The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of the States

This is important? During the 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign, then-candidate Rick Scott paraded a rescue dog named “Reagan” on the campaign trail, touting the Labrador retriever as a more down-to-earth pet choice than President Obama’s purebred Portuguese water dog, Bo. Reagan was a fixture with Scott, even after he won the election, before… disappearing. As it turns out, the Governor gave back his skittish pup shortly after being sworn-in, saying that Reagan would bark at anyone carrying anything, and that he was seriously freaking out executive branch staff in Tallahassee. Thankfully, the Sunshine State’s first family still has another rescue lab, a 7-year old named Tallee. [Tampa Bay Times]

For all the fuss the Ohio GOP made about early voting benefiting Democrats, they may have been totally mistaken. According to statistics from the Ohio Secretary of State, most in-person early votes were from Democratic-leaning counties, including 70,825 from Franklin County (Columbus) and 45,400 from Cuyahoga (Cleveland), the second- and first-most populous in the sate respectively. In terms of the percentage of a county’s votes cast early, however, Republicans hold a clear lead– of the 24 highest-percentage counties, only 8th place Athens County, home to all of 64,757 residents, voted for President Obama. [Columbus Dispatch]

If labor-backed Democrats in Michigan are hoping for a Wisconsin-style recall campaign, they may be out of luck. At the end of 2012, Republican governor Rick Snyder signed legislation altering how recalls are petitioned and conducted. Instead of being judged at a county level, petitions will be reviewed for “clarity and ‘truth’,” before being voted on by a state-level, bipartisan commission. Additionally, signatures must be collected in 60 rather than 90 days, and officials other than the governor will face an opponent (determined by a primary), rather than an up-or-down vote; the governor will be replaced by the lieutenant governor if he or she is voted down. [The Iron Mountain Daily News]