Homework : Election Campaign RQs due Monday

1. FrontPage:NNIGN A new species of wasp discovered on the Indonesian island Sulawesi is two-and-a-half inches long, and has jaws so vast that its discoverer admits, 'I don't know how it can walk.' Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, says ‘Its jaws are so large that they wrap up either side of the head when closed. When the jaws are open they are actually longer than the male’s front legs.' Homework: Election Campaign RQs due Monday

2. The Electoral Process Primaries and the General Election: 2012

3. Elections: Terms to Know • General election: • an election, held in November of every year, which determines who holds elective offices. • Primary election: • an election, held months before a general election, which allows party members (closed) to choose which candidate from their party to run in the general election. • Caucuses: (only used by a few states) • series of meetings at the local, county and state level, where members of a party work to select a candidate for their party

4. Step 1:Self-Nomination • For offices below the presidency • **All of these times are approximate; times depend on candidate/office and even the “mood” of the nation/ electorate • Congress • House – about a year before for challengers • Senate – 1- 2 years prior to General Election • Governor/major state-wide offices – • About a year prior to G.E • State/Local offices – • about a year or less prior to G.E.

5. Step 2:Campaign to win party’s nomination • For state/local offices • In order to be a party’s official candidate, what must each parties’ candidates do? • We’ll talk more about primaries another day…but for now, • why were the recent statewide primary elections (which are actually held every spring) in the headlines this past year?

6. Step 3: Win the State/Local Primaries (and caucuses) • Pennsylvania, like many other states, has a primary election every year… • This year, the primary for PA was on April 24th • Primary elections in Pennsylvania are held on the third Tuesday in May in all years except Presidential years, when they are held on the fourth Tuesday of April. • What offices besides the presidency were on the primary ballot this year? • All US Reps in PA, 1 US Senator, PA Attorney General, state Reps and some state Senators, and a multitude of “lower” offices as well.

8. Step 4: The General Election Campaign • Once the primaries are over, and each party has its candidates, the General Election campaign will begin, and last from May/June until November. • We’ll discuss more about what happens during election campaigns later on…

9. Step 5: The General Election • What is the general rule for the date of a general election? • So, when is the next general election?

10. Each and every year there is a general election in every state; • Every even-numbered year election NOT involving a president is referred to as a “mid-term election”. • In odd-numbered years there are state and “local” elections… • Often referred to as “off-year elections” General Elections Luckily, we have a Presidential election coming up next month, which was preceded by primary elections and caucuses in the states (PA too…)

11. What is interesting about the 2012 general elections? • Republicans “waiting out” incumbency? • “Missing nominees” – Christie, Palin, etc. • House and Senate change party control? • How will the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare impact the election?

12. Seats gained or lost by a president’s party in year of election

15. Is history a predictor? The president's party has lost House seats in all but two of the last 14 midterm elections. It tended to lose more seats when the president's September approval rating was less than 50%. *For August before he resigned the presidency. Gerald Ford's approval rating in September of 1974 was 66%. SOURCE: Gallup Poll for data 1954 through 1978; 1982 through 2010 from Washington Post-ABC News poll.