Reading Time: 3 minutes
As promised last week, I’m rolling out a major update today. The database now has over 2,500 politicians and over 1,200 election results. Here’s a look at what’s new:
1. For all of the offices in the database, I’ve added general election data from 1888 through 1900. I’ve found the data for Lt. Governor and Congress from 1816 through 1852, and none of the other statewide offices were elected positions until 1852. Once I can find the 36 years of data I’m missing, we’ll soon be able to complete all general elections.
2. I’ve added data for all special elections for U.S. House and U.S. Senate back to 1889. Like with general elections, I have this data collected from 1816 through 1852, but I’m still missing a handful of special elections for these offices. For the other offices currently in the database, Indiana has only had a special election for one of them: Lt. Governor in 1886. I’ve got that collected, too, and anticipate having complete special election data added when I finish the general election data.
3. I’ve started adding primary election data, and this update has information on all primaries from 2002 through 2014. As I wrap up general election and special election data entry, this will increasingly become my focus. Stay tuned.
4. As a result of adding primary election results, the Election Results page now has several new features:
4a) You can now search by election type (generals, all primaries, Republican primaries, Democratic primaries, or specials).
4b) When the results appear, they are segmented by election type with a count of how many elections are in each category.
4c) The date of the election is displayed with each result.
4d) There is a new permalink structure that makes it easier to find and share individual election results.
5. Similarly, the addition of primary election results required an update to the Records & Stats page on Electoral Vote Records. You can now sort records there by election type.
6. Individual politician profile pages have also been updated to reflect the inclusion of primary election results. The election results section of those pages specify the type of election, and the candidate record is broken down by election type.
7. The Elections in the Database page, which automatically updates when new results are added (bookmark it!) is also now broken down by election type.
8. Minor update #1: When entering special election data for the [elexlink year=”1989″ office=”7″ type=”3″]1989 4th District Special Election[/elexlink], I realized the start date for [pollink pid=108] in that office was incorrect. It has been corrected.
9. Minor update #2: While reviewing results already in the database, I noticed I had missed the 1906 elections for [elexlink year=”1906″ office=”25″ type=”1″]Attorney General[/elexlink] and [elexlink year=”1906″ office=”23″ type=”1″]Superintendent of Public Instruction[/elexlink]. Both have been added.
10. Minor update #3: While entering new results, I noticed that [pollink pid=”825″] was listed as having entered office after winning a special election, and leaving office after losing reelection. That wasn’t the case, but the actual situation was a bit confusing: [pollink pid=”43″] was the 1st District Congressman when he decided to run for Governor in 1888. Posey ran for the open seat, but [elexlink year=”1888″ office=”4″ type=”1″]narrowly lost[/elexlink] to [pollink pid=”826″]. Hovey [elexlink year=”1888″ office=”1″ type=”1″]won the gubernatorial race[/elexlink] and resigned his Congressional seat to become Governor. A special election was called to fill out the last month and a half of his term. This time, [elexlink year=”1889″ office=”4″ type=”3″]Posey beat Parrett[/elexlink]. So Posey did run in 1888 for an election that would have given him another term, but he wasn’t yet an incumbent when he lost it. I’ve updated his status to reflect that he lost the election for a full term, rather than saying he lost a reelection bid.