2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
In a radio interview on January 16, 2010, Coakley described former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling as a "Yankee fan," which drew criticism. Schilling, who considered running for the Senate seat himself and later endorsed Scott Brown, responded by saying "I've been called a lot of things ... but never, I mean never, could anyone make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn't know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could ..." Coakley later described the comment as a joke.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Two of Coakley's ads had to be reedited after they first aired, one because of a typo in spelling Massachusetts (spelling it Massachusettes), and another which used old stock footage of New York's World Trade Center, destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks, to represent Wall Street. The second ad was meant to depict Scott Brown as a Wall Street crony. On January 12, 2010, an altercation occurred between The Weekly Standard journalist John McCormack and Democratic strategist Michael Meehan, in which the journalist was pushed onto the ground while trying to ask Coakley a question. Coakley stated she was aware of the incident but unsure of exactly what happened. Meehan later apologized for being "a little too aggressive," while denying any intention to knock down McCormack.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Coakley's role in the case of Keith Winfield attracted criticism. In October 2005, Winfield, then working as a police officer, was accused of raping his 23-month-old niece with a hot object, most likely a curling iron. A Middlesex County grand jury overseen by Coakley investigated the case and did not take any actions. After the toddler's mother filed applications for criminal complaints, Coakley then obtained grand jury indictments charging rape and assault and battery. She recommended about ten months after the indictment that Winfield be released, without bail. Winfield remained free until December 2007, when he received two life terms in prison in a case prosecuted by Coakley's successor. Coakley defended her decisions, saying that Winfield had a clean record and few other signs of danger.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Joseph L. Kennedy opposed Democratic plans for healthcare reform and vowed, if elected, to work to repeal the legislation. He opposes government spending by both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. It was suggested that he could have benefited from voters who associated him with the Kennedy family, which he acknowledged, saying "I'm not going to be delusional, there will be hard-core Kennedy voters who will pull the wrong lever." However, Boston University political scientist Thomas Whalen said that Kennedy's libertarian views may cause him to detract votes from Brown rather than Coakley.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
CQ Politics and Cook Political Report rated the election as a "Tossup". The Rothenberg Political Report changed its rating from "Tossup" to "Lean Takeover" on January 18. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report stated on January 17, said that he would put his "finger on the scale" for Scott Brown as favored to win. The Rothenberg Political Report released a statement that, "unless Democratic turnout exceeds everyone's expectations, Brown is headed for a comfortable win." As of January 18, Brown led Coakley in the Intrade prediction market by high double-digit margins. Statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com projected on January 18 that there was a 75% chance that Brown would defeat Coakley.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
During the campaign, controversy erupted over a conscientious objector amendment Brown sponsored in 2005, which, according to The Boston Globe, "would have allowed a doctor, nurse or hospital to deny rape victims an emergency contraceptive if it 'conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief.'" In the candidates' January 5 debate, Brown stated that he continues to support religious hospitals in refusing to provide emergency contraception, causing the woman to go to another hospital. He said, "That's really up to the hospital. There are many, many hospitals that can deal with that situation." Coakley ran a television advertisement attacking Brown over that saying, "Brown even favors letting hospitals deny emergency contraception to rape victims." Brown's daughter Ayla called the Coakley advertisement "completely inaccurate and misleading", and Brown criticized Coakley for running what he described as "attack ads".


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Scott Brown filed an ethics complaint stating that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 509 used state computers and e-mail addresses to direct employees of the state to volunteer for Coakley's campaign. During a State Senate debate in 2001, Brown referred to the decision of his lesbian Democratic opponent, Cheryl Jacques, to have children as "not normal". He also described her parenting role as "alleged family responsibilities." Several Massachusetts LGBT activists condemned the statement. Brown quickly apologized for his "poor choice of words", and he defended his position on that issue as being anti-gay-marriage and pro-civil-unions.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Finances
As of January 8, 2010, Martha Coakley raised over US$5.2million in total, and had $937,383 cash on hand. Scott Brown had $367,150 cash on hand. Brown spent $450,000 on television advertisements, while Coakley spent $1.4million. A week before the general election, Brown raised $1.3 million from over 16,000 donors in a 24-hour fund-raising effort. Reports also indicated that Brown raised an average of $1 million per day the week prior to the election.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Finances
This outpouring of support from the Internet and other givers offset what had been relatively less support from national Republican committees, who had decided not to target the race publicly. In the final fundraising push one of Brown's contributions for $5,000 came from David Koch, a wealthy activist and supporter of conservative causes and campaigns. Koch had also given the National Republican Senatorial Committee $30,400 in November 2009 and the Koch Industries PAC gave $15,000 to NRSC right before the January 2010 special election.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Finances
Coakley admitted to making an "honest mistake" while filing the financial disclosure forms for her Senate run claiming to have no personal assets when in fact she had an account under her husband's name with over $200,000 and a personal Individual Retirement Account containing approximately $12,000.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Debates
All three candidates participated in the debates. The first was held on the Jim & Margery show in Boston on January 5, and broadcast by WTKK. The January 8 debate was held in Springfield, Massachusetts and broadcast by WGBY-TV. The final debate was held on January 11 at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Endorsements
The Boston Herald, the Cape Cod Times, The Eagle-Tribune, the Telegram & Gazette, The Sun The Martha's Vineyard Times, and The Salem News endorsed Brown for the general election, while The Boston Globe The Boston Phoenix, and the Watertown Tab & Press endorsed Coakley. Vicki Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, endorsed Coakley, along with other members of the Kennedy family, while former presidential candidates John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, Boston College legend and former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie, and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling endorsed Brown.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Endorsements
Both former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama actively campaigned for Coakley in the final days of the campaign. Former governors Bill Weld and Mitt Romney also endorsed Brown, with Weld actively campaigning with him in places such as Quincy and Romney e-mailing supporters to get out the vote to turn out for Brown on Tuesday. The national Tea Party Express endorsed Brown.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Media
In regards to the coverage of the election, MSNBC was criticized by one reporter for perceived bias against Brown, while Fox News was accused of favoring Brown. One journalist reported that CNN and Fox News may have delivered more balanced coverage on the election day itself, providing both Republican and Democratic commentators.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Media
On Fox's Hannity on January 11, political commentator Dick Morris solicited donations for a last-minute Brown advertising buy before the election, and said "please, please help (elect Brown)". Brown himself made multiple appearances on various Fox programs within a 24-hour-period, where he made fundraising solicitations during the course of the interviews.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Polling
On January 14, 2010, Stuart Rothenberg of The Rothenberg Political Report, Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report and statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com all characterized the race as a tossup. On January 15, 2010, former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Coakley in Worcester, while former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani campaigned for Brown in Boston. President Barack Obama campaigned for Coakley on January 17, 2010. On January 17, Cook said that Brown had become the slight favorite. The Rothenberg Political Report and Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com changed their ratings from "Tossup" to "Lean Takeover" on January 18.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Results
Polls closed at 8:00pm Eastern Time. At 9:06pm BNO News projected Brown as the winner of the race. At 9:13 p.m., The Boston Globe reported that Coakley telephoned Brown and conceded the election. The best county for Brown was Plymouth, with 62.77%, while the best county for Coakley was Berkshire, with 68.48%.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Results, By municipality
thumb|350px |right|Municipal election results, showing the winner of each town or city in either red (Brown) or blue (Coakley). The Associated Press and The Boston Globe reported voting results for each of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts. Brown won in 229 of those 351 municipalities, while Coakley won in 121. Coakley and Brown tied in the small town of Hawley, each receiving 63 votes. In general, Scott Brown drew support from suburban towns in the central and southeastern portions of the state, while Martha Coakley generally fared well in the cities, rural towns in the west and the offshore islands.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Results, By municipality
More specifically, support for Brown tended to be high in Hampden County, the 495 Corridor, the South Shore suburbs and the southwestern part of Cape Cod. Brown also won or ran close to even in a number of historically Democratic working class cities such as Worcester, Lowell and Quincy. Coakley generally fared well in the Berkshires and the cities, and had particularly strong support in college towns such as Amherst, Northampton and Cambridge.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Results, By municipality
The central and southeastern parts of the state that favored Brown in 2010 experienced steep drops in the Democratic share of the vote – often more than 15% – compared to the vote for Barack Obama in 2008. As of November 2009, towns in those same areas also had a higher average unemployment rate, 8.7%, compared to that of the rest of the state at 7.7%. At 51%, towns where the Democratic share of the vote declined by less than 10% from 2008 for Obama to 2010 for Coakley had a higher percentage of people with a bachelor's degree compared to that of the rest of the state, 31%.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Results, By municipality
Voter turnout in the 2010 special election was significantly lower than in the 2008 election. The drop in turnout was smallest—around 25%—in areas that supported Obama in the 2008 election by less than 60%. Turnout fell 30% among towns that supported Obama by over 60%. In Boston, which supported Obama by almost 79% in 2008, the decrease in 2010 voter turnout was even more pronounced, at about 35%.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Analysis
After the election, senior Brown adviser Eric Fehrnstrom stated that the turning point for Brown was the December 30 "JFK ad" which put the campaign on the map. "After that, it was like riding a rocket ship for 2½ to 3 weeks till today," he said. Another widely aired Brown TV ad featured him crisscrossing the state in his 2005 GMC Canyon pickup truck, which had amassed nearly 200,000 miles on the odometer. In his victory speech, Brown said "I'm Scott Brown. I'm from Wrentham. I drive a truck."


