The elections are over. Some results surprising. Some not. UW political analyst Charles Franklin wraps it up.
One surprise for Franklin. Republican JB Van Hollen is the new attorney general. But since the ag's office is really separate from the governor's, there shouldn't be too much conflict he says unless Van Hollen has designs some day on being governor. Then he may become a threat. As we've seen with Jim Doyle, the attorney general's office is a stepping stone to the governor's mansion.
As for a democratically controlled state senate and a GOP assembly. Franklin says legislators will have to learn the art of compromise or face four years of gridlock. He says Tuesday's elections should have taught republicans one thing. Voters weren't happy and were ready to vote incumbents out.
As for congress, he doesn't see much getting done in the next two years with Democrats in control of the House. He sees more hearings so they can publicly grill the administration while republicans will be trying to set out a course that goes beyond George W. Bush.