# Ye olde Electoral Watering Hole!!!



## Statistikhengst

*It's not just for math geeks!!!*

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This is a place to hang out and *trade electoral trivia and tidbits from 1789-present*, stuff that often falls under the radar screen, stuff that is fun to learn. The almighty powers above encouraged me to place this thread here and not in the elections forum.

Here's how it works.

Every day, I throw out a trivia question. Whoever gets it right first gets a pos rep from me, guaranteed.

Anybody can submit a piece of trivia as well. It can be presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial or part of the history of the US House of representatives. I am thinking that very small local election trivia will probably not find a huge amount of resonance....if you contribute electoral trivia, you can also pose it as a question, or just throw it out there, however you may like.

Anybody can submit a trivia question and can ask me to research it. If my research turns up an answer, I will publish it. And in that case, I get a rep from the questioner!

Or, you can submit a trivia question and if someone else researches it and gets it right, then you know how to reward him!

The Trivia can be about names, specific elections, numbers (percentages, swings, trends), lucky-or-unlucky electoral accidents, you name it.

This thread is NOT about "so and so one and now the USA sucks". 

Time to charge up those brain cells! 


PS. Not trying to make it a partisan thing in any way. I have tons of trivia for both major parties and third parties as well. Trivia no. 1 begins in the second posting.

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## Statistikhengst

*Trivia no 1:*

_Can Lightning strike twice?_

There is one and only one state in the Union where the same party carried that state in the national election by exactly the same margin (down to the 100th of a percentage point) twice - and these two wins were within eight years of each other.

What state, which candidates and when?


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## Statistikhengst

A friendly shout out to some folks who might want to play the game: [MENTION=42916]Derideo_Te[/MENTION] [MENTION=40495]AngelsNDemons[/MENTION] [MENTION=41527]Pogo[/MENTION] [MENTION=26011]Ernie S.[/MENTION] [MENTION=9429]AVG-JOE[/MENTION] [MENTION=45886]Mad_Cabbie[/MENTION] [MENTION=42649]Gracie[/MENTION] [MENTION=20412]JakeStarkey[/MENTION] [MENTION=25505]Jroc[/MENTION] [MENTION=38281]Wolfsister77[/MENTION] [MENTION=21679]william the wie[/MENTION] [MENTION=23424]syrenn[/MENTION] [MENTION=43625]Mertex[/MENTION] [MENTION=37250]aaronleland[/MENTION] [MENTION=36767]Bloodrock44[/MENTION] [MENTION=36528]cereal_killer[/MENTION] [MENTION=40540]Connery[/MENTION] [MENTION=30999]daws101[/MENTION] [MENTION=46449]Delta4Embassy[/MENTION] [MENTION=33449]BreezeWood[/MENTION] [MENTION=31362]gallantwarrior[/MENTION] [MENTION=24610]iamwhatiseem[/MENTION] [MENTION=46750]Knightfall[/MENTION] [MENTION=46690]Libertarianman[/MENTION] [MENTION=20450]MarcATL[/MENTION] [MENTION=20594]Mr Clean[/MENTION] [MENTION=20704]Nosmo King[/MENTION] [MENTION=43268]TemplarKormac[/MENTION] [MENTION=20321]rightwinger[/MENTION] [MENTION=41494]RandallFlagg[/MENTION] [MENTION=25283]Sallow[/MENTION] [MENTION=21357]SFC Ollie[/MENTION] [MENTION=18905]Sherry[/MENTION] [MENTION=43491]TooTall[/MENTION] [MENTION=25451]tinydancer[/MENTION] [MENTION=31918]Unkotare[/MENTION] [MENTION=45104]WelfareQueen[/MENTION] [MENTION=21524]oldfart[/MENTION] [MENTION=42498]Esmeralda[/MENTION] [MENTION=43888]AyeCantSeeYou[/MENTION] [MENTION=19302]Montrovant[/MENTION] [MENTION=11703]strollingbones[/MENTION] [MENTION=18988]PixieStix[/MENTION] [MENTION=23262]peach174[/MENTION] [MENTION=13805]Againsheila[/MENTION] [MENTION=38085]Noomi[/MENTION] [MENTION=18905]Sherry[/MENTION] [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION] [MENTION=38146]Dajjal[/MENTION] [MENTION=18645]Sarah G[/MENTION] [MENTION=46193]Thx[/MENTION] [MENTION=20614]candycorn[/MENTION] [MENTION=24452]Seawytch[/MENTION] [MENTION=29614]C_Clayton_Jones[/MENTION] [MENTION=18990]Barb[/MENTION] [MENTION=19867]G.T.[/MENTION] [MENTION=31057]JoeB131[/MENTION] [MENTION=11278]editec[/MENTION] [MENTION=22983]Flopper[/MENTION] [MENTION=22889]Matthew[/MENTION] [MENTION=46136]dreolin[/MENTION] [MENTION=19867]G.T.[/MENTION] [MENTION=19302]Montrovant[/MENTION] [MENTION=24208]Spoonman[/MENTION] [MENTION=20285]Intense[/MENTION] [MENTION=24122]racewright[/MENTION] [MENTION=5176]RetiredGySgt[/MENTION] [MENTION=44536]BobPlumb[/MENTION] [MENTION=46351]Shrimpbox[/MENTION] [MENTION=39072]mamooth[/MENTION] [MENTION=45320]Nyvin[/MENTION]


