The Attorney Generals - Redressing the Balance
Of the 36 states that elected Governors in 1998, 29 also elected Attorneys General. And remember how the Republicans won 23 Governors races with just barely more than 50% of the vote? Well, the same thing happened in the Attorney General races, only it was the Democrats who won almost 2 to 1 with just slightly more than 50% of the vote.
The Attorney General is routinely the third most important office in an off-year election. In 1998, the Attorney General's race received the 2nd highest number of votes in 5 races, the 3rd highest number in 9 races, the 4th highest number of ballots in 7 races, and the 5th highest number in 4 races. It came in 8th in Idaho, and 8th or 9th in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Vermont, where the Attorney General was running unopposed. So, the Attorney General is an important office, often receiving more votes than the House of Representatives and sometimes more than the Senate.
The Attorney General races were the balance wheel. Of the 29 Attorney General races, 14 resulted in Attorneys General of a different party than the Governor. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the state. It is harder to have cover-ups and it is more likely that the Attorney General will cast a critical eye on the Governor's behavior if they both come from different political parties.
Cleverly, of the 15 splits between Governor and Attorney General, 13 were Democratic AG's with Republican Governors, while only one was a Republican AG with Democratic Governor. That means that taking all 36 of the Governors races, of the 23 victorious Republicans, 12 have Democratic Attorneys General. So, the breakdown of the Governors races is 10 solid Republican, 10 solid Democratic, and the remaining 15 are split. What symmetry! Gee, those voters are smart.
( Remember, there's one Independent Governor with a Democratic Attorney General.) So the Governor's races fall neatly into thirds, one third Republican, one third Democratic, and one third split between the two parties. The voters used the Attorney General's race to temper the apparent bias toward Republicans in the Governor's races.
The total vote for Attorney General was 48,719,008. The Republicans received 22,995,185 (47.2%) to the Democrats 24,517,485 (50.3%) with the independents getting 1,206,338 (2.5%). This translated into a 19 to 10 majority for the Democrats.
Ab. AG 98
Pryor (R)
Butts (D)
Write-in
AG 1998
642,403
635,636
674
1,278,713
50.2382%
49.7090%
0.0527%
674
Az. AG 98
McGovern (R)
Napolitano (D)
Eblen (I)
At. General 98
479,785
509,516
21,478
1,010,779
47.4669%
50.4082%
2.1249%
Ind. total
21,478
Ak. AG 1998
Dickey (R)
Pryor (D)
Attorney G 98
287,844
411,567
699,411
41.1552%
58.8448%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
Ca. AG 1998
Stirling (R)
Lockyer (D)
Templin (AI)
Farina (Lib)
Evans (P&F)
AG 1998
3,388,406
4,117,596
193,980
149,368
145,281
7,994,631
(768,299)
43.1680%
52.4578%
2.4713%
1.9029%
1.8509%
Ind. Total
488,629
Co. AG 1998
Suthers (R)
Salazar (D)
White (Lib)
Att. Gen. 1998
601,774
634,159
33,470
1,063,272
1,269,403
206131
47.4061%
49.9573%
2.6367%
Ind. total
33,470
Ct. AG 1998
Mendoza (R)
Blumenthal (D)
Pober (L)
Attorney Gen
282,289
631,588
7,537
921,414
(101,039)
30.6365%
68.5455%
0.8180%
Ind. total
7,537
Del. AG 1998
Brady (R)
Dorsey (D)
AG 1998
100,211
78,011
0
178,222
56.2282%
43.7718%
0.0000%
0
Fla. AG 98
Bludworth (R)
Butterworth (D)
At. General 98
1,562,269
2,301,328
3,863,597
40.4356%
59.5644%
1.46936793852786E-39
Ga. At. Gen. 98
