Unusual Races

The races that follow may or may not be important. They may or may not be competitive. Nevertheless, there is something about them that sets them apart. Here are my "unusual races" for this election cycle.

Like Father, Like Son
Delaware Attorney General
Senator Joe Biden's son, also named Joe, makes a run at the top legal job in Delaware.

Florida CD 9
Congressman Mike Bilirakis is retiring, and his son Gus is running to replace him.

Maryland CD 3
Retiring Senator Paul Sarbanes' son, John Peter, makes a run for Congress. Making things more interesting is the fact that he's trying to replace Ben Cardin, who is himself seeking to replace Senator Sarbanes. And the wheel goes 'round and 'round...

Nevada Senate
Former President Jimmy Carter's son, Jack, tries to unseat Senator John Ensign.

New Jersey Senate
Thomas Kean, Jr., son of former Jersey Governor Tom Kean, tries to unseat Senator Robert Menendez.

New York Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo, son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, tries to replace Eliot Spitzer as AG.

Executive Shuffle
California
Term Limits don't have to mean the end of executive service. Just ask Democrats in California, here an intricate shuffle is being executed. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante can't remain as LG, and so is running for Insurance Commissioner. The sitting Insurance Commissioner, John Garamendi, is running for LG. Everybody's happy. There's more - Treasurer Phil Angelides is running against the Governator, and Attorney General Bill Lockyer is trying to win the Treasurer job. Seeking to replace Lockyer? Former Governor Jerry Brown. Why bring in new faces when you can just share all the jobs?

Wyoming
This one isn't as egregious as in California. Secretary of State Joe Meyer is term limited, and so is running for Treasurer. Meanwhile, term-limited Auditor Max Maxfield tries to move up to Secretary of State.

Dissension at the Office
These races feature an incumbent Governor facing their own Lieutenant Governor. Of course, outside of primaries, this can only happen in states that elect these two offices separately.

Alabama
Governor Bob Riley (R) faces Lieutenant Governor Lucy Baxley (D).

Georgia
Governor Sonny Perdue (R) faces Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor (D).

Rhode Island
Governor Donald Carcieri (R) faces Lieutenant Governor Charles Fogarty (D).

NFL Politics
Two races feature former NFL players - Lynn Swann (R) is running for Governor in Pennsylvania, and Heath Shuler (D) is running for Congress in North Carolina.

Who Am I Voting For?
Last names serve as a great way to differentiate yourself from an opponent. Unfortunately, that doesn't work if the names are close - or identical. Somewhat surprisingly, there aren't that many races falling in this category.

Arkansas CD 4
Congressman Mike Ross (D-inc) faces Joe Ross (R).

New Jersey CD 3
Congressman Jim Saxton (R-inc) faces Rich Sexton (D).

And My Favorite
This is from Idaho. Back on May 26, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne was named Secretary of the Interior by President Bush. As a result, his Lieutenant Governor, Jim Risch, became Governor. Now, Risch is stepping aside - Congressman C.L. Otter is running for Governor, but Risch isn't ready to leave politics just yet. Instead, he's running for his old office of Lieutenant Governor. That's right - the sitting Governor of Idaho is running for Lieutenant Governor. That strikes me as incredibly funny, and also incredibly odd.