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## Montrovant

I might check in here to see the answers, but I'm not going to know any myself!  I don't know any political trivia.


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## Statistikhengst

Montrovant said:


> I might check in here to see the answers, but I'm not going to know any myself!  I don't know any political trivia.



But it will be fun and I expect we will have some really cool surprises from all sorts of people all over the place.


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## gallantwarrior

Apologies.  I might come through once in a great while, but I am totally inundated with everything else I'm doing.  Regretfully little time to spend at USMB right now.  Thanks for the invite.


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## Statistikhengst

Poor little orphaned thread..... but I bet with time it will catch on.....




I'll leave Trivia no. 1 hanging for a while until someone comes along and bites.

OUCH!!!


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## TemplarKormac

Here's one I bet people don't know.

Senators weren't always elected to their positions. Before the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, Senators were appointed to their respective positions by state legislatures. Citizens voted for their state legislators, who in turn voted the man into the Senate.


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## TemplarKormac

Statistikhengst said:


> Poor little orphaned thread..... but I bet with time it will catch on.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll leave Trivia no. 1 hanging for a while until someone comes along and bites.
> 
> OUCH!!!



At least now you didn't pull a shoe out of the water! You got me!


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## Statistikhengst

TemplarKormac said:


> Here's one I bet people don't know.
> 
> Senators weren't always elected to their positions. Before the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1913, Senators were appointed to their respective positions by state legislatures. Citizens voted for their state legislators, who in turn voted the man into the Senate.




Correct.


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## mamooth

Statistikhengst said:


> I'll leave Trivia no. 1 hanging for a while until someone comes along and bites.



Not gonna happen. Too difficult. Web searching didn't find it. It would take hours of research poring over election results tables to come up with the answer, and it's not worth the effort.


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## Statistikhengst

mamooth said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'll leave Trivia no. 1 hanging for a while until someone comes along and bites.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not gonna happen. Too difficult. Web searching didn't find it. It would take hours of research poring over election results tables to come up with the answer, and it's not worth the effort.
Click to expand...



Yes, [MENTION=39072]mamooth[/MENTION], but you tried, and that in and of itself is fantastic.

Congrats for the first elbow-grease.

The answer to factoid no 1:

MISSOURI

1920: Warren Harding, +11.43% margin
1928: Herbert Hoover, +11.43% margin

Absolutely identical (down to the one hundredth of a percentage point) margins in the same state within 8 years time, and also by the same party.


http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2012&fips=29&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state


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## Statistikhengst

Next factoid:


Who is the only presidential candidate to win Colorado three times, and yet, not win the national election even one of those times?


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## CrusaderFrank

Prior to the Income Tax, States had to fund the federal government based upon their proportional share of the Electoral Vote, so CA would have to contribute just over 10% of the revenues to the Federal government.

&#8220;To those whom much is given, much is expected.&#8221; -- JFK


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## william the wie

Sorry, I see politics as something that affects my brockerage account hence my interest in ACA. By the way do you keep track of the Presidential and Census Cycles? In 2017 the political heavy hitters will either be trying to find their way to the bathrooms in the new administration or working to gain state houses for the upcoming reapportionment. Should be a great time to buy puts with that much political uncertainty.


