As much as it may come as a surprise to the residents of Wisconsin who have been barraged with Bush and Kerry ads over the past six months, there are important things on ballots across the country today besides the presidential race. Here, presented for your approval, are 10 important, interesting or just plain weird election topics from the rest of the United States.
A proposal is on the ballot in Colorado that would require the state to split its electoral votes between presidential candidates based on the percentage of the popular vote each candidate gets in the state. What could be messy is that the proposal is retroactive to this election, meaning that if it passes, Colorado will have to recalculate its votes for this year. In a close election, that could mean everything.
Halloween may be over, but the nightmare continues for Republican Senate candidate Tom Coburn. Dr. Coburn, who faces Democrat Brad Carson for an open seat in this very Republican state, has lost a heavy lead in the polls since being accused of sterilizing a woman without her consent and making comments about rampant lesbianism in public schools and the genetic predisposition of blacks to die early. This race is considered a toss-up.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is locked in a tough race against Republican challenger John Thune. Thune has accused Daschle of obstructing President Bush's agenda in the Senate and both sides have been blamed for voter fraud. What should have been an easy victory for Daschle has turned into a fight for his political life; this race is considered tied, and the election will probably be challenged in court.
With Sen. Ben Nighthorse-Campbell retiring, Democrat Ken Salazar is hoping to pick up this Republican seat. But he'll have to make it past Republican beer king Pete Coors. Coors took heavy damage in the Republican primary, where he was accused of not being conservative enough, but he has enough personal wealth to put up a fight. This one could go either way.
South Carolina law requires that hard liquor used in bars be poured from minibottles, like the ones used on airplanes, to increase tax revenue and prevent bartenders from watering down drinks. Opponents of this law are proposing a constitutional amendment to do away with the minibottles, which they call an annoying relic from the past.
Yes, it's Florida again, with an open Senate seat. Democrat Betty Castor has called Republican Mel Martinez a mini-Bush, while Martinez has accused Castor of ties to a professor with al-Qaida sympathies. The hurricanes have put a damper on this election, but most polls show these two exactly tied.
Incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski has been haunted by accusations of nepotism since her first day in office; her father, the previous seat holder, appointed her to the seat when he was elected governor. Her opponent, former Democratic governor Tony Knowles, has a slight but steady lead in the polls.
The race for John Edwards' Senate seat is looking good for a Republican pickup. Democrat Erskine Bowles has been slammed by Republican Richard Burr and has lost a double-digit lead. It is still tight, but all the momentum is with Burr.
This should not even be a contest, with Republican Sen. Jim Bunning running for re-election in a very red state. But Bunning skipped his one face-to-face debate with opponent Daniel Mongiardo, claiming he had to vote in Washington while the Senate was out of session, and used a Teleprompter while debating Mongiardo by satellite. This led to rumors about Bunning's mental health status. Bunning has a slight lead, but the accusations of dementia have hurt his standing in the polls.
California has a proposal on the ballot that would put $3 billion into stem cell research. It is unknown whether this would negatively affect UW-Madison, which is one of the leading stem cell research centers in the country.
