The Law of Small Numbers

Reader comment on: The Massachusetts Earthquake, One Year Later

Submitted by Fred Van Bennekom (United States), Jan 24, 2011 11:22

I had trouble enjoying election night here in Mass. given how poorly our slate of GOP candidates did. The real example of how blindly people vote here was in the State Auditor's race where a very qualified Mary Cannuaghton was beaten by an ethically challenged political hack. Voters just vote for the Democrat.

Part of the blame for the GOP failure in November in Mass. has to be laid in Charlie Baker's lap. He had such potential and ran a miserable campaign on multiple levels. We desperately need a new group of GOP campaign advisors in this state.

That said... in what state did the GOP double its presence in the state legislature? Yes, in Mass. The Law of Small Numbers had something to do with it. We went from 17 to 33 or 34. (One race is still contested. The GOP candidate won by one vote.) The GOP was strong in central Mass. (Worcester area), which means you can be sure it will get carved up nicely for the 2012 congressional districts when we go from 10 to 9 reps.

One correction: the two GOP reps mentioned won in the 1994 GOP wave. neither survived more than 2 terms.

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