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- THE WEEK, Page 21ELECTION `92Few Changes in the Nation's Statehouses
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- Democrats gain two governorships, but women are shut out
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- While Americans voted decisively for change in the White
- House, they rejected it in the Governors' mansions. Neither women
- nor candidates who challenged incumbents could claim a single
- victory. Even so, the Democrats increased their governorships
- from 28 to 30, while the Republican total dropped from 20 to 18
- (two Governors are independents).
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- A pro-incumbent mood kept Democrats in power in Indiana,
- Vermont, West Virginia and Rhode Island. In staunchly Republican
- Indiana, Democrat Evan Bayh, 36, remained America's youngest
- Governor, winning nearly two-thirds of the vote. Former North
- Carolina Governor Jim Hunt returned to power, riding plans for
- crime fighting and economic development to a resounding victory.
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- While women made breakthroughs in national races, all
- three who entered gubernatorial contests bumped up against glass
- ceilings. In New Hampshire, Democrat Deborah ("Arnie") Arnesen
- lost to former attorney general Steve Merrill after she called
- for a 6% income tax in a state that has never taxed income. In
- Rhode Island, Governor Bruce Sundlun trounced Republican
- Elizabeth Leonard, a car dealer making her first run for office.
- And Democrat Dorothy Bradley, a Montana state legislator,
- narrowly lost to attorney general Marc Racicot.
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- The victors can hardly rest easy, though. Many Governors
- must now balance budgets in deficit-ridden states where people
- want no new taxes.
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