Election Results

The results are in!  As you all (hopefully) know, Obama won his second term in office yesterday.  What you may not have known is that Obama’s reelection marks only the second time in U.S. history that three consecutive presidents have gotten a second term, a seemingly normal occurrence that actually hasn’t happened since Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.  This fun fact was pointed out to me by a friend yesterday, and, despite how unbelievable it seemed to me, it is indeed true.  Check it out here in this article about it and here, on Wikipedia’s list of presidents if you, like me, want to verify this for yourself.  I’m not sure what this “means” for the country to have established (only for the second time) three presidents in a row with two terms—maybe it’s a sign of stability?  But in any case, here are some more fun facts about yesterday’s election results.

Wisconsin has elected the first openly gay senator in Tammy Baldwin, which is exciting but, in my opinion, seems pretty late in the game to be celebrating such an achievement.  We’ve never had an openly gay Senator before?  Los Angeles elected our first female and first African American District Attorney in Jackie Lacey, which again is extremely exciting but makes me wonder how this is still a first in 2012.  Record numbers of women ran for office in both the Senate and the House.  Once again, I hate to sound cynical, but while this is definitely an achievement the numbers for the Senate at least are not very impressive: a record 18 women ran for Senate this year.  Out of 100 Senators.  Progress?

Same sex marriage was legalized in Maine, Maryland, and Washington, and not banned in Minnesota, while Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana—two things California has not done.  California’s Proposition 30 wasn’t looking successful but made a turnaround, and California voters have removed the three strikes law but did not approve banning the death penalty or labeling GMOs in food.

In other exciting news, Puerto Rico endorsed becoming a state with a 61% majority, which is pretty substantial.  I have to admit, I had no idea Puerto Rico was voting on this issue on Tuesday!  It would definitely change things if Puerto Rico became the 51st state.

You can find some other election surprises here from the Washington Post.