10 Most Shocking Election Results of 2010: Lisa Murkowski, John Kasich, and Steven Palazzo

Thanks to all who voted in this category!

To see how readers voted in the remaining Best of 2010 categories, click HERE.

1. Lisa Murkowski (Senate, Alaska)
   • Murky Murk won as a write-in.  ’Nuf said.
2. John Kasich (Governor, Ohio)
   • Republican Kasich beat out the incredibly popular incumbent, Democrat Ted Strickland.  Kasich is now extremely unpopular in the state and would likely lose in a rematch, but his win is puzzling all the same.
3. Steven Palazzo (U.S. Representative, Mississippi)
   • Unknown Republican Steven Palazzo managed to beat out veteran Blue Dog Democrat Gene Taylor in this very conservative Mississippi district despite having a questionable record on several Republican party mainstays (like imminent domain) while serving in the Mississippi State Legislatur.
4. John Boozman (Senate, Arkansas)
   • All Republican John Boozman had to do was show up and he could have taken out unpopular Democrat Blanche Lincoln, but no one expected him to nearly set records for the largest ever margin of victory over an incumbent.  Boozman hacked Lincoln off by over 20 points on election day.
5. Eliot Cutler (Governor, Maine)
   • While Cutler didn’t take top honors in the Maine Gubernatorial election, his performance on election day took nearly all pollsters by surprise.  What was predicted to be a double digit margin of victory for Republican Paul LePage turned into a nail-biter, with Independent Custer behind LePage by only 1 point.
6. John Robitaille (Governor, Rhode Island)
   • Like Eliot Cutler, the shocker with John Robitaille wasn’t in the form of a victory, but rather with how close he was to a victory.  Polls showed Independent Lincoln Chafee with a comfortable 10 point lead going into election day. As the results came in, Chafee’s expected lead diminished to mere 2 point gap between himself and Robitaille.
7. Mark Kirk (Illinois, Senate)
   • The results for this senate seat were nearly consisted with predictions, which was a shock in itself.  While Republican Mark Kirk was shown to be leading in polls, we refused to believe that he would take Barack Obama’s former seat.  But now, 9 months later, there he seats.
8. Tom Tancredo (Governor, Colorado)
   • Despite the fact that Tancredo ultimately didn’t win this race, he was able to become a viable Constitution Party candidate in the state of Colorado.  Tancredo pulled in nearly 40% in this 3 race, and likely would have won had Republican Dan Maes surrendered.
9. Richard Blumenthal (Senate, Connecticut)
   • While Democrat Blumenthal lead in nearly all polling, the shock factor comes in his 12 point margin of victory. Blumenthal lied about his military record to sound cool and was viewed extremely negatively in most opinion polling. In spite of all the negative, he pulled out an impressive win over fundraiser extraordinaire Linda McMahon.

Further Reading:

• Top 10 Worst Politicians of 2010
• Top 10 Best Politicians of 2010
• Top 10 Most Disappointed Election Results of 2010

Become a TCJ Book Club Bookworm to have a shot at FREE Conservative books, special deals, and a FREE Amazon Kindle 3G!  Click HERE for more info.

Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.  View the results of the “Best of 2010″ by clicking HERE.  To enter to win a 16 Gigabyte Apple iPad 2 from The Conservative Journal, click HERE. Want to buy something from Amazon.com? Get great deals through The Conservative Journal!

Thanks for reading!

Rick

• Election 2010 Predictions: Updated Predictions For ALL 2010 Governor Races (Republicans Lead)
• Mississippi 4th District House Race Updates: Gene Taylor and Steven Palazzo
• TCJ Research 10/14-10/15 Polls: Delaware Senate (Christine O'Donnell Gaining on Chris Coons), Pennsylvania Senate, Connecticut Senate, California Senate (Carly Fiorina Pulls Into Lead Over Boxer), California Governor
• 10 Most Disappointing Elections of 2010: Sharron Angle, Carly Fiorina, and Meg Whitman
• Nevada Senate Debate: Who Won, Sharron Angle or Harry Reid?

• Who Was Andrew?
• Election 2008 Newspapers Become Instant Collectible at Near 12000% Markup Prices.
• St. Jude Classic Recap
• Party of “No”? That is Just Garbage Populist Rhetoric
• Surprises at Indian Wells