With the biggest primary night of 2010 now over, more and more of the midterm picture is coming into focus. The Crystal Ball brings you the following quick takes from the hottest Senate and Governor primary races that were decided this week:
Meg Whitman’s mega-win in Tuesday’s Republican Primary has thrown her into a virtual tie once again with Democrat Jerry Brown in the race to be the next governor of California.
Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and his Republican challenger Bill Brady are aggressively duking it out for governor of Illinois, but the numbers in the race aren’t moving.
So much for the undeserved stereotype of California Republicans voting lemming-like for the most conservative, unelectable contenders. Tuesday, GOP voters rejected the most conservative candidates in favor of moderate hopefuls generally deemed to be more likely to win in November.
Sharron Angle, following her come-from-behind Republican Primary win Tuesday, has bounced to an 11-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s closely-watched U.S. Senate race.
Just like in 2006, the rematch between Republican Bob Ehrlich and Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley is proving to be a close one, at least early on. The two men are now tied, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state.
Both contenders in the July 13 Republican Primary runoff lead newly chosen Democratic nominee Ron Sparks in the race to be the next governor of Alabama.
Twenty-eight percent (28%) of U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending June 6.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of voters in yesterday’s California Republican Primary have a favorable opinion of their party’s new Senate nominee, Carly Fiorina. A Rasmussen Reports Election Night Survey found that just over 50% had favorable views of her two opponents Tom Campbell and Chuck DeVore.
Though the vast majority of voters remain confident that Elena Kagan will be confirmed by the Senate to the U.S. Supreme Court, the number who oppose her confirmation has risen to its highest level to date.
Fifty-six percent (56%) of U.S. voters say their views on illegal immigration are closer to those of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer than to the views of President Obama. The two finally met last Friday at the White House to discuss Arizona’s tough new immigration law which the president opposes.
Sharron Angle won the Republican nomination to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November with strong support from the Tea Party movement.
Illinois’ hotly contested race for the U.S. Senate between Republican Congressman Mark Kirk and State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is once again a virtual toss-up.
As South Carolina Republicans prepare for a run-off election in two weeks, 81% of GOP Primary voters say they are likely to vote for Nikki Haley if she is the party's nominee in September. A Rasmussen Reports election night survey found that 70% say they are likely to vote for Congressman Gresham Barrett if he is the Republican nominee.
Republican Marco Rubio and Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist are tied this month in Florida’s topsy-turvy race for the U.S. Senate.
Republican newcomer Rick Scott now runs stronger against likely Democratic nominee Alex Sink than longtime GOP frontrunner Bill McCollum in Florida’s race for governor.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of U.S. Voters now say that, generally speaking, American society is fair and decent, down seven points from late April and the lowest level measured since early October of last year.
Besides the obvious environmental concerns about the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the vast majority of Americans also now worry about how it will impact the economy.
Voters express only modest concern and hardly any surprise about the secret job offers made by the Obama White House to Democratic politicians in Colorado and Pennsylvania in hopes of getting them to drop their primary challenges of incumbent senators.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is considering several ways to help the struggling newspaper industry, but Americans strongly reject several proposed taxes to keep privately-owned newspapers going.
