Democratic Gains, But A Slight Personal Loss

Well, the elections of 2005 are over, and Democrats have won big. I know what you're thinking: there are elections in 2005? Yes, there are; and some fairly important ones, such as the governorships of Virignia and New Jersey, not to mention a myriad of ballot initiatives and local elections. Let's go down the line:

In Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine beat Jerry Kilgore, in one of the closest and most expensive governor's races in history.

In Maine: An anti-gay initiative was defeated. The proposal would've repealed anti-discrimination laws against homosexuals.

In New jersey Former senator Jim Corzine won the governorship in the race against Republican Doug Forrester. Corzine is filthy rich, though, so this isn't too surprising.

In California: All of Governor Schwarzenegger's ballot intiatives failed, including one to take redistricting power away from the legislature, one to slow state spending, one to restrict how union money is spent for political purposes, and one to lengthen the time teachers needed to work to pass probation.

In Pennsylvania: A slate of 8 pro-ID (Intelligent Design) Republicans were all defeated in their bids for school board, while two supporters of the teaching of intelligent design lost their seats.

Alas, Leslie Byrne - for whom I toiled all those weeks in the summer - did not. To be fair, it was veyr close, and her opponent raised twice as much money as she did.

Still, all in all, a good day.