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## william the wie

Statistikhengst said:


> Next factoid:
> 
> 
> Who is the only presidential candidate to win Colorado three times, and yet, not win the national election even one of those times?


WJ Bryant.


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## g5000

Statistikhengst said:


> Next factoid:
> 
> 
> Who is the only presidential candidate to win Colorado three times, and yet, not win the national election even one of those times?



I am going to guess that was William Jennings Bryan.


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## g5000

Okay, I just checked the elections results for 1896, 1900, and 1908 and I was right.  Woo hoo!

First NYT Election Map? | Matthew Ericson - ericson.net

Presidential Election of 1900

United States presidential election, 1908 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Moonglow

What Arkansas governor broke Constitutional law when he negotiated a Mexican Consulate for Little Rock, and only charged one dollar to lease it? 

He had a show on Fox...


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## g5000

Moonglow said:


> What Arkansas governor broke Constitutional law when he negotiated a Mexican Consulate for Little Rock, and only charged one dollar to lease it?
> 
> He had a show on Fox...



Mike Huckabee.

Legality of Huckabee's Mexican consulate deal questioned


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## Statistikhengst

g5000 said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> 
> Next factoid:
> 
> 
> Who is the only presidential candidate to win Colorado three times, and yet, not win the national election even one of those times?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am going to guess that was William Jennings Bryan.
Click to expand...



Yes, you get a rep tomorrow (already shot them for today)


Woot-woot!!!


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## Statistikhengst

People think that Florida was the first electoral mis-call in TV Network coverage, but this is not true. In fact, 2 states were miscalled in the same election.

What two states, and when?


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## Statistikhengst

william the wie said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> 
> Next factoid:
> 
> 
> Who is the only presidential candidate to win Colorado three times, and yet, not win the national election even one of those times?
> 
> 
> 
> WJ Bryant.
Click to expand...



Super close but it is Bryan and not Bryant.

And in fact, Bryan won CO with the largest margin of any presidential candidate in that state's history, with 84.95% of the vote and a whalloping +71.09% margin, in 1896.

No other candidate has ever come close to that kind of record in Colorado since then.


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## mamooth

Statistikhengst said:


> People think that Florida was the first electoral mis-call in TV Network coverage, but this is not true. In fact, 2 states were miscalled in the same election.
> 
> What two states, and when?



Process of elimination time. 

Has to be before 1972, or I would have remembered it. But it can't be too old, as the process of "calling" quickly is fairly recent. Like you said, "TV". So going back ...

1968 and 1964 were not close elections, so probably not those years.

Let me check 1960 ... yep. California incorrectly called for Kennedy, and Hawaii incorrectly called for Nixon.


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## Statistikhengst

mamooth said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> 
> People think that Florida was the first electoral mis-call in TV Network coverage, but this is not true. In fact, 2 states were miscalled in the same election.
> 
> What two states, and when?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Process of elimination time.
> 
> Has to be before 1972, or I would have remembered it. But it can't be too old, as the process of "calling" quickly is fairly recent. Like you said, "TV". So going back ...
> 
> 1968 and 1964 were not close elections, so probably not those years.
> 
> Let me check 1960 ... yep. California incorrectly called for Kennedy, and Hawaii incorrectly called for Nixon.
Click to expand...




Yess!!!   [MENTION=39072]mamooth[/MENTION], you are on a roll!!! Rep coming at you again later today, well done!!!


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Trivia No. 3:

There was a presidential candidate who was so sure of victory, he didn't even go out to campaign, but rather, waged his campaign from the front porch of his home.

Who was that candidate, and in what year did this happen?


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## mamooth

Statistikhengst said:


> Trivia No. 3:
> 
> There was a presidential candidate who was so sure of victory, he didn't even go out to campaign, but rather, waged his campaign from the front porch of his home.
> 
> Who was that candidate, and in what year did this happen?



Hmm. There have been several front-porch campaigns. Garfield 1880, Harrison 1888, McKinley 1896, Harding 1920.

I'll go with what is probably the most famous of them, Mckinley 1896.


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