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Another critical event in the Brown surge was his debate performance on January 11. When asked by moderator David Gergen why he would oppose health care reform while holding the "Kennedy seat," Brown replied, "It's not the Kennedy seat and it's not the Democrats' seat. It's the people's seat." After the debate "people's seat" became a rallying cry for Brown supporters.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Brown's late surge was made possible by support by conservative bloggers, who immediately after the Massachusetts primary began promoting his candidacy among national conservative activists, who sought to challenge the Democrats in every election. At the same time, national Republicans were not publicly targeting the campaign, leading one paper to claim Brown was "left to fend for himself." Undaunted, the Brown campaign succeeded through its moneybomb in raising millions of dollars from Internet donations down the stretch run of the campaign.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Barack Obama named Martha Coakley's controversial rhetorical quote of "What should I do, stand in front of Fenway and shake hands with voters?" as one of five days that shaped his presidency. Obama correlated this quote with Coakley's subsequent loss, and as a hurdle towards the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Aftermath, National response
The election was viewed by conservatives outside of Massachusetts as a referendum against President Barack Obama. However, Brown stated that he didn't believe that it was a referendum on Obama.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Aftermath, Response from Republicans, conservatives, and news outlets
Republicans and conservatives nationally were elated at the results, with some commentators and news outlets calling the results the "Massachusetts Miracle" both before and after the election was held. Federally-elected Republicans also responded favorably to the results of the contest:


2010 United States Senate special election in New York
The 2010 United States Senate special election in New York took place on November 2, 2010, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Governor David Paterson had appointed Kirsten Gillibrand to serve as United States Senator from New York until the 2010 special election, replacing former Senator Hillary Clinton, who resigned to serve as Secretary of State in the Barack Obama administration. The winner of the special election was to complete the term ending in January 2013. The special election took place concurrently with the regular election for the Senate seat held by Charles Schumer and the 2010 New York gubernatorial election.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York
Due to this special election, 2010 marked the first time since the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 that all of New York's six statewide offices were up for popular election on the same day. This coincided with the election of all United States representatives from New York, all members of the New York State legislature, and many other officeholders.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Background
Hillary Clinton's temporary status as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 generated intense speculation about who would be appointed to serve out the rest of her term if she won the presidency. As envisioned then, Eliot Spitzer would have been making the appointment, and David Paterson, then Lieutenant Governor of New York, was considered the "friendly, safe and politically expedient choice" to be appointed senator. But a variety of other choices were also considered plausible.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Background
Once Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, speculation about Clinton's successor largely evaporated and then resumed when President-elect Obama selected Clinton to serve as Secretary of State. Clinton announced that she would not resign her Senate seat until confirmed. Paterson, who succeeded Gov. Spitzer following his resignation, said he would not announce a selection until Clinton formally resigned resulting in intense political maneuvering and speculation about his eventual choice.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Potential candidates
During the appointment process, a large number of candidates were mentioned, including:


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
An early favorite for selection was New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey, who in the late 1990s had been planning a run for the 2000 Senate election, but had stepped aside once then-First Lady of the United States Clinton had decided to run for the office. But soon Lowey withdrew from consideration, as in the intervening years she had gained enough seniority to become one of the powerful "cardinals" on the House Appropriations Committee and did not want to relinquish that position. Another who withdrew from consideration was New York Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
Senator Schumer did not publicly indicate a preference, but reportedly favored Congresswoman Gillibrand.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
The indication by Caroline Kennedy that she was possibly interested in being appointed drew the most media attention. Her family legacy (including that her uncle Robert F. Kennedy had previously held the seat) and star power was balanced against her inexperience in politics and elections. Her uncle Senator Ted Kennedy, in a battle with brain cancer, encouraged her to seek the position. On December 15, Kennedy indicated that she was definitely seeking the appointment, making phone calls to Paterson and other prominent Democrats.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
Kennedy and her uncle had backed Obama over Clinton at a crucial time in the long presidential nomination struggle, and some past Clinton supporters initially disparaged Kennedy's qualifications for the senate seat. But soon Clinton told her supporters not to stand in the way of a Kennedy selection; Clinton said she herself would have no public comments on any of the possible choices.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
Public opinion polls showed that Kennedy and Cuomo were the two most popular choices of New York residents, with their large name recognition factors playing a role. Paterson faced a complex set of factors in making the choice. Women's groups were pressuring him to replace Clinton with another woman, while upstate groups were dissatisfied at their lack of representation in top-level statewide offices.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
Paterson's own gubernatorial election campaign could benefit from a Democratic star such as Kennedy in the senate race, which would help him raise money and increase voter enthusiasm, while the choice of Kennedy would also bolster his relations with the Obama administration. Whatever candidate is chosen would be faced with likely having to raise $35 million for the 2010 special election and then, if victorious, another $35 million for the 2012 regular election two years later.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
By later in December, Kennedy had mounted a concerted effort to gain support around the state, and had made several trips and appearances as well. Kennedy's appointment was supported by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and the New York Post editorial page. She received criticism for not voting in a number of Democratic primaries and general elections since registering in 1988 in New York City and also for not providing details about her political views.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
Kennedy declined to make disclosures of her financial dealings or other personal matters, stating that she would not release the information publicly unless she was selected by Paterson, at which time she would be subject to the same background checks as all appointees. Kennedy acknowledged that she was going to have to prove herself: "Going into politics is something people have asked me about forever. When this opportunity came along, which was sort of unexpected, I thought, `Well, maybe now. How about now?' [I'll have to] work twice as hard as anybody else ... I am an unconventional choice ... We're starting to see there are many ways into public life and public service."


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
The apparent effort by Kennedy forces to make her appear the "inevitable" choice drew reports of resistance among Democratic officials, including Paterson himself. Kennedy said she will not run for the seat in 2010 if she is not appointed by Paterson. In late December 2008, Kennedy drew criticism from several media outlets for lacking clarity in interviews, and for using the phrase "you know" 168 times during a 30-minute interview with NY1.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
At one point, there was speculation among Democratic Party officials that Paterson would make a caretaker appointment, meaning someone who would pledge to only serve the two years and not run in 2010. This would allow Paterson to avoid choosing among competing choices and give them a level playing field two years hence. Speculation even focused on former President Bill Clinton as the caretaker, but on New Year's Day Paterson seemed to indicate he was not inclined towards the idea: "In the United States Senate, the most effective senators are the ones that have seniority."


