Tag: Elections

Live blog of the 2015 Savannah runoff election

Not exactly endorsements, but some things to think about before Savannah city elections on Tuesday

I don’t do formal endorsements of political candidates — and I’m not sure that any would want my formal endorsement! — but here’s an extended and somewhat idiosyncratic post taking a look at Savannah’s mayoral and aldermanic races. Some of…

PAC with close ties to Savannah Chamber endorses Mayor Jackson, four incumbent aldermen, four new faces

The Savannah Area Business Political Action Committee, which is closely associated with the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, has endorsed Mayor Edna Jackson and four incumbent aldermen for re-election. The group has also endorsed Brian Foster for the open Alderman At-Large…

Election day predictions for Georgia . . .

Regular readers know that I’m a poll watcher. And there has been plenty of polling of the big Georgia races over the last few weeks. The weight of that polling has suggested — consistently suggested — that Republicans will have…

Number of early voters — and black voters — surges in Georgia

According to the United States Elections Project, 774,690 Georgians voted early in 2010. As of yesterday (Nov. 1), 934,485 Georgians had voted early in 2014. That’s a remarkable increase. But how many of those early voters would have voted on…

US Census: “Blacks Voted at a Higher Rate than Whites in 2012 Election — A First”

Black turnout in 1996 was only 53.0 percent. It jumped 3.8 points in 2000, 3.2 points in 2004, 4.7 points in 2008, and another 1.5 points in 2012. So the rate was increasing pretty dramatically even before Obama appeared on the ballot in 2008.

A long look at possible problems with Gallup’s presidential polling model

In the days leading up to and after the November election, I made a number of posts about Gallup’s obviously flawed presidential polling. All of those posts argued in some way that the esteemed polling firm’s likely voter modeling was…

Ga. Senator Saxby Chambliss retiring in 2014, will not seek third term

Chambliss’ decision leaves a wide open race, with Jack Kingston among those who might try to replace him.

USA Today and its readers are the clear winners as newspaper splits with Gallup

It seems like Gallup’s leadership has not learned from its weak work in the 2012 election. Let’s hope USA Today will be more responsible in its election coverage from now on.

Higher matching fees kicking in for counties that rejected TSPLOST

The higher match forces local governments to be more deliberative and accountable. It enforces a basic conservative principle of local responsibility in the generally more conservative regions that rejected TSPLOST. And it continues a discounted rate in areas where citizens have shouldered higher sales tax rates.

AP covers investigation of Savannah coroner’s office

There’s obviously a broader question here for Chatham County officials: Shouldn’t periodic audits be conducted of every department?

Why did Asian Americans vote almost 3 to 1 for Obama?

Obama got 73 percent of the Asian American vote — better than he did among Latinos. That margin was in keeping with a long-term trend that flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Asian Americans are better educated, higher paid, and more entrepreneurial than any other ethnic group; in theory, many more of them should be open to Republican messages on the economy.


Nate Silver on internal vs. independent polls (i.e., did Romney’s team really believe its own hype?) (UPDATED 12/4)

Another dry, wordy, must-read from Nate Sliver at FiveThirtyEight about the most puzzling question of campaign 2012: Why were Romney and his team so surprised by the election night results, when statistical models showed them trailing significantly in the states that mattered most?

What’s the future of white evangelicals in politics?

When I’m up in Kentucky for the holidays with family, I frequently end up reading the Lexington Herald-Leader, including the paper’s faith and values columnist Paul Prather, pastor of Bethesda Church near Mount Sterling.

His weekend column is pretty interesting: My prediction about white evangelicals and politics; Expect repeat of the withdrawal of 1920s