United States general elections, 2005

On 2005-11-08, the United States held its general elections. These were off-year elections in which no members of the Congress were standing for election. There were, however, two gubernatorial races, state legislative elections in two states, numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races in several major cities, and a variety of local offices on the ballot.

Gubernatorial races

Only two states featured off-year gubernatorial races in 2005.

New Jersey

Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Corzine defeated Republican businessman Doug Forrester, taking the open seat held by an acting governor since Democrat Jim McGreevey resigned.

Virginia

Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine defeated former Republican Attorney General Jerry Kilgore in the race to succeed term-limited Governor (and Democrat) Mark Warner.

Mayoral races

Many additional cities across the United States held mayoral elections; this list is representative, not inclusive. Nationally, the vast majority of mayors were reelected, often by wide margins, and there were few partisan upsets.

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Democrat Ed Pawlowski defeated former Mayor William Heydt, despite being targeted by fellow Democrat and incumbent Mayor, Roy C. Afflerbach.

Atlanta, Georgia

Democrat Shirley Franklin, the city's first female mayor, easily defeated both challengers to win reelection.

Boston, Massachusetts

Incumbent Thomas Menino easily defeated challenger Maura Hennigen.

Buffalo, New York

Democrat Byron Brown defeated Republican Kevin Helfer to replace the retiring Anthony Masiello.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Incumbent Republican Patrick McCrory was easily reelected.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Democrat Mark Mallory defeated David Pepper to become Cincinnati's mayor.

Cleveland, Ohio

Democratic challenger Frank Jackson defeated incumbent Jane Campbell.

Detroit, Michigan

Incumbent Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick won a come-from-behind victory over challenger Freman Hendrix.

Houston, Texas

Democratic mayor Bill White was easily reelected.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

R.T. Rybak easily defeated challenger Peter McLaughlin.

=New York, New York=

In New York City, incumbent Republican mayor Mike Bloomberg defeated former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Democrat Bob O'Connor easily defeated Republican Joe Weinroth.

San Diego, California

Republican Jerry Sanders easily defeated Democrat Donna Frye.

Seattle, Washington

Incumbent Greg Nickels was easily reelected.

St. Paul, Minnesota

Democrat Chris Coleman defeated incumbent Randy Kelly.

Citizen initiatives

As with mayoral races, every referendum item nationwide is not included

California

California had eight questions on the ballot for the voters to consider. The election was seen as a referendum on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is up for reelection in 2006), as he sponsored and actively campaigned for four propositions on the ballot, Propositions 74 - 77. All eight propositions failed by varying margins.

Maine

In Maine, voters decided a number of issues. Question 1 considered whether to repeal a law passed by the state legislature banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (see gay rights). The initiative to make discrimnation on the basis of sexual orientation legal failed, and the legislature's law was upheld for the first time by Mainers. The state was also considering whether to pass a constitutional amendment designed to lower property taxes for fishermen by taxing property based on current use, rather than potential resale value. The measure passed overwhelmingly.

New Jersey

As the last two elected governors (Christine Todd Whitman and Jim McGreevey) had resigned, forcing a series of acting governors, New Jersey considered whether to create the post of Lieutenant Governor; the measure passed.

Ohio

Ohio was considering whether to move the electoral redistricting process from the authority of the legislature to a non-partisan panel. Ohio also considered (in separate measures) whether to reduce individual financial contributions to political candidates, move election oversight to a bipartisan panel and away from the Secretary of State, and whether to allow all voters to vote early by mail. All four measures failed. These measures were placed on the ballot as a response to the controversies of the 2004 Presidential election in Ohio.

Texas

In Texas, 76% of voters supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, making it the 19th state to enact such a ban. This result was largely expected.

Washington State

An initiative to shorten the planned expansion of the Seattle Monorail was denied, meaning no expansion will be built at all. Four previous initiatives to cancel the project had been unsuccessful. However, a state Fuel Tax, which is earmarked for transportation improvements including the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, was not repealed.

Pennsylvania judicial election

Perceiving the Supreme Court's decisions as supporting corruption and secrecy in Harrisburg, voters refused to grant State Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro a retention vote. Nigro lost very narrowly, becoming the first justice in Pennsylvania history to lose a retention vote. Fellow Justice Sandra Schultz Newman was retained. The vote was closely connected with backlash against the Harrisburg establishment and the 2005 legislative pay raise which increased judges' and legislators' salaries.

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