A NOTABLE ELECTION. Alec alerts us to this very interesting election trivia from subscription-only The Hotline. Some highlights include:
- This is presumably the first cycle since the modern party system began that no party (in this case the Dems) lost not a single House, SEN, or GOV seat.
- No House Democrat lost re-election for the first time since '22�
- NH is sending its first woman to Congress. Still never having done so are: DE, IA, MS, VT.
- First all-Dem NH U.S. House delegation elected since '12. First Dem control of state House since '22. First total Dem control of NH state gov't since 1870's. Dem gain of over 80 state House seats is presumably a record as well�
- First ever elected Senate class with only 1 GOP freshman.
- Lincoln Chafee is the first RI senator defeated since '36.
- PA elected its first Dem in a regular Senate election since '62�
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), the only senator elected to 9 full terms, lost his first county since '88. Already the longest-serving senator in history, Byrd will surpass ex-Sen./ex-Rep. Carl Hayden (D-AZ) as the longest-serving member of Congress ever on 11/18/09.
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) is the first CA sen. to win by over 20 points since '74�
- NY GOPers lost every statewide race for first time since the '30s�
- OK elected its first woman to Congress since 1920
- Rep.-elect Albio Sires (D-NJ 13) won 20 years after his first bid for the seat (as a GOPer for then-NJ-14)
Some interesting firsts in here.
--Sam Rosenfeld
