In a first-past-the-post electoral system, voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. FPTP is a plurality voting method, and is primarily used in systems that use single-member electoral divisions. FPTP is used as the primary form of allocating seats for legislative elections in about a third of the world's countries, mostly in the English-speaking world. The phrase is a metaphor from British horse racing, where there is a post at the finish line.
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. For example, in an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-election or not. In some situations, there may not be an incumbent at time of an election for that office or position, in which case the office or position is regarded as vacant or open. In the United States, an election without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat or open contest.
The 2004 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 2004, with all Class 3 Senate seats being contested. They coincided with the re-election of George W. Bush as president and the United States House election, as well as many state and local elections. Senators who were elected in 1998, known as Senate Class 3, were seeking re-election or retiring in 2004. This was the third consecutive election for Senate Class 3 where the Democrats either broke even or lost seats. This also marked the first time since 1980 in which a presidential candidate from either party won with coattails in the Senate. As of 2021, these are the last elections held during a Presidential election year in which the Republicans made a net gain of seats. Furthermore, this was the most recent election in which a Senate party leader lost reelection.
Thomas Milburn Davis III is an American lobbyist and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who represented Virginia's 11th congressional district in Northern Virginia. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner in the 2008 election, but decided against it. He announced on January 30, 2008, that he would not seek reelection to an eighth term. Davis resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.
Timothy Joseph Penny is an American author, musician, and former politician from Minnesota. Penny was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the United States House of Representatives, 1983–1995, representing Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 102nd and 103rd congresses.
Zachary Paul Wamp is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district from 1995 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Chattanooga and includes large parts of East Tennessee, including Oak Ridge.
Constance Morella is an American politician and diplomat. She represented Maryland's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2003. She served as Permanent Representative from the U.S. to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2003 to 2007. She is on American University's faculty as an Ambassador in Residence for the Women & Politics Institute. She was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) by President Barack Obama in 2010.
The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006, to elect the Governor of Texas. The election was a rare five-way race, with incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry running for re-election against Democrat Chris Bell and Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, as well as Libertarian nominee James Werner. Perry was re-elected to a second full term in office, winning 39% of the vote to Bell's 30%, Strayhorn's 18% and Friedman's 12%.
Louis Elwood Jenkins Jr., known as Woody Jenkins, is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge and Central City, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.
Congressional stagnation is an American political theory that attempts to explain the high rate of incumbency re-election to the United States House of Representatives. In recent years this rate has been well over 90 per cent, with rarely more than 5-10 incumbents losing their House seats every election cycle. The theory has existed since the 1970s, when political commentators were beginning to notice the trend, with political science author and professor David Mayhew first writing about the "vanishing marginals" theory in 1974.
Charles Kong Djou is an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2010 to 2011. As a member of the Republican Party, Djou won his congressional seat in a May 2010 special election where the Democratic Party vote was split between several candidates, but he was defeated in the general election in November after the Democratic primary provided a single opponent. Djou, who was previously in the Hawaii House of Representatives and the Honolulu City Council, was the first Thai American of any party and the first Chinese American Republican to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In June 2016, Djou entered the race for Mayor of Honolulu, which he lost 48% to 52% to Democratic Party incumbent Kirk Caldwell. Djou left the Republican Party in March 2018. As of 2021, Djou is the last Republican to represent Hawaii in Congress.
The Pacific Green Party of Oregon (PGP) is a political party in the U.S. state of Oregon, recognized by the Oregon Secretary of State. It is affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. The party has occasionally elected candidates to public office at the local level.
Brenda Lulenar Lawrence is an American Democratic politician and member of the United States House of Representatives. Lawrence served as mayor of Southfield, Michigan, from 2001 to 2015. The Democratic nominee for Oakland County Executive in 2008 and for lieutenant governor in 2010, she was elected U.S. Representative for Michigan's 14th congressional district in 2014. The district covers most of eastern Detroit, including downtown, and stretches west to take in portions of Oakland County, including Lawrence's home in Southfield.
The 2008 congressional elections in Connecticut were held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the state of Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential election. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011.
The Libertarian Party of the United States was formed in Colorado Springs in the home of Luke Zell by a group of individuals led by David Nolan on December 11, 1971, after several months of debate among members of the Committee to Form a Libertarian Party, founded July 17. The formation was prompted in part by price controls and the end of the Gold Standard implemented by President Richard Nixon. The Libertarian Party viewed the dominant Republican and Democratic parties as having diverged from what they viewed as the libertarian principles of the American Founding Fathers. This group included John Hospers, Edward Crane, Manuel Klausner, Murray Rothbard, Roy Childs, D. Frank Robinson, Theodora (Tonie) Nathan, and Jim Dean.
The 2006 congressional elections in Illinois were held November 7, 2006 to determine who would represent the State of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives.
The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College. These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president, and for vice president. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for president, the House of Representatives elects the president; likewise if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for vice president, then the Senate elects the vice president.
David Lee Camp is a former American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2015. Camp represented Michigan's 4th congressional district since 1993, and previously served one term representing Michigan's 10th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, Camp was chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, serving from 2011–2015. In March 2014, he announced that he would not run for re-election.
Gwendolyn Graham is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2017. She is the daughter of Bob Graham, the former United States Senator and Governor of Florida. A Democrat, she was a candidate in the Florida 2018 gubernatorial election.
The 2019 Philippine House of Representatives elections were the 35th lower house elections in the Philippines. They were held on May 13, 2019, to elect members to the House of Representatives.
