2009 United States elections

Federal elections

Main article: Special elections to the 111th United States Congress

In total, there were five special elections to the United States House of Representatives during 2009. The only election which changed party hands (from Republican to Democratic) was in New York's 23rd congressional district.

Also, a primary election was held in Massachusetts on December 8, 2009, for the senate seat left open by the death of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy; the general special election for that later seat occurred on January 19, 2010.

State elections

Gubernatorial elections

Main article: 2009 United States gubernatorial elections

New Jersey and Virginia, along with the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, held gubernatorial elections in 2009. Both governorships in New Jersey and Virginia changed party hands from Democrat to Republican. This is the last time, both governors flipped parties in the same election. Meanwhile, the local Covenant Party maintained control of the governorship of the Northern Mariana Islands. This is the last time this seat would be up in an off-year.

State legislative

Main article: 2009 United States state legislative elections

Legislative elections were held for the New Jersey General Assembly, the Virginia House of Delegates, and the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature were up, which remains the last time they were up in this class of elections.

Democrats maintained control of the lower house of the New Jersey legislature, and Republicans did so in the lower chamber in Virginia. This remains the last time Democrats won more state legislative chambers and seats than Republicans.

Local elections

Cities, counties, school boards, special districts, and others elected members in 2009. Several large cities held mayoral elections in 2009, including: New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Houston, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Antonio, and Detroit. Memphis, Tennessee also had a special election to replace former mayor Willie Herenton.

Some of these mayoral elections included the following:

• Albuquerque, New Mexico – Richard J. Berry (R) defeated Incumbent Mayor Martin Chavez (D).
• Albany, New York – Incumbent Mayor Gerald Jennings (D) defeated Working Families Party candidate Corey Ellis and Nathan LeBron (R).
• Anchorage, Alaska – Dan Sullivan (R) was elected mayor.
• Atlanta, Georgia – Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) was term-limited. Kasim Reed (D) defeated Mary Norwood (D) in a runoff election.
• Austin, Texas – Incumbent Mayor Will Wynn (D) was term-limited.
• Boston, Massachusetts – Incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino (D) defeated Michael F. Flaherty (D).
• Buffalo, New York – Incumbent Mayor Byron Brown (D) defeated Michael Kearns (D).
• Charlotte, North Carolina – Anthony Foxx (D) defeated John Lassiter (R)
• Detroit, Michigan – Incumbent Mayor Dave Bing (D) defeated Tom Barrow (D)
• Henderson, Nevada – Incumbent Mayor James B. Gibson (D) was term-limited. He was succeeded by Democrat Andy Hafen.
• Houston, Texas – Incumbent Mayor Bill White (D) was term-limited. In a runoff election, Annise Parker (D) defeated Gene Locke (D).
• Jersey City, New Jersey- Incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy (D) defeated Louis Manzo (D), L. Harvey Smith (D) and other minor candidates.
• Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Incumbent Mayor Rick Gray (D) defeated Charlie Smithgall (R).
• Los Angeles, California – Incumbent Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) defeated Walter Moore (R).
• Manchester, New Hampshire – Ted Gatsas (R) elected mayor succeeding mayor Frank Guinta (R).
• Minneapolis, Minnesota – Incumbent Mayor R.T. Rybak (DFL) was re-elected.
• New York City, New York – Incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) was re-elected.
• North Las Vegas, Nevada – Incumbent Mayor Mike Montandon (R) was term-limited. He was succeeded by Republican Shari Buck.
• Omaha, Nebraska – City councilman Jim Suttle was elected mayor after incumbent Mike Fahey declined to run for re-election.
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – Incumbent Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) was re-elected.
• Rochester, New York – Incumbent Mayor Robert Duffy (D) was unopposed. (The next year, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York.)
• San Antonio, Texas – Incumbent Mayor Phil Hardberger was term-limited. He was succeeded by Democrat Julian Castro.
• Seattle, Washington – Incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels (D) defeated in the primary in August 2009. Mike McGinn (D) defeated Joe Mallahan (D).
• St. Paul, Minnesota – Incumbent Mayor Chris Coleman (DFL) was re-elected.
• Syracuse, New York – Incumbent Matt Driscoll (D) was term limited. Stephanie Miner (D) defeated Steve Kimatian (R) and Conservative Otis Jennings.
• Tulsa, Oklahoma – Mayor Kathy Taylor did not seek re-election. Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. (R) defeated Tom Adelson (D).

References

References

1. Davis, Tom. (November 6, 2009). "7 Lessons for Democrats and Republicans From the 2009 Elections".
2. "Under Obama, Democrats suffer largest loss in power since Eisenhower".