Election Results - Thank you for Voting
Election results in; not much of a shake-up in Kansas
Educators are hopeful about what Barack Obama's election means to public schools.
Obama has said that a cornerstone of any long-term economic plan must be an investment in quality public schools. His agenda includes expanding preschool, recruiting teachers, increasing funding for charter schools, and amending the No Child Left Behind Act.
Meanwhile, NEA members are receiving kudos for voting. NEA President Dennis Van Roekel thanked members from both sides of the aisle for voting.
“At every level of government, we saw victories for students and educators, and NEA’s 3.2 million members should be proud of the role they played in this historic election,” he said.
Kansas Results
The state elections in Kansas seem to be bringing us more of the same. Democrats in the House picked up one seat while in the Senate they lost one. The balance of power remains about the same. It should be noted that a couple of races are very close and could switch after recounts.
Senate changes
Long time Senate Democrat Greta Goodwin (Winfield) lost to out-going State Board of Education member Steve Abrams. Abrams is best know as the leader of the conservative faction that altered science standards, promoted “opt-in” sex education, and hired anti-public education lobbyist Bob Corkins as Commissioner of Education.
Democrats also lost the seat previously held by Jim Barone (Frontenac) to Republican Bob Marshall. Marshall had the backing of KNEA in the Republican primary election this year. In an odd twist, Barone’s Crawford County voted in favor of Democrats Barack Obama and Nancy Boyda on the federal level.
Democrats had also hoped to pick up Senate District 9 in Olathe where former Olathe Superintendent Ron Wimmer was challenging Julia Lynn. Lynn easily held on to the seat to which she was appointed when Kay O’Connor resigned from the Senate.
Many people were also rooting for Democrat Pete Roman to defeat Republican Mary Pilcher-Cook in her bid for outgoing Senator Nick Jordan’s seat in Johnson County . Pilcher-Cook made a reputation in the House as one of the most vocal anti-abortion representatives, once even proposing that teachers share the details of abortion procedures with students.
In other races Republican and Democratic incumbents held on while Republicans took open seats. The balance in the Senate is now 31 Republicans, 9 Democrats. One seat – Senate District 22 now held by Senator Roger Reitz (R-Manhattan) is very close and subject to a recount. Reitz is leading Democratic challenger Rusty Wilson at this time.
House changes
Democrats picked up three seats in the Republican heavy Johnson County when Mike Slattery ousted incumbent Ronnie Metzger, Milak Talia took the open seat vacated by Judy Morrison, and Dolores Furtado took the open seat vacated by Tim Owens. Democrats also held on to Sue Storm’s seat, electing Lisa Benlon to replace her. Johnson County now has five Democratic House members.
Democrats lost two seats elsewhere in the state. Mark Treaster lost his re-election bid to Republican Joe Seiwert while Terry McLachlan lost to Republican Phil Hermanson (this race is very close and may be subject to a recount).
As in the Senate Republican and Democratic incumbents held on while Republicans took open seats. The balance in the Senate is now 77 Republicans, 48 Democrats.
State Board of Education changes
The moderates have expanded their control of the State Board of Education. Instead of a 6-4 majority, they will now have a 7-3 majority.
Three of four KNEA recommended candidates won their races. Democrat Sue Storm will take the seat held by moderate Republican Sue Gamble, Democrat Walt Chappell will take the seat held by moderate Republican Carol Rupe, Democrat Carolyn Campbell will take the seat held by Democrat Bill Wagnon, and moderate Republican David Dennis will take the seat held by conservative Republican Steve Abrams. Conservative Kathy Martin defeated Democrat Christopher Renner in her bid for re-election.
So, the Board make-up is as follows:
Moderates/Democrats: Janet Waugh (Dist 1), Sue Storm (Dist 2), Carolyn Campbell (Dist 4), Sally Cauble (Dist 5), Walt Chappell (Dist 8), Jana Shaver (Dist 9), and David Dennis (Dist 10).
Conservatives: John Bacon (Dist 3), Kathy Martin (Dist 6), Ken Willard (Dist 7).
Federal changes
While Dennis Moore easily defeated challenger Nick Jordan, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda fell to State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins. Jenkins had the backing of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and even abandoned her moderate tradition by signing their “No tax pledge.” Sadly for Lynn that means she can’t back a tax package even if she knows that it would be good for the country. Supporting any tax measure would mean AFP would go after her in 2010. And sadly for Kansans this is not the Lynn Jenkins who served with distinction in the state legislature and supported tax measures that helped the state.
Jenkins has always been a supporter of public schools. She was a KNEA recommended candidate when she ran for the state legislature.
KNEA recommended candidate Jerry Moran (R-CD 1) won in a landslide. Incumbents Todd Tiarht (R-CD 4) and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R) easily won their elections.
Obama’s landslide victory across the United States along with gains by Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate should mean real progress on an overhaul of No Child Left Behind. Congressmen Moran and Moore have been leaders in this effort. We hope that as a Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins will join in their efforts.
Please vote Nov. 4
One Vote: It Makes A Difference
One Vote -- elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts. Of the 102,066 votes cast, he received exactly 51,034. Had the count been 51,033, the election would have been thrown into the Legislature, where he probably would not have won (1839). 1
One Vote – re-elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts (1840), this time in the Legislature. 1
One Vote -- admitted California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho to the Union (1850, 1850, 1889, 1890).
One Vote – recognized women’s right to vote when Harry Burn cast the deciding vote in the Tennessee State Legislature, making Tennessee the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment and ending the 72-year struggle for women’s suffrage (1920). 2
One Vote – helped the Afro-Shirazi Party win the general election by a single seat in Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) – after the seat of Chake-Chake on Pemba Island was won by a single vote (1961). 1
One Vote – raised Iowa’s drinking age from 19 to 21 (1986). 2
One Vote – would have decided a Wyoming state representative election. Instead, the tie-vote election and tie-vote recount was decided when a ping pong ball, bearing the winner’s name, was pulled from the Governor’s cowboy hat in a drawing before the State Canvassing Board (1994). 2
One Vote -- was the margin of victory for a high school bond election in Post Falls, Idaho (1998).
One Vote -- made the difference between success and defeat in a Clark County (Idaho) School District bond election. The 231-115 vote was exactly the two-thirds supermajority needed to pass the $3.9 million bond for replacing a high school built in 1915 (2000). 2
One Vote – decided the U.S. presidential election when the U.S. Supreme Court voted, 5-4, to stop recounting the Florida ballots (2000). 2
One Vote – decided the election, 410 to 409, for a city council seat in Star, Idaho. (2007). 3
One Vote – per precinct would have changed the results in an Idaho Supreme Court election. Of 151,129 votes cast in approximately 950 precincts, Supreme Court Justice Joel Horton defeated his challenger by just 253 votes (2008). 4
One Vote:
It Could Be Yours
SOURCES:
1 “One Vote Fallacies” at www.snopes.com/history/govern/onevote.asp
2 “One Vote Can Make the Difference--Will It BE Yours?”, by the League of Women Voters at www.opposingviews.com/arguments/one-vote-can-make-the-difference-will-it-be-yours
3 Idaho Statesman, Nov. 14, 2007: Gary Smith lost his bid for a seat on the Star City Council by the slimmest of margins on Nov. 6—just one vote….Smith lost to incumbent Councilman Chad Bell, 410 to 409.
4 Election Results posted on the Idaho Secretary of State’s web site at www.idsos.state.id.us/elect/RESULTS/2008/Primary/tot_stwd.htm
