The big election news in Northern Berkshire county is this: John Barrett, who had served as North Adams mayor for 26 years, was voted out of office by a wide margin. Barrett himself viewed it as a generational change:
“All good things must come to an end,” an emotional Barrett said during his concession speech. “I had a bad feeling this afternoon, when I saw people going to the polls. I saw a different voter going to the polls — a younger voter. I used to joke at the conferences I speak at that the people I’ve brought here — with all the changes we’ve made — were going to be the ones to vote me out. That day has come. This was just one election I couldn’t grasp. We got our message out there, but they just didn’t want to listen.”
Congratulations to the new mayor, Richard Alcombright.
For analysis of other races, The Monkey Cage has a few posts. I liked this one, by Marc Hetherington:
The race in New York’s 23rd congressional district exemplifies the disconnect between polarized political elites and much of the American public, which like moderate alternatives when they are available. Movement conservatives like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh attacked the moderation of Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee, ultimately driving her from the race and causing her to endorse Bill Owens, her Democratic counterpart. This opened the door for the first Democratic victory in the district in more than 100 years. It seems very likely that, others things being equal, a candidate like Scozzafava would have been the choice over Owens in a two person race. The district choked on the type of candidate that Palin and Limbaugh favored.
The guys at FiveThirtyEight are good with the numbers.
Election News and Analysis
The big election news in Northern Berkshire county is this: John Barrett, who had served as North Adams mayor for 26 years, was voted out of office by a wide margin. Barrett himself viewed it as a generational change:
“All good things must come to an end,” an emotional Barrett said during his concession speech. “I had a bad feeling this afternoon, when I saw people going to the polls. I saw a different voter going to the polls — a younger voter. I used to joke at the conferences I speak at that the people I’ve brought here — with all the changes we’ve made — were going to be the ones to vote me out. That day has come. This was just one election I couldn’t grasp. We got our message out there, but they just didn’t want to listen.”
Congratulations to the new mayor, Richard Alcombright.
For analysis of other races, The Monkey Cage has a few posts. I liked this one, by Marc Hetherington:
The race in New York’s 23rd congressional district exemplifies the disconnect between polarized political elites and much of the American public, which like moderate alternatives when they are available. Movement conservatives like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh attacked the moderation of Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee, ultimately driving her from the race and causing her to endorse Bill Owens, her Democratic counterpart. This opened the door for the first Democratic victory in the district in more than 100 years. It seems very likely that, others things being equal, a candidate like Scozzafava would have been the choice over Owens in a two person race. The district choked on the type of candidate that Palin and Limbaugh favored.
The guys at FiveThirtyEight are good with the numbers.