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
By early January 2009, Kennedy's support had dropped in public opinion polls, with 44 percent of New Yorkers saying they had a lesser impression of her since she began her campaign for the appointment, versus 23 percent having a better impression. A mid-January Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll showed Cuomo 7 percentage points ahead of Kennedy in voter preference, and more voters than not thinking Kennedy was unqualified for the position. Paterson made all interested candidates submit lengthy vetting documents as part of their candidacy. An official of the League of Women Voters criticized Paterson for not making the vetting questions public. Paterson said he would announce his decision shortly after the Obama inauguration.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Speculation
On January 22, 2009, after several conflicting reports, Kennedy released a statement withdrawing from consideration for the seat, citing personal reasons. The following day, further conflicting reports ensued over what the specific reason was for Kennedy's withdrawal, and whether or not Paterson would have picked her had she stayed in. Some of the reports were based on Paterson's office planting false stories with the press that Kennedy had serious problems with the hiring of a nanny or unpaid taxes.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Appointment
On the same day that Kennedy dropped out, WPIX-TV and the Albany Times Union reported that Governor Paterson was expected to announce he was appointing Kirsten Gillibrand. The Governor made the official announcement of Gillibrand's appointment at a press conference in Albany on January 23, 2009.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Appointment history, Appointment
By a month later, Paterson had conceded that his office had been responsible for leaks at the end of the appointment process, intended to contest the Kennedy camp's claim that she had been his first choice for the position. Paterson said, however, that he had not expected the level of attacks that ensued from his office at the time: "The things said about Caroline I found despicable and shocking and very painful. I never would have imagined removing the idea that this is my first choice meant a character assassination."


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary election was held on September 14, 2010.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
Paterson's appointment of Gillibrand alienated Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo supporters as well as some key liberal Democratic ideological constituencies, and made it possible that the centrist Gillibrand would face a primary challenge in 2010. She did not have the full backing of the New York congressional delegation either, and one state Democratic operative said, "I think she's going to get a serious primary in 2010."


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
Carolyn McCarthy, formerly a colleague of Gillibrand's in the New York delegation to the United States House of Representatives, said that if Gillibrand was appointed, she would mount a primary campaign against her in 2010 if no other candidate who favored stricter gun control laws did so. McCarthy is known as a staunch advocate of gun control laws, after her husband was murdered in a 1993 commuter train shooting spree, while Gillibrand was endorsed by the National Rifle Association. Gillibrand also served as a lawyer for Philip Morris, Inc.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
Despite the potential for a primary challenge, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Bob Menendez, Senator from New Jersey, suggested that by the election, Gillibrand "will have convinced her fellow Democrats that she deserves their support." However, a February 2009 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll showed Gillibrand losing a hypothetical primary matchup to McCarthy, and Gillibrand was said to be worried that Governor Paterson's declining popularity would pull her down too. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer were also seriously considering a primary challenge to Gillibrand, as was Long Island Congressman Steve Israel. In April 2009, Stringer formed an exploratory committee towards that end. Despite the possible challenges, by April 2009 Gillibrand had raised $2.3 million in campaign funds since joining the Senate.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
In May 2009, Obama persuaded Israel to forsake a run, in the interests of not having a messy primary. Obama's intervention was largely at the request of Gillibrand patron Charles Schumer. However, Congresswoman Maloney indicated that she was still considering a primary challenge and that Israel's decision would not influence hers. Several days later, Stringer said he would not run either, for the same reasons as Israel. In the wake of their withdrawals, Congressman José Serrano considered running for a while.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
In early June 2009, Congresswoman McCarthy took herself out of any run. McCarthy, who had raised only a small fraction of the amount of money Gillibrand had, said her declining was for personal reasons. Maloney, however, still seemed likely to run, and a conversation with Vice President Joe Biden did not change her mind. Several House Democrats from New York said that the White House's interventions to forestall a primary race had been unwise.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
As July 2009 began, a senior advisor to Maloney indicated that the congresswoman definitely was in, saying "She's decided to run because she believes there needs to be a debate on the real issues and she wants to give New Yorkers a choice." However, after facing difficulties in hiring staff, and losing some longtime supporters and organizational support in preparation for a bid, Maloney backed out in August 2009.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
In September 2009, a New York Post report that former Governor Eliot Spitzer was considering a Senate run were labeled "totally untrue" and "ridiculous" by Spitzer and his allies.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
During 2009, Suffolk County legislature Majority Leader Jon Cooper seriously considered running against Gillibrand, but at the end of the year he opted out of running and endorsed Gillibrand instead.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
Labor activist and 2006 Senate challenger Jonathan Tasini announced his candidacy as a Democratic opponent to Gillibrand in late 2009. Thereafter, however, he withdrew from the race, choosing instead to mount a primary challenge to Congressman Charles Rangel.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
In January 2010, The New York Times reported that former congressman Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee was considering a primary challenge against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Ford moved to New York City after his unsuccessful senate run in Tennessee and was working as a vice-president of Merrill Lynch. He was reportedly backed by several high-profile Democrats, prominent Democratic donors and Wall Street executives who were dissatisfied with Senator Gillibrand. The New York Times originally reported that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might support Ford in a primary challenge.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
They later reported however, that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Mayor Bloomberg to discuss the possibility of Bloomberg backing Ford but they reported that he assured the Majority Leader "that he was not personally involved in the effort to promote a Ford candidacy." Senator Schumer reportedly met with Ford to try and dissuade him from challenging Gillibrand but said the meeting had been planned months in advance.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
Ford had already drawn fire from liberal advocacy groups and Gillibrand supporters who criticized Ford as being too conservative for the state, citing his pro-life stance on abortion, support for gun rights, and his previous opposition to same-sex marriage and pro-business stance. Ford sought to portray himself as an independent voice for New Yorkers saying that he wouldn't be "intimidated or bullied" by "Albany and Washington." Gillibrand's allies sought to portray Ford as opportunistic and out-of-step with New York Democratic voters, citing his conservative record as a Representative of a southern state in Congress. Gillibrand's camp denied intimidation efforts against Ford, saying that Gillibrands supporters "aren't bullying, they're informing New Yorkers." .


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Democratic primary, Background
The tussle was enough to bring renewed attempts to lure Congressman Steve Israel into reconsidering a race to represent liberal interests, but his spokesperson said, "The congressman appreciates the encouragement he's received to reconsider his decision regarding the U.S. Senate race in New York. That said, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which he'd re-enter the race." On March 1, Ford indicated that he would not in fact run. On July 14, 2010 New York City attorney Gail Goode delivered 45,000 petitions to the state Board of Elections in order to qualify for a slot on the Democratic line in the September 14 primary against Gillibrand.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary
The Republican primary election was held on September 14, 2010.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
Congressman Peter T. King made his likely candidacy clear in December 2008, partly to mention that he was not challenging former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani as the latter was not in the running and partly to counter the wave of publicity for Caroline Kennedy. By January 2009, King was still deliberating over whether he would run, with the main factor being whether he could raise the estimated millions he would need. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn was said to support King, which could keep other Republican contenders out of play.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
However, Cornyn reportedly met with former Governor George Pataki to discuss his potential candidacy, which other Republicans were advocating. In June 2009, due to an appointment to the House Intelligence Committee, King said he was much less likely to run. As August 2009 closed, King announced officially that he would not run, saying: "Senator Gillibrand generates neither strong support nor opposition. This makes it virtually impossible for me to raise the campaign funds I would need to overcome the built-in Democratic registration advantage and the countless millions of dollars which the Democrats will make available to Senator Gillibrand."


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
In September 2009, Giuliani reiterated that he had no interest at all in running for the Senate seat,  though, much like Andrew Cuomo's anticipated desire to run for governor, it did not stop speculation that Giuliani might change his mind, and by October 2009, speculation continued that Giuliani would run for the Senate seat, particularly if Cuomo ran for governor.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
On November 19, 2009, the New York Daily News reported Giuliani would not run for Governor, and in fact would run for the Senate for fill out the last two years of the Clinton term, then use that as a springboard for another presidential run. However, a Giuliani spokesperson quickly dismissed the notion that any such plan was in place, saying "When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own." On November 26, 2009, Mayor of Larchmont Liz Feld said she's considering running for the seat.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
In January 2010, Congressman Peter T. King said he was reconsidering running for the seat. Real estate magnate and publisher Mort Zuckerman was seriously considering a bid by February 2010. Nominally a Democrat, Zuckerman was more likely to run as a Republican or independent in order to avoid an expensive primary fight. But in early March, he indicated he would not run, saying he had not the time to do it. In April 2010, despite a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute result placing him five points ahead of Gillibrand in a potential matchup, Pataki removed himself from consideration. The former governor instead said he would instead run an organization dedicating itself to repealing the Affordable Care Act.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
Bruce Blakeman, a former Nassau County legislator and losing candidate in the New York Comptroller election, 1998, was the first to enter the race, doing so in February 2010. On March 16, 2010, Former U.S. Representative Joe DioGuardi announced his entrance into the race, followed shortly by economist David Malpass. Blakeman and Malpass gained the requisite 25% of delegate votes at the state Republican convention in June 2010, with Blakeman gaining the majority of delegate votes to be the designated nominee; DioGuardi did not, despite leading in primary polls and having the Conservative Party endorsement. DioGuardi filed over 25,000 petitions to get onto the primary ballot and was eligible to compete against Blakeman and Malpass in the Republican primary.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, Republican primary, Background
Each candidate had an additional ballot line to run on regardless of whether they won the Republican primary; DioGuardi was backed by the Conservative Party of New York State, Malpass by Carl Paladino's Taxpayers Party of New York, and Blakeman by the Nassau County-based Tax Revolt Party. Malpass cleared the Taxpayers line after the primary loss and ceded it to DioGuardi, but Blakeman remained on the general election ballot as the TRP candidate.


