[ThinkSouth] 2006 election preview

[Andy Brack]

UNC-Chapel Hill's SouthNow blog this week is offering a preview of the 2006 elections across the South:

While Southern states decisively voted for Bush a year ago, most are now split on his presidency, with voters in even reliably Republican states like Mississippi and Alabama giving him a 48 percent approval rating. If the presidential election were held today, it would be a very different story in the South than it was a year ago.

But what about the election in 2006? While many of the states in the South were quiet in 2004, next year promises to be a busy campaign year in the South. There are six Senate races in the South, at least two of which will be hotly contested. And, there will be a staggering eight governor’s races in the South, and several of those will rank among the most competitive in the country. Add to the mix a handful of competitive House races, and the South in 2006 will likely see more campaigning than they did in 2004, when, with the one exception of Florida, Republicans and Democrats spent more time convincing party faithfuls to campaign in swing states in other regions than trying to get them to the polls in their own state.

• Click to view the preview US Senate races in the South

During the rest of the week, the blog will review:

Tuesday, Nov. 15: Southern governor's races
Wednesday, Nov. 16: Southern U.S. House races
Thursday, Nov. 17: Other key Southern races
Friday, Nov. 18: Issues for 2006

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Posted by Andy Brack to ThinkSouth at 11/15/2005 11:12:00 AM