I realize most of these races are technically non-partisan) in your neighborhood!