Category Archives: General

Voting history

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Here’s my voting history, as much as I can remember, since I turned 18 in 1991. I’ve included federal races as well as some notable state races.

From 1992 to 1995 I was an absentee New Jersey voter going to college in Virginia. In 1995 I became a Virginia resident; in 1999 I moved back to New Jersey; in 2005 I became a New York resident.

1992 (NJ)
President: Bill Clinton/Al Gore
U.S. House: Herb Klein

1993 (NJ)
I don’t remember voting in the governor’s race (Republican Christie Whitman vs. the beleaguered incumbent Democrat Jim U.S. Florio).

1994 (NJ)
U.S. Senate: Frank Lautenberg (beat Chuck Haytaian)
U.S. House: Herb Klein (lost to Bill Martini in the 1994 Republican Revolution; two years later, Martini was beat in turn, one of only 8 of 54 Republican House freshmen to be ousted)

1995 (VA)
State senate: Emily Couric (didn’t she look like her sister?)

1996 (VA)
President: Bill Clinton/Al Gore
U.S. Senate: Mark Warner (lost to John Warner; went on to serve as governor; running for Senate again this year)
U.S. House: probably Virgil Goode (who later switched parties and became a nut)

1997 (VA)
I don’t remember voting in the governor’s race (Republican Jim Gilmore vs. Democrat Don Beyer).

1998 (VA)
I can’t remember if I voted in the U.S. House election.

2000 (NJ)
President: Al Gore/Joe Lieberman
U.S. Senate: Jon Corzine
U.S. House: Bob Menendez

2001 (NJ)
Governor: Jim McGreevey

2002 (NJ)
U.S. Senate: Frank Lautenberg (this is when Robert Torricelli dropped out and Lautenberg quickly replaced him on the ballot)
U.S. House: Bob Menendez

2004 (NJ)
President: John Kerry/John Edwards
U.S. House: Bob Menendez

2005 (NY)
Mayor: Mike Bloomberg

2006 (NY)
Governor: Eliot Spitzer
U.S. Senator: Hillary Clinton
U.S. House: Jerrold Nadler

2007 (NY)
Presidential primary: Barack Obama

The only Republican I’ve ever voted for is Mike Bloomberg. And that hardly counts. I don’t know why it took me so long to register as a Democrat.

Michael Gerson on Hillary

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Conservative Michael Gerson writes:

Though it is increasingly unlikely, Clinton may still have a path to the nomination — and what a path it is. She merely has to puncture the balloon of Democratic idealism; sully the character of a good man; feed racial tensions within her party; then eke out a win with the support of unelected superdelegates, thwarting the hopes of millions of new voters who would see an inspiring young man defeated by backroom arm-twisting and arcane party rules.

Or she could win Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. Still, ouch.

100 Senators

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Warning. Nerd alert.

For the last three nights, I’ve played a little game in bed while trying to fall asleep. I’ve tried to see how many current U.S. senators I can name.

(Shut up. Matt conks out the instant his head hits the pillow, sometimes even before.)

On Tuesday night I went state by state. I managed to name about 64 senators before giving up. I was surprised I could name that many. Some of the names I pulled straight out of my ass.

The next morning I looked at a list of current senators to see which ones I’d missed.

On Wednesday night I racked my brain and managed to increase my number to about 90.

I looked at the list again the following morning.

Last night I did it! I’ve managed to memorize the names of all 100 senators.

You know, there are some obscure senators out there. I dare you to name the two senators from Wyoming off the top of your head.

Here’s the sortable list I used.