Free Ride

Looking over the candidate roster for the upcoming State Senate and House elections I was struck by how many incumbents will not face a challenger in the primary or general. That might change as the independents and 3rd party candidates have until August 1st to circulate petitions so a handful of Greens and Libertarians may still make the race. I always want a choice in an election but I realize it is a big decision to run for office and put up with the aggravation of press scrutiny, unfair attacks and snarky bloggers.

Capitol Ideas did the math

It'll Be A Lonely Primary For A Lot Of Lawmakers This Year.

if we're counting correctly, it would appear that seven of 25 state senators up for re-election this year are running without primary or general election opposition...In the House,at least 69 of 203 members are running without primary or general election opposition.

Locally it looks like that Karen Boback (R-117) and Mike Carroll (D-118) will have a free ride but that could change in the 117th.

Jim explains how the Supreme Court decision threw a monkey wrench into the process.

As to uncontested races... I think the redistricting fiasco played a part in this. I have to wonder how many people simply decided not to run due to the uncertainty about what district they were going to be in. I'm still waiting to see where we folks in Plains end up: the 121st or the 118th. Redistricting added a whole layer of complication to this year's petition season.