2010 United States Senate special election in New York, General election, Campaign
Gillibrand claimed to be an independent thinker and takes a back seat to no one. She also released television advertising touting her experience as from upstate New York. DioGuardi criticized Gillibrand's recent photos in Vogue magazine.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia
The 2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Byrd died in office on June 28, 2010. Democratic Governor Joe Manchin appointed Carte Goodwin to temporarily fill the vacancy. Goodwin pledged to not run for election to the seat in exchange for the appointment. This was the first open seat U.S. senate in West Virginia for 26 years. Manchin won the open seat and served out the remainder of Byrd's elected term, which ended on January 3, 2013.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Background, Byrd's career
Byrd had held his seat in the U.S. Senate since 1959, after having served in the House of Representatives since 1953, making him the longest-serving person in Congress. Byrd led his party in the Senate from 1977 to 1989, as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Afterwards, as the most senior Democrat in the Senate, he served as President pro tempore of the Senate whenever his party was in the majority, including at the time of his death. The Democrats held a 59–41 seat majority in the Senate at the time of Byrd's death.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Background, State politics
West Virginia had not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1956, but voted Republican in presidential elections since 2000. 77% of voters in the state approved of Democratic governor Joe Manchin, but only 35% approved of Democratic President Barack Obama.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Background, State politics
Additionally, the Mountain (Green), Libertarian, and Constitution Parties have been slowly growing forces in the state, hoping to capitalize on discontent from both political parties. All three minor parties fielded ballot-qualified candidates in the 2014 Senate election to fill the open seat of retiring longtime Senator Jay Rockefeller.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Background, Interim appointment
State law allowed Governor Joe Manchin to make a temporary appointment to the vacant seat. Manchin named a former aide, 36-year-old Carte Goodwin, an attorney and fellow Democrat. Goodwin was sworn in on July 20, 2010, and chose not to run in the special election. Hours later, Manchin announced his intention to seek Byrd's seat.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Background, Timing of the election
Gov. Manchin urged the West Virginia Legislature to pass legislation scheduling the special election for 2010. Without a revision, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant believed that state law would not allow an election to be held until 2012. On July 19, legislators hammered out a compromise bill setting an Aug 28 special primary and Nov 2 special election to elect a senator for the roughly two years and five months remaining in Byrd's term. The bill only changes election law for 2010 and will not apply to other future elections. It also allows a West Virginian who is on the November general election ballot for some other office to also run in the special election.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Democratic primary, Campaign
Despite Manchin's very high popularity in the state, he received two politically experienced challengers. Hechler was a former Secretary of State and U.S. Representative, who at the age of 95 campaigned across the state on an anti-mountaintop removal platform.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, Republican primary, Campaign
During the Republican primary campaign, only Raese and Warner released television advertisements.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, General election, Campaign
Manchin's campaign ads emphasized his support from labor unions and Cecil Roberts (President of United Mine Workers of America), while criticizing Raese for "putting profits before people", supporting the elimination of the minimum wage, and supporting the FairTax. Manchin was endorsed by both the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Raese was endorsed from numerous pro-life PACs and FreedomWorks. Raese criticized Manchin for supporting House Bill 103, which is similar to cap and trade.


2010 United States Senate special election in West Virginia, General election, Debates
The first and only debate was held October 18. It featured all four Senate candidates. Raese wanted at least three debates.


2010 United States Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia
The 2010 Shadow Representative election in the District of Columbia took place on November 2, 2010, to elect a shadow member to the United States House of Representatives to represent the District of Columbia. Unlike non-voting delegates, the Shadow Representative is only recognized by the District of Columbia and is not officially sworn or seated. Incumbent Shadow Representative Mike Panetta won election to a  third term.


2010 United States Soccer Federation presidential election
The 2010 United States Soccer Federation presidential election was held in Chicago on February 6, 2010 to determine the next President of the United States Soccer Federation. Sunil Gulati ran unopposed and entered his third four-year term after having served as U.S. Soccer’s President since 2006.


2010 United States Virgin Islands general election
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on November 2, 2010. Voters chose the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, the non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives and all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. The election coincided with the 2010 United States general election.


2010 United States Virgin Islands general election, Governor
Incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh and Lt. Governor Gregory Francis was re-elected for a second term in office, and defeated independent gubernatorial candidate and former Lt. Governor Kenneth Mapp and his running mate, Malik Sekou, with almost 57% of the vote.


2010 United States Virgin Islands general election, U.S. House of Representatives
Incumbent U.S. Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen, a Democrat, sought re-election. She faced Republican Vincent Emile Danet and independent candidates Guillaume Mimoun and Jeffrey Baxter Christian. Christian-Christansen won the general election with 71.22% of the vote.


2010 United States Virgin Islands general election, Legislature of the Virgin Islands
All fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands were up for election.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election
The 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010, and won by incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh. De Jongh was elected to his first term in 2006 with 57.3% of the vote over Kenneth Mapp.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election
Governor John de Jongh was elected to a second, full year-term, over independent Kenneth Mapp, in what was essentially a rematch of the 2006 gubernatorial runoff election.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Primary election
The gubernatorial primary was held on Saturday, September 11, 2010. The only contested primary was for the Democratic nomination.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Primary election
In the four-way Democratic primary, incumbent Governor John de Jongh and Lieutenant Governor Gregory Francis won the nomination with 7,487 votes (53%). Senator Adlah Donastorg Jr., who ran against de Jongh in 2006, placed second with 4,300 votes. Former Lieutenant Governor Gerard Luz James came in third place in the primary with 1,823 votes, while James O'Bryan Jr. placed fourth with 423 votes. Governor John de Jongh garnered more votes than all three of his Democratic challengers combined, who together earned 6,555 votes.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Primary election
In response to his 53% victory, de Jongh stated, "The combination of their votes by no means comes close to what we achieved this evening ... That feels very good." Second place candidate Senator Adlah Donastorg left the Virgin Islands Legislature when his term expired in January 2011, after seven terms in office. He told the Virgin Islands Daily News that he will return to the private sector after the election.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Primary election
Former Lieutenant Governor Gerard Luz James, told the media he "accepted the people's decision," but also added in response to the election, "The people of the Virgin Islands showed me today that they really and truly endure mistreatment, endure corruption, endure mismanagement, and they also endure maltreatment to each other ... The only thing that I can see is continued destruction, and it's sad, sad, sad."


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, Primary election
James stated that he would not endorse Governor de Jongh for a second term stating, "Why should I endorse anyone when it shows me truly that the people don't want to have anything that is right?" James O'Bryan, who with running mate Pamela Richards Samuel received 432 votes, said, "The people have spoken, I respect their wishes, and I will go forward with this episode from now on." With the completion of the Democratic primary, Governor John de Jongh went on to face independent candidate Kenneth Mapp in the general election on November 2, 2010. de Jongh won the Election with 56.27% of the vote.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, General election
The gubernatorial general election was held on November 2, 2010, with incumbent Governor John de Jongh being challenged by independent Kenneth Mapp, a former Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, for a second consecutive executive election. De Jongh had narrowly defeated Mapp in the 2006 gubernatorial runoff election.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, General election
The incumbent gubernatorial team of Gov. John de Jongh and Lt. Governor Gregory Francis won re-election to a second term in office, garnering 17,535 votes. The independent ticket of Kenneth Mapp and Malik Sekou placed second in the election, earning 13,580 votes. Mapp initially refused to concede despite trailing by a wide margin, citing voting irregularities.


