Daily Brew: December 7, 2018

December 7, 2018

   ← Dec 6

Dec 10 →   

Get your daily cup of news

Email *

Please complete the Captcha above

Today's Brew brings you the first look at how PredictIt markets did during the 2018 elections + tomorrow's runoffs in Louisiana   Welcome to the Friday, December 7 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: What did the prediction markets do in the weeks leading up to Nov. 6? Gardner elected to 22nd term as New Hampshire secretary of state; election went to second ballot in the NH General Court Tomorrow: Louisiana runoff elections What did the prediction markets do in the weeks leading up to Nov. 6? Analysts and pundits often use polling figures to see how a race has changed over time. But what about the betters? Ballotpedia has compiled PredictIt closing share prices for 40 battleground U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races in the final three months leading up to the November 6 elections. PredictIt is an online political futures market where users purchase shares relating to the outcome of political events using real money. Here are a few interesting markets from the cycle. The share price for a Republican winning the Alaska gubernatorial race dropped from 88 cents to 65 cents after Gov. Bill Walker's (I) running mate resigned from office on October 16. Explore more of the marquee races across the country in PredictIt markets Gardner elected to 22nd term as New Hampshire secretary of state; election went to second ballot in the NH General Court The New Hampshire General Court - the largest state legislature in the country, comprised of 400 state house members and 24 senators - re-elected incumbent New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D) to his 22nd term in office. Gardner, facing his first challenger since 1984, was unable to get a majority of the vote on the first ballot against Colin Van Ostern (D). He received 208 votes to Van Ostern’s 207. One legislator cast a scatter vote. On the second ballot, Gardner secured a majority by a 209-205 vote. The voting in the General Court is cast by secret ballot. The partisan breakdown for the chambers are as follows: State House 14 Democrats 10 Republicans State Senate 234 Democrats 163 Republicans 3 races still to be called With 42 years experience, Gardner is the longest-serving state secretary of state currently in office. New Hampshire is one of three states where the secretary of state is selected by the state legislature. Learn more→ Tomorrow: Louisiana runoff elections Two runoff elections will take place in Louisiana tomorrow, one for secretary of state and one for Louisiana House of Representatives District 90. Both races were called as special elections for November, but no candidate received a majority, so the top two vote-getters in each race are advancing to the runoff. The secretary of state seat became vacant on May 8, when Tom Schedler (R) resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct. Kyle Ardoin (R) has been serving as acting secretary of state. Nine candidates, including Ardoin, ran in the special election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The top two vote-getters, Ardoin with 20.5 percent and Gwen Collins-Greenup (D) with 19.8 percent, will face off on December 8. More on this election here→ For the Louisiana House of Representatives District 90 seat, Sean Morrison (D), Mary DuBuisson (R), Brian Glorioso (R), and John Raymond (R) ran in the special election. DeBuisson and Raymond advanced to the runoff with 29 percent and 25 percent of the vote, respectively. The seat has been vacant since June 29, when Greg Cromer (R) resigned to become mayor of Slidell, Louisiana. More on this district here →