Ralston (R)
Baker (D)
Chandler (Lib)
Att. Gen. 98
786,669
883,932
66,485
1,737,086
45.2867%
50.8859%
3.8274%
0.0000%
66,485
Id. AG 1998
Alan Lance (R)
Brit Groom (D)
Attorney G 1998
248,813
118,116
366,929
(19,791)
67.8096%
32.1904%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
Ill. AG 1998
Jim Ryan (R)
Santos (D)
Dowell (Ref)
Att. Gen. 98
2,026,781
1,242,979
56,944
3,326,704
(214,675)
60.9246%
37.3637%
1.7117%
56,944
Iowa AG 1998
Schwickerath (R)
Miller (D)
Watkins (NL)
Scattering
Voting 1988
AG 1998
298,528
603,523
20,104
210
0
0
0
0
0
0
922,365
32.3655%
65.4321%
2.1796%
0.0228%
0.0000%
0.0000%
0.0000%
0.0000%
0.0000%
1.46936793852786E-39
Ind. total
20,314
Kan. AG 98
Stovall (R)
Lykins (D)
At. Gen. 98
548,826
181,938
730,764
First
75.1030%
24.8970%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
Md. AG 1998
Rappaport (R)
Curran (D)
Att. Gen. 1998
531,430
922,655
1,454,085
36.5474%
63.4526%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
Ma. AG 1998
Bailey (R)
Reilly (D)
Others
Voting 1998
At. Gen. 1998
604,700
1,218,244
1,990
1,935,277
1,824,934
33.1354%
66.7555%
0.1090%
Ind. total
1,990
Mich. AG 98
Smietanka (R)
Granholm (D)
Write-in
Attorney Gen 98
1,432,604
1,557,310
0
2,989,914
47.9146%
52.0854%
0.0000%
Ind. Total
1.46936793852786E-39
Minn. AG 1998
Weaver (R)
Mike Hatch (D)
Mangan (RP)
Ruth Mason (Lib)
Write-in
Att. Gen 1998
880,203
960,558
116,504
49,162
1,757
2,008,184
(97,159)
43.8308%
47.8322%
5.8015%
2.4481%
0.0875%
167,423
Neb. AG 98
Stenberg (R)
Pat Knapp (D)
Sullivan (Ref)
Write-in
Att. Gen 98
353,939
151,054
14,693
253
581,775
519,939
(61,836)
68.0732%
29.0523%
2.8259%
0.0487%
Ind. total
14,946
Nv. AG 1998
Scherer (R)
Del Papa (D)
Cromwell (L)
Hansen (IA)
None of These
Voting 1998
Nev. AG 98
182,489
210,571
7,672
9,603
6,584
440,042
410,335
(29,707)
43.7709%
50.5065%
1.8402%
2.3033%
1.5792%
Ind. total
23,859
NMex. AG 98
Iglesias (R)
Madrid (D)
Att. Gen. 98
236,446
250,487
486,933
48.5582%
51.4418%
1.46936793852786E-39
NY AG 98
Vacco (R-C)
Spitzer (D-L)
Dapelo (RTL)
Abate (I)
Moore (Green)
Conti (Lib)
AG 98
2,059,762
2,084,948
60,399
81,439
18,984
19,864
4,325,396
(660,536)
47.6202%
48.2025%
1.3964%
1.8828%
0.4389%
0.4592%
Ind. Total
180,686
Ohio AG 98
Montgomery (R)
Corday (D)
Att. Gen 98
1,999,635
1,215,693
3,215,328
(248,155)
62.1907%
37.8093%
1.46936793852786E-39
Ok. AG 98
No Republican
Edmondson (D)
Votin 1990
AG 98
0
0
0
0
0
100.0000%
100.0000%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
RI Att. G. 98
Mayer (R)
Whitehouse (D)
Write-in
Att. Gen. 1998
100,635
200,411
458
301,504
33.3777%
66.4704%
0.1519%
Ind. total
458
SC AG 1998
Condon (R)
Turnipseed (D)
Write-in
Att. General 98
567,406
483,608
577
1,098,484
1,051,591
(46,893)
53.9569%
45.9882%
0.0549%
Ind. total
577
SD AG 98
Barnett (R)
No Democrat
Attorney G 1998
223,471
0
223,471
100.0000%
0.0000%
Ind. total
1.46936793852786E-39
Tx. AG 1998
John Cornyn (R)
Jim Mattox (D)
Angwin (L)
Att. Gen. 1998
2,002,794
1,631,045
57,604
0
0
3,691,443
54.2550%
44.1845%
1.5605%
0.0000%
0.0000%
57,604
Vt. AG 1998
No Republican
Sorrell (D&R)
Costanzo (L)
Fisher (LU)
Sandy Ward (VG)
Write-in
Att. Gen. 1998
0
169,239
9,122
5,214
17,954
344
201,873
(19,118)
0.0000%
83.8344%
4.5187%
2.5828%
8.8937%
0.1704%
Ind. total
32,634
Wi. A.G. 1998
Van De Water (R)
Doyle (D)
Emery (Lib)
Chinavare (Tax)
Scattering
Voting 1988
Wi. A.G. 1998
565,073
1,111,773
17,306
18,881
1,027
1,714,060
32.9669%
64.8620%
1.0096%
1.1015%
0.0599%
Ind. total
37,214
22,995,185
24,517,485
686,997
314,130
185,003
20,208
0
0
48,719,008
47.1996%
50.3243%
Inds.
1,206,338