2010 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, General election
Ralph T. O'Neal, the Premier of the neighboring British Virgin Islands, called Governor de Jongh on November 4, 2010, to congratulate on his re-election.


2010 United States Women's Curling Championship
The 2010 United States Women's Curling Championships were held at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan, from March 6, 2010, to March 13, 2010. This was the 34th edition of the United States Women's Curling Championship; it was held alongside the 2010 United States Men's Curling Championship.


2010 United States Women's Curling Championship
Teams qualified through three different methods. First, the defending champions were granted an automatic berth; however, Team McCormick elected not to compete because of the Vancouver Olympics which take place during the preceding two weeks. Next, teams traditionally compete first through regional qualifiers with the top teams advancing to the nationals and then the runners-up compete at a Nationals Playdown to determine the final spots. However, so few women's teams submitted applications to the Regional Qualifiers that all teams were directly advanced to the National Championships.


2010 United States Women's Curling Championship
The winning team represented the United States at the 2010 Ford World Women's Curling Championship.


2010 United States Women's Curling Championship, Other notable participants
Other notable participants include Courtney George, Jordan Moulton, Jessica Schultz, and Ann Swisshelm.


2010 United States census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving to spot-check randomly selected neighborhoods and communities. As part of a drive to increase the count's accuracy, 635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, a 9.7% increase from the 2000 census. This was the first census in which all states recorded a population of over half a million people as well as the first in which all 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 200,000.


2010 United States census, Introduction
As required by the United States Constitution, the U.S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U.S. census was the previous census completed. Participation in the U.S. census is required by law of persons living in the United States in Title 13 of the United States Code.


2010 United States census, Introduction
On January 25, 2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, a resident of Noorvik, Alaska. More than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U.S. Post Office beginning March 15, 2010. The number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1, 2010. Although the questionnaire used April 1, 2010 as the reference date as to where a person was living, an insert dated March 15, 2010 included the following printed in bold type: "Please complete and mail back the enclosed census form today."


2010 United States census, Introduction
The 2010 census national mail participation rate was 74%. From April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called "non-response follow-up" (NRFU).


2010 United States census, Introduction
In December 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau delivered population information to the U.S. President for apportionment, and later in March 2011, complete redistricting data was delivered to states.


2010 United States census, Major changes
The Census Bureau did not use a long form for the 2010 census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, which asked for detailed social and economic information. The 2010 census used only a short form asking ten basic questions:


2010 United States census, Major changes
The form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total.


2010 United States census, Major changes
In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, nor was the form available for download.


2010 United States census, Major changes
Detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a rotating basis will receive the survey each year, and no household will receive it more than once every five years.


2010 United States census, Major changes
In June 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples. However, the final form did not contain a separate "same-sex married couple" option. When noting the relationship between household members, same-sex couples who are married could mark their spouses as being "Husband or wife", the same response given by opposite-sex married couples. An "unmarried partner" option was available for couples (whether same-sex or opposite-sex) who were not married.


2010 United States census, Cost
The 2010 census cost $13 billion, approximately $42 per capita; by comparison, the 2010 census per-capita cost for China was about US$1 and for India was US$0.40. Operational costs were $5.4 billion, significantly under the $7 billion budget. In December 2010 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that the cost of conducting the census has approximately doubled each decade since 1970. In a detailed 2004 report to Congress, the GAO called on the Census Bureau to address cost and design issues, and at that time, had estimated the 2010 census cost to be $11 billion.


2010 United States census, Cost
In August 2010, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced that the census operational costs came in significantly under budget; of an almost $7 billion operational budget:


2010 United States census, Cost
Locke credited the management practices of Census Bureau director Robert Groves, citing in particular the decision to buy additional advertising in locations where responses lagged, which improved the overall response rate. The agency also has begun to rely more on questioning neighbors or other reliable third parties when a person could not be immediately reached at home, which reduced the cost of follow-up visits. Census data for about 22% of U.S. households that did not reply by mail were based on such outside interviews, Groves said.


2010 United States census, Technology
In 2005, Lockheed Martin won a six-year, $500 million contract to capture and standardize data for the census. The contract included systems, facilities, and staffing. The final value of that contract was in excess of one billion dollars. Information technology was about a quarter of the projected $11.3 billion cost of the decennial census. The use of high-speed document scanning technology, such as ImageTrac scanners developed by IBML, helped Lockheed Martin complete the project on schedule and under budget.


2010 United States census, Technology
This was the first census to use hand-held computing devices with GPS capability, although they were only used for the address canvassing operation. Enumerators (information gatherers) that had operational problems with the device understandably made negative reports. During the 2009 Senate confirmation hearings for Robert Groves, President Obama's Census Director appointee, there was much mention of contracting problems but very little criticism of the units themselves. In rural areas there was a problem with transmission of data to and from the HHC. Since the units were updated nightly with important changes and reprogramming, operator implementation of proper procedure was imperative. Dramatic dysfunction and delays were caused if the units were not put into sleep mode overnight. The Census Bureau chose to conduct the primary operation, Non-Response Follow Up (NRFU), without using the handheld computing devices.


2010 United States census, Marketing and undercounts
Due to allegations surrounding previous censuses that poor people and non-whites are routinely undercounted, for the 2010 census, the Census Bureau tried to avoid that bias by enlisting tens of thousands of intermediaries, such as churches, charities and firms, to explain to people the importance of being counted.


2010 United States census, Marketing and undercounts
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was given a contract to help publicize the importance of the census count and to encourage individuals to fill out their forms. In September 2009, after controversial undercover videos showing four ACORN staffers giving tax advice to a man and a woman posing as a prostitute, the bureau canceled ACORN's contract. Various American celebrities, including Demi Lovato and Eva Longoria, were used in public service announcements targeting younger people to fill out census forms. Wilmer Valderrama and Rosario Dawson have helped spread census awareness among young Hispanics, a historically low participating ethnicity in the U.S. census. Rapper Ludacris also participated in efforts to spread awareness of the 2010 census.


2010 United States census, Marketing and undercounts
The Census Bureau hired about 635,000 people to find those U.S. residents who had not returned their forms by mail; as of May 28, 2010, 113 census workers had been victims of crime while conducting the census. As of June 29, there were 436 incidents involving assaults or threats against enumerators, more than double the 181 incidents in 2000; one enumerator, attempting to hand-deliver the census forms to a Hawaii County police officer, was arrested for trespassing – the officer's fellow policemen made the arrest.


2010 United States census, Marketing and undercounts
Some political conservatives and libertarians questioned the validity of the questions and even encouraged people to refuse to answer questions for privacy and constitutional reasons. Michele Bachmann, a former conservative Republican Representative from Minnesota, stated that she would not fill out her census form other than to indicate the number of people living in her household because "the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that." Former Republican representative and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr stated that the census has become too intrusive, going beyond the mere enumeration (i.e., count) intended by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. According to political commentator Juan Williams, "Census participation rates have been declining since 1970, and if conservatives don't participate, doubts about its accuracy and credibility may become fatal."


2010 United States census, Marketing and undercounts
As a result, the Census Bureau undertook an unprecedented advertising campaign targeted at encouraging white political conservatives to fill out their forms, in the hope of avoiding an undercount of this group. The 2010 U.S. census was the primary sponsor at NASCAR races in Atlanta, Bristol, and Martinsville, and sponsored the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle for part of the season, because of a marketing survey that indicated most NASCAR fans lean politically conservative. It also ran an advertisement during the 2010 Super Bowl, and hired singer Marie Osmond, who is thought to have many conservative fans, to publicize the census.


2010 United States census, Reapportionment
The results of the 2010 census determined the number of seats that each state received in the United States House of Representatives starting with the 2012 elections. Consequently, this affected the number of votes each state had in the Electoral College for the 2012 presidential election.


2010 United States census, Reapportionment
Because of population changes, eighteen states had changes in their number of seats. Eight states gained at least one seat, and ten states lost at least one seat. The final result involved 12 seats being switched.


2010 United States census, Controversies
Some objected to the counting of persons who are in the United States illegally. Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Bob Bennett (R-UT) tried unsuccessfully to add questions on immigration status to the census form.


