New York’s redistricting process has long been derided, and critics of the latest effort, including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, say it gives an unfair advantage to incumbents.

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New York’s Redistricting Process Led by Insiders

The recent downgrade of French debt, though not unexpected, adds to the challenges facing the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, as he seeks re-election.

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France’s Gloomy Economic Outlook Haunts Presidential Race

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: Taiwan’s incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou won re-election Saturday, a result that will delight China and calm worries in Washington that this island of 23 million people might veer away from a policy of rapprochement with its giant neighbor. Read full article > >

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Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s pro-China president, wins reelection

In a web video released in the wee hours of Thursday morning , Jim Messina, who is managing President Obama’s re-election race, had a message for those speculating about how much the incumbent might raise in pursuit of a second term. Read full article > >

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Will President Obama be the first billion dollar man? Probably not.

DAKAR, Senegal — World music icon Youssou Ndour says he plans to run in Senegal’s presidential election next month, challenging an 85-year-old incumbent whose plans to seek a third term have sparked violent protests. Ndour, who made the announcement late Monday on his private radio and TV stations, joins some 20 other candidates already running against President Abdoulaye Wade. Read full article > >

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World music star Ndour challenges Senegal’s aging leader with presidential bid

In a rare interview with reporters, the incumbent serenely rejected complaints from his chief rival and outside observers that the election was not credible.

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Congo President Kabila Denies Reports of Election Fraud

Nicaraguans are set to go to the polls to elect a president, with incumbent Daniel Ortega seen as a favourite to secure another term in office.

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Ortega eyes Nicaragua re-election

The character of Fairfax County’s next school board will depend in large part on the outcome of this fall’s race for three at-large seats, a wide-open contest that could help sweep a change-minded, Republican-backed majority into office. Members endorsed by the Democratic Party currently dominate the board, with nine of the 12 seats, but half of the incumbents are retiring and others are in tough races against challengers, guaranteeing substantial turnover. Read full article > >

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Character of Fairfax school board rests on this fall’s at-large races

The character of Fairfax County’s next school board will depend in large part on the outcome of this fall’s race for three at-large seats, a wide-open contest that could help sweep a change-minded, Republican-backed majority into office. Members endorsed by the Democratic Party currently dominate the board, with nine of the 12 seats, but half of the incumbents are retiring and others are in tough races against challengers, guaranteeing substantial turnover. Read full article > >

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Character of Fairfax school board rests on this fall’s at-large races

LORENZ INC. WON A D.C. contract for landscape and ground maintenance in 2010, promising significant savings to the District. It kept its promise; city public works officials were so pleased with the quality and cost of Lorenz’s work that they pushed this spring to renew its contract for another year. Then the mayor’s office intervened, a politically connected attorney for a rival firm weighed in and suddenly all bets were off. The saga, which is far from resolved, raises troubling questions about how Washington is doing business under the leadership of Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and the incumbent city council. Read full article > >

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Editorial:
Why did D.C. leaders venture into the weeds on a grass-cutting contract?

The major party candidates for chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors met Thursday in their first debate, scrapping cordially over affordable housing, immigration, Metro expansion and other issues. Incumbent Sharon S. Bulova (D) made her case for reelection on Nov. 8 by touting the country’s well-regarded schools, high-quality services, stable budgets and stellar bond ratings. “It didn’t happen that way by accident,” she said. Read full article > >

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Fairfax chairman candidates debate development, housing, transit

THE MEMBERS of the congressional “supercommittee” on deficit reduction have been chosen, and the panel can get to work identifying at least $1.2 trillion in budget savings. While the committee members scrub budget spreadsheets, we would like to pose a challenge to another group: those who would be president, both the incumbent and his Republican opponents. Show us your plans. Where would you find the requisite amount of savings—or even more? What, specifically, would you cut, or what tax revenue would you raise, whether by increasing rates or eliminating loopholes? Submit the plans. We will be delighted to write about them, link to them and feature them (in condensed form) on the op-ed page. Read full article > >

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Presidential candidates (and readers): Show us your budget plan

KINSHASA, Congo — The race to lead sub-Saharan Africa’s largest country kicks off this week with presidential candidates registering for the November election, a vote that threatens to spark even more violence in this nation already wracked by back-to-back civil wars, and still haunted by a myriad of armed groups. Incumbent Joseph Kabila, who first took power after his father’s assassination more than a decade ago, had appeared all but certain of victory until the opposition announced some surprising challengers. Among them is Kabila’s main rival in the 2006 vote — Jean-Pierre Bemba, who awaits his war crimes trial at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Read full article > >

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Opposition unlikely to unite for Congo election in November that threatens to spark violence

A new redistricting proposal in California would draw nearly half the state’s congressional incumbents into districts with one another and significantly expand Democrats’ ability to win seats in the Golden State in 2012 and beyond. The state’s new Citizens Redistricting Commission voted this afternoon to release its first draft proposal for the new congressional map. The proposed map was expected to include huge changes and shake up the delegation by drawing numerous members into districts with each other — and it definitely did that — but in the runup to the release it wasn’t as clear which party would benefit from all those changes. Read full article > >

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Incumbents lose, Democrats win with California redistricting proposal

It’s pretty obvious why special elections, called when a member of the House resigns or dies, are poor indicators of anything. First of all, they’re hardly a representative sample of anything; House districts are rarely closely split between the parties, so most of what happens in specials is the incumbent party winning thanks to a partisan edge. On the other hand, since incumbency matters in House elections, it’s not unusual to find a seat held by a member despite a partisan disadvantage, and those seats will naturally tend to flip the other way once the incumbent is out of the picture. None of that, of course, tells us anything about national trends. Read full article > >

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Special elections shouldn’t matter, but they can — here’s why