Project Lawsuit Abuse Election Update

Midterm elections certainly shook things up this year at the federal, state and local levels. Republicans took back control of the US House of Representatives and picked up at least six seats in the US Senate, closing in on the margin of Democratic control. Several US House and Senate races are still close to call and are likely to be contested. 

However, most of the action on lawsuit reform occurs at the state level - so while state elections often took a back seat in the 2010 election coverage, Project Lawsuit Abuse was keeping track.

This year, state races determined:
• 37 governors;
• 30 of the country’s 43 popularly elected state attorneys general;
• 1,167 of the country’s 1,971 state senate seats;
• 91.6% of the country’s 5,413 state house seats; and
• redistricting control in 2011.

These state races could have more impact both in the short term as legislatures convene in 2011, and in the long term as redistricting lines are drawn that will have a profound effect on the political landscape moving forward. Here are some big wins on the lawsuit reform front:

• Alabama voters chose Governor-Elect Robert Bentley (R), a retired physician, and Attorney General-Elect Luther Strange (R), both of whom have expressed pro-reform viewpoints.
• Pennsylvania voters selected Attorney General Tom Corbett (R), who defeated Democrat Dan Onorato in the race for Governor. Corbett has included legal reform as part of his “Plan to Reform Pennsylvania’s Job Climate.” As Governor, Corbett will select a nominee to step in as the Attorney General.
• South Carolina’s next Attorney General will be Republican nominee Alan Wilson, a former prosecutor, private practice attorney and son of Congressman Joe Wilson. Wilson has said he will bring more transparency to the state’s AG Office. 
• Texas Governor Rick Perry was re-elected to an historic third-term despite the aggressive campaign by Democratic challenger Bill White, the former three-term mayor of Houston and a trial lawyer. Perry is a strong proponent of legal reform.
• In Ohio, Republican John Kasich, who has vocally campaigned in favor of lawsuit reform, defeated incumbent Governor Ted Strickland (D) with 49% of the vote.