2010 United States census, Controversies
Organizations such as the Prison Policy Initiative argued that the census counts of incarcerated men and women as residents of prisons, rather than of their pre-incarceration addresses, skewed political clout and resulted in misleading demographic and population data.


2010 United States census, Controversies
The term "Negro" was used in the questionnaire as one of the options for African Americans (Question 9. What is Person (number)'s race? ... Black, African Am., or Negro) as a choice to describe one's race. Census Bureau spokesman Jack Martin explained that "many older African-Americans identified themselves that way, and many still do. Those who identify themselves as Negroes need to be included." The word was also used in the 2000 census, with over 56,000 people identifying themselves as "Negro".


2010 United States census, Controversies
The 2010 census contained ten questions about age, gender, ethnicity, home ownership, and household relationships. Six of the ten questions were to be answered for each individual in the household. Federal law has provisions for fining those who refuse to complete the census form.


2010 United States census, Controversies
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing held a press conference on March 22, 2011, to announce that the city would challenge its census results. The challenge, being led by the city's planning department, cited an inconsistency as an example showing a downtown census tract which lost only 60 housing units, but 1,400 people, implying that a downtown jail or dormitory was missed in canvassing.


2010 United States census, Controversies
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a conference on March 27, 2011, to announce that the city would also challenge his city's census results, specifically the apparent undercounting in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Bloomberg said that the numbers for Queens and Brooklyn, the two most populous boroughs, are implausible. According to the census, they grew by only 0.1% and 1.6%, respectively, while the other boroughs grew by between 3% and 5%. He also stated that the census showed improbably high numbers of vacant housing in vital neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights, Queens.


2010 United States census, Controversies
The District of Columbia announced in August 2011 that it would also challenge its census results. The Mayor's Office claimed that the detailed information provided for 549 census blocks is "nonsensical", listing examples of census data that show housing units located in the middle of a street that does not actually exist. However, officials do not believe the city's total population will drastically change as a result of the challenge.


2010 United States census, State rankings
The state with the highest percentage rate of growth was Nevada, while the state with the largest population increase was Texas. Michigan, the 8th largest by population, was the only state to lose population (although Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, lost population as well), and the District of Columbia saw its first gain since the 1950s. Note that the resident populations listed below do not include people living overseas. For Congressional apportionment, the sum of a state's resident population and its population of military personnel and federal contractors living overseas (but not other citizens overseas, such as missionaries or expatriate workers) is used.


2010 United States census, Metropolitan rankings
These are core metropolitan rankings versus combined statistical areas. For full list with current data, go to metropolitan statistics.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium
On May 30, 2010 a 6-month moratorium on all deepwater offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf was declared by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The limitation was in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Background
As a response to the disaster, on 30 April President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to hold the issuing of new offshore drilling leases until a  review determined whether more safety systems were needed and authorized teams to investigate 29 oil rigs in the Gulf in an effort to determine the cause of the disaster.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Background
On May 27 the United States Department of the Interior issued a press release stating that Salazar would issue a 6-month offshore drilling (below 500 feet (150 m) of water) moratorium  in the area. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar ordered immediate inspections of all deep-water operations in the Gulf of Mexico. An Outer Continental Shelf safety review board within the Department of the Interior is to provide recommendations for conducting drilling activities in the Gulf. In a May 30 announcement of the limitation Salazar said:


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Background
The six month moratorium on deepwater drilling will provide time to implement new safety requirements and to allow the Presidential Commission to complete its work...  Deepwater production from the Gulf of Mexico will continue subject to close oversight and safety requirements, but deepwater drilling operations must safely come to a halt. With the BP oil spill still growing in the Gulf, and investigations and reviews still underway, a six month pause in drilling is needed, appropriate, and prudent.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Background
It was challenged by several drilling and oil services companies. The moratorium was to impact 33 deepwater drilling sites, less than 1% of the 3,600 oil and natural gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Local officials in Louisiana  expressed concern that the moratorium imposed in response to the spill would further harm the economies of coastal communities as the oil industry employs about 58,000 Louisiana residents and has created another 260,000 oil-related jobs, accounting for about 17% of all Louisiana jobs.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Litigation
Soon after, Hornbeck Offshore Services, a company with financial interests in deepwater drilling, filed suit in the Eastern District of Louisiana District Court seeking an injunction to ban enforcement. Judge Martin Feldman issued a decision for Hornbeck on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, granting a preliminary injunction, barring enforcement of the order.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Litigation
The White House appealed the injunction. On July 8 the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, ruled against a stay of injunction, saying the administration failed to show how it would be irreparably harmed if the stay was not granted. The court also said that the administration also "made no showing that there is any likelihood that drilling activities will be resumed pending appeal."


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Litigation
Salazar has indicated that the Department of the Interior will "issue a new order in the coming days that eliminates any doubt that a moratorium is needed, appropriate, and within our authorities."


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Further steps
The Obama administration assembled a panel to advise his administration on how to address offshore drilling in the wake of the spill. The group have stated that Salazar's May 27 report to Obama portrayed their approval of the moratorium, they claim that the panel reviewed a previous draft of the document with bans only on new drilling in water deeper than 1,000 feet.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Further steps
On 30 June, Salazar said that "he is working very hard to finalize a new offshore drilling moratorium". Michael Bromwich, the head of the newly created Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said that a record of "bad performance, deadly performance" by an oil company should be considered "a relevant factor" for the government when it decides if that company should be awarded future drilling leases. Representative George Miller plans to introduce to the energy reform bill under consideration in the United States House of Representatives that a company's safety record should factor into leasing decisions. By this amendment he wants to ban BP from leasing any additional offshore area for seven years because of "extensive record of serious worker safety and environmental violations".


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Further steps
The ban was lifted in October 2010, but by February 2011 no one had received a permit to drill because those applying had to prove the ability to contain a spill. A group that included Exxon had developed a system with this capability.


2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium, Further steps
In July 2011 The Heritage Foundation's Robert Bluey reported at Scribe that deepwater drilling permits were down 71% from their historical monthly average of 5.9 permits per month, while shallow-water permits were off 34% from their historical 7.1 monthly average permits.


2010 United States elections
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives.


2010 United States elections
Republicans gained seven seats in the Senate (including a special election held in January 2010) but failed to gain a majority in the chamber. In the House of Representatives, Republicans won a net gain of 63 seats, the largest shift in seats since the 1948 elections. In state elections, Republicans won a net gain of six gubernatorial seats and flipped control of twenty state legislative chambers, giving them a substantial advantage in the redistricting that occurred following the 2010 United States Census. The election was widely characterized as a "Republican wave" election.


2010 United States elections
The heavy Democratic losses in 2010 were mainly attributed to the passing of the Affordable Care Act along with a poor economic recovery from The Great Recession and large budget deficits.


2010 United States elections, Issues
Candidates and voters in 2010 focused on national economic conditions and the economic policies of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. Attention was paid to public anger over the Wall Street bailout signed into law by President George W. Bush in late 2008. Voters were also motivated for and against the sweeping reforms of the health care system enacted by Democrats in 2010, as well as concerns over tax rates and record deficits. At the time of the election, unemployment was over 9%, and had not declined significantly since Barack Obama had become President. Further eroding public trust in Congress were a series of scandals that saw Democratic Representatives Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters, as well as Republican Senator John Ensign, all accused of unethical and/or illegal conduct in the months leading up to the 2010 election.


2010 United States elections, Issues
The fiscally-focused and quasi-libertarian Tea Party movement was a vocal force in mobilizing voters for Republican candidates nationwide. Their widespread exposure in the media contributed to the election's focus on economic, rather than social, issues. In the opinion of Fox News political analyst Dick Morris, a "fundamental change" occurred in which social issues did not dominate Republican activism in 2010, because "economic and fiscal issues prevail. The Tea Party has made the Republican Party safe for libertarians."


2010 United States elections, Issues
Immigration reform had become an important issue in 2010, particularly following the passage of Arizona Senate Bill 1070, officially known as the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. The Act greatly enhanced the power of Arizona's law enforcement agencies to investigate the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants and to enforce state and national immigration laws. The Act also required immigrants to carry their immigration documentation on their person at all times. Its passage by a Republican-led legislature and its subsequent and very public signing by Jan Brewer, the Republican Governor of Arizona, ignited protests across the Southwest and galvanized political opinion among both pro-immigration Latino groups and Tea Party activists, many of whom supported stronger measures to stem illegal immigration.


2010 United States elections, Issues
The passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also contributed to the low approval ratings of Congress, particularly Democrats, in the months leading up to the election. Many Republicans ran on a promise to repeal the law, and beat incumbent Democratic opponents who had voted in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


2010 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, Senate elections
On January 19, 2010, a special election was also held for the Class I seat in Massachusetts, as a result of the death of incumbent Senator Ted Kennedy. Republican Scott Brown won the seat.


2010 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, Senate elections
The 34 seats in the United States Senate Class III were up for election. In addition, the Class I/II seats held by appointed Senators Ted Kaufman of Delaware, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Carte Goodwin of West Virginia were contested in special elections on the same day. Republicans picked up six seats, but Democrats retained a majority in the Senate.


2010 United States elections, Federal elections, Congressional elections, House of Representatives elections
All 435 voting seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Additionally, elections were held to select the delegates for the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories. The only seat in the House not up for election was that of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who serves a four-year term and faced election in 2012. Republicans won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 6.8 points and picked up 63 seats, taking control of the chamber for the first time since the 2006 elections. This represented the largest single-election shift in House seats since the 1948 elections and the largest midterm election shift since the 1938 elections. The only seat Democrats flipped was Delaware's lone congressional seat, going to former Lt. Governor John C. Carney Jr.


2010 United States elections, State elections, Gubernatorial elections
37 state and two territory United States governors were up for election. Republicans picked up a net of six state governorships; Democrats won control of five governorships previously controlled by Republicans, but Republicans took 11 governorships.


2010 United States elections, State elections, Other statewide elections
In many states where the following positions are elected offices, voters elected state executive branch offices (including Lieutenant Governors (though some will be voted for on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, state Superintendent of Education, Commissioners of  Insurance, Agriculture or, Labor, etc.) and state judicial branch offices (seats on state Supreme Courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).


2010 United States elections, State elections, State legislative elections
All states except Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia held elections for their state legislatures. Republicans made substantial gains in state legislatures across the nation. Twenty chambers flipped from Democratic to Republican control, giving Republicans full control of eleven state legislatures and control of one chamber in Colorado, Iowa and New York.1 Additionally, Republicans gained enough seats in the Oregon House to produce a 30-30 party split, pushing Democrats into a power-sharing agreement that resulted in the election of two "co-speakers" (one from each party) to lead the chamber. Republicans gained a total of 680 seats in state legislative races, breaking the previous record of 628 flipped seats set by Democrats in the post-Watergate elections of 1974.


2010 United States elections, State elections, State legislative elections
Six states saw both chambers switch from Democrat to Republican majorities: Alabama (where the Republicans won a majority for the first time in 136 years), Maine (for the first time since 1964), Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina (for the first time since 1896), and Wisconsin. In addition, by picking up the lower chambers in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Montana and Pennsylvania, Republicans gained control of both chambers in an additional five states. Further, Republicans picked up one chamber from Democrats in Colorado, Iowa, and New York to split control in those states. They expanded majorities in both chambers in Texas, Florida, and Georgia. The massive Republican victories in legislative races would be widely expected to have a major impact on the redrawing of congressional districts for the 2012 election cycle.


2010 United States elections, State elections, State legislative elections
One of the few bright spots for Democrats was retaining their majorities in both the California and Illinois legislatures.


2010 United States elections, Local elections
On November 2, 2010, various cities, counties, school boards, and special districts (in the United States) witnessed elections. Some elections were high-profile.


2010 United States elections, Turnout
Approximately 82.5 million people voted. Turnout increased relative to the last U.S. midterm elections without any significant shift in voters' political identification.


2010 United States elections, Table of federal and state results
Bold indicates a change in control. Note that not all states held gubernatorial, state legislative, and United States Senate elections in 2010.


2010 United States federal budget
The United States Federal Budget for Fiscal Year 2010, titled A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise, is a spending request by President Barack Obama to fund government operations for October 2009–September 2010. Figures shown in the spending request do not reflect the actual appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010, which must be authorized by Congress.


2010 United States federal budget
The government was initially funded through two temporary continuing resolutions. Final funding for the government was enacted as an omnibus spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, on December 16, 2009.


2010 United States federal budget, Total spending
Incoming President Barack Obama's budget request for FY 2010 totaled $3.55 trillion and was passed by Congress on April 29, 2009. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage changes compared to FY 2009. A breakdown of Obama's budget request includes the following expenditures:


2010 United States federal budget, Deficit
The total deficit for fiscal year 2010 was $1.293 trillion.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis
The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis, sometimes referred to as Foreclosure-gate or Foreclosuregate, refers to a widespread epidemic of improper foreclosures initiated by large banks and other lenders. The foreclosure crisis was extensively covered by news outlets beginning in October 2010, and several large banks—including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup—responded by halting their foreclosure proceedings temporarily in some or all states. The foreclosure crisis caused significant investor fear in the U.S. A 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health linked the foreclosure crisis to an increase in suicide rates.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis
One out of every 248 households in the United States received a foreclosure notice in September 2012, according to RealtyTrac.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
"Robo-signing" is a term used by consumer advocates to describe the rubber-stamp process of mass production of false and forged execution of mortgage assignments, satisfactions, affidavits, and other legal documents related to mortgage foreclosures and legal matters being created by persons without knowledge of the facts being attested to. It also includes accusations of notary fraud wherein the notaries pre- and/or post-notarize the affidavits and signatures of so-called robo-signers.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
On October 21, 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that foreclosure lawyer/advocates Thomas Ice and Matthew Weidner were discussing the deposition testimony of mortgage company employees; Weidner recalled, "Tom and I were talking, and it was, 'Jesus, they're like robots!'" Weidner, a blogger, called them "robo signers" in a January 8, 2010 posting. In 2009, Maine attorney Thomas Cox pointed out the wide-scale practice of robo-signing in depositions taken of GMAC's Jeffrey Stephan and other robo-signers.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
News outlets reported that on September 14, 2010, Jeffrey Stephan testified that he had signed affidavits which he hadn't actually reviewed on behalf of Ally Financial. This revelation led to increased scrutiny of foreclosure documentation. The practice was apparently common in the mortgage industry. In the weeks following the robo-signing revelation, other large banks came under fire for employing robo-signers as well, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
In the fall of 2010, major U.S. lenders such as JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial (formerly known as GMAC), and Bank of America suspended judicial and non-judicial foreclosures across the United States over the potentially fraudulent practice of robo-signing.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
On September 21, 2010, HousingWire ran an article citing defects in affidavits used in some foreclosure cases at Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC Mortgage. "This situation with GMAC isn't limited to GMAC," Margery Golant, of Golant & Golant, a foreclosure law firm in Boca Raton, Florida, said in an interview with HousingWire reporter Jon Prior. "All the mortgage servicers do the same thing. They have people either on the inside or through outsourcers that we call Robo-signers. They just sign everything in sight, but the legal system requires that they actually know the information."


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Robo-signing controversy
On July 18, 2011, the Associated Press and Reuters released two reports that robo-signing continued to be a major problem in U.S. courtrooms across America. The AP defined robo-signing as a "variety of practices. It can mean a qualified executive in the mortgage industry signs a mortgage affidavit document without verifying the information. It can mean someone forges an executive's signature, or a lower-level employee signs his or her own name with a fake title. It can mean failing to comply with notary procedures. In all of these cases, robo-signing involves people signing documents and swearing to their accuracy without verifying any of the information."


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Role of MERS
The Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, known as MERS, is a privately held company that operates an electronic registry designed to track servicing rights and ownership of mortgage loans in the United States. Since the 2010 crisis, 62 million mortgages are held in the name of MERS, and MERS has initiated thousands of foreclosures in the United States, claiming to be the mortgagee of record. Lawyers have contended in court that MERS has no legal right to initiate a foreclosure, because MERS does not own the loans in question.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Role of MERS
U.S. lending laws state that only the owner of a loan can initiate a foreclosure. Class action law suits against MERS are pending in California, Nevada, and Arizona. State courts remain sharply divided on the propriety of this practice. State supreme courts in Maine, Arkansas, and Kansas have ruled against MERS right to file for foreclosures. MERS has however won court cases in other states such as Michigan, affirming its right to initiate foreclosures in those states.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Role of MERS
For example, the Third District Court of Appeals in Florida ruled, in 2007, that "... it is apparent - and we so hold - that no substantive rights, obligations or defenses are affected by the use of the MERS device, [so] there is no reason why mere form should overcome the salutary substance of permitting the use of this commercially effective means of business."


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
In an apparent attempt to resolve some of the issues with missing, lost, and sometimes fraudulent paperwork both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate passed H.R. 3808 which would force courts to recognize out of state and electronic notarizations. The bill passed the Senate through a verbal vote, and wasn't publicly debated. President Barack Obama, fearing "unintended consequences on consumer protections" utilized his veto powers, at first using a pocket veto by simply not signing the bill, and later by issuing a more formal protective-return veto.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations (IRON) Act of 2010 would have required “any Federal or State court to recognize any notarization made by a notary public licensed by a State other than the State where the court is located when such notarization occurs in or affects interstate commerce.”


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
The bill, written by U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) to help court stenographers in his district alleviate issues with getting courts in other states to accept depositions notarized in Alabama, came under criticism in October 2010 from homeowner advocates who said it would have made it easier for mortgage processors to foreclose on homeowners without proper documentation or chain of title.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
The first version of the IRON Act (H.R. 1979), sponsored by Aderholt in 2005, passed the House of Representatives in December 2006. The same bill was later sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and introduced in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee as S.2083 in 2007, but it ultimately stalled. The bill was again sponsored by Aderholt (R-AL) and introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 3808 on October 14, 2009. It passed by voice vote in the House on April 27, 2010.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA), Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL). The bill was voted on in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 27 at the urging of Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Leahy's staff said that they had received calls from “constituents” pressing for passage of the bill. But Leahy may have supported the bill after being lobbied by notaries at a September event in D.C. honoring President Calvin Coolidge.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), who was ushering through many pieces of last-minute legislation on behalf of the Democratic leadership on the final day before the Senate adjourned for recess, moved the bill from the Judiciary committee for a vote. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) helped gather Republican support for the bill. The Senate then passed the bill by unanimous consent without debate. Aderholt said that he and supporters “were surprised that it came through at the eleventh hour there” in the Senate. President Obama vetoed the bill on Oct. 8, following outcry from homeowner advocates and increased scrutiny from the press.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
Ohio's Secretary of State, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, emerged as one of the earliest critics of the bill, calling the timing of its passage “suspicious.” Brunner organized opposition to the bill, urging citizens to call and email the President and tell him not to sign the act. CNBC senior editor John Carney called the bill “mysterious” and wrote that the bill “might bail out banks such as GMAC, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America from their foreclosure gate troubles.”


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Attempted legislative fix
Aderholt defended his bill in a statement: “There is absolutely no connection whatsoever between the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 and the recent foreclosure documentation problems… The bill expressly requires lawful notarizations, and in no way validates improper notarizations. Enforcement of legal notarizations is a state responsibility and I fully support each state attorney general vigorously prosecuting all notarization fraud.”


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Legal action against banks, National Mortgage Settlement
On February 9, 2012, it was announced that the five largest mortgage servicers (Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo) agreed to a historic settlement with the federal government and 49 states. The settlement, known as the National Mortgage Settlement (NMS), required the servicers to provide about $26 billion in relief to distressed homeowners and in direct payments to the states and federal government. This settlement amount makes the NMS the second largest civil settlement in U.S. history, only trailing the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The five banks were also required to comply with 305 new mortgage servicing standards. Oklahoma under then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt held out and agreed to settle with the banks separately.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Legal action against banks, National Mortgage Settlement
Joseph A. Smith, Jr., the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks, was tapped to be the Settlement Monitor. He created the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight (OMSO) to ensure the banks were providing relief to homeowners and complying with the new mortgage servicing standards as required by the NMS.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Legal action against banks, National SunTrust Settlement
The Federal government together with state attorneys general in 49 states and the District of Columbia reached a settlement in 2014 requiring SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., to provide $500 million in various forms of relief to borrowers. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia entered the Consent Order on September 30, 2014. The consent order addressed SunTrust's alleged misconduct regarding its mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. SunTrust was also required to create a 40 million dollar fund for the approximately 45,000 SunTrust borrowers who were foreclosed upon between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2013. In addition, SunTrust was required to adhere to significant new homeowner protections. The consent order required that SunTrust follow the servicing standards set up by the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement (NMS) with the five largest banks.


2010 United States foreclosure crisis, Legal action against banks, Ocwen National Servicing Settlement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), together with attorneys general and state banking regulators in 49 states, and the District of Columbia obtained a Consent Judgment requiring Ocwen Financial Corporation—who at the time, was the largest nonbank mortgage loan servicer in the country—and its subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing, to provide $2 billion in first lien principal reduction to underwater borrowers. The consent order addressed Ocwen's misconduct during the mortgage servicing process. It also covered two companies previously purchased by Ocwen, Litton Loan Servicing LP (“Litton”) and Homeward Residential Holdings LLC (previously known as American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. or AHMSI). Ocwen was also required to pay $125 million to the nearly 185,000 Ocwen, Litton, and Homeward borrowers who had been foreclosed upon and well as being required to adhere to significant new homeowner protections.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections
The 2010 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 2010, in 37 states (with a special election in Utah) and two territories. As in most midterm elections, the party controlling the White House lost ground. Democrats took five governorships from the Republicans, while Republicans took 11 governorships from the Democrats. An independent won one governorship previously held by a Republican, while a Republican won one governorship previously held by an independent. Republicans held a majority of governorships for the first time since before the 2006 elections. One state, Louisiana, had no election for governor, but it did feature a special election for lieutenant governor.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections
Most gains from both parties were made in races where no incumbent was running, either due to term limits or voluntary retirement. However, Republicans did defeat incumbent Democrats Ted Strickland of Ohio and Chet Culver of Iowa, and held Nevada, where Republican Jim Gibbons lost in the primary.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections
These elections coincided with the elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives as well as other state and local elections.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Closest races
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats. Grey denotes states won by Independents.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Alabama
Businessman and 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Timothy James, State Representative Robert Bentley, Chancellor Bradley Byrne, and former state Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore, were all major contenders for the Republican nomination. In the June 1 primary, Byrne finished in first place with 28.9%, followed by Robert J. Bentley who won 25.2% of the vote. Due to state law, the two were forced into a July runoff election, in which Bentley defeated Byrne by a margin of 56.1 to 43.9% to win the Republican nomination.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Alabama
For the Democratic side, State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks easily defeated Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama's 7th congressional district in the June 1 primary.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin was elected in 2006 with 48% of the vote and was eligible to seek reelection in 2010. On July 3, 2009, Palin announced that she would not run for reelection, and resigned on July 26, 2009. On July 26, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell became the 12th Governor of Alaska. Parnell officially announced that he would be running for a first full-term in 2010. In August 2010 he won the Republican nomination for governor.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Alaska
Parnell faced former State Representative and 2008 congressional nominee Ethan Berkowitz, and won the Democratic nomination against State Senator Hollis French, in the November election. Parnell won a first full-term.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Arizona
Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of Homeland Security in early 2009. Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer was first in the state's gubernatorial line of succession and became governor upon Napolitano's subsequent resignation. Brewer was seeking a full term in 2010. She would face a primary challenge from former state Senator Karen Johnson, Tucson attorney John Munger, and State Treasurer Dean Martin.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Arizona
The announced Democratic candidate was Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. A potential Democratic candidate could have been Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Arizona
Jan Brewer won the Republican primary election, and Terry Goddard won the Democratic primary election. Brewer defeated Goddard in the election.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, Arkansas
Governor Mike Beebe sought a second term in 2010. He was elected with 55% of the vote in 2006. In March 2009 Beebe's approval rating was 68%, according to Public Policy Polling. Jim Keet, a former State Senator, was the Republican nominee.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, California
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was the Republican nominee for the Gubernatorial election, defeating state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the California Republican Party primary.


2010 United States gubernatorial elections, California
Former Governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown was the Democratic nominee.