Sure you are bleary-eyed from watching election results and you have seen the returns sliced and diced in every which way with projections about what all the results mean, but did you think about what they might mean about the state of academic freedom in higher education and the recent attacks vis-à-vis the so-called "academic bill of rights"?  Well, lucky for you we have.  Here are some highlights that we will update as we get more information.  Let us know if you have news to report related to this thread.

U.S. Congress

The House: Can These Guys Get HEA Done Right?
The biggest news of course is that the U.S. House of Representatives has flipped to the Democrats.  What will this mean for the so-called Academic Bill of Rights?  Well, we can only hope.  As we have reported before, the Congress has been unable to move any legislation of substance for higher education extending the Higher Education Act (HEA) not once, not twice, but three times. 

The upside is that the HEA will have to go through entire reauthorization process again.  The key point here is that when HEA went through the House Education and the Workforce committee this past year, John Tierney (D-MA) offered an amendment to strip the ABOR provision from the HEA.  That amendment was voted down on a party line vote.  Let's hope that Rep. Miller (D-CA) who will now most likely run this committee will work to keep the Federal Government out of our college classrooms when HEA is reauthorized in the next session of Congress and get focused on issues that can really help students.  Looks like he is off to a good start.

Minnesota 6th:  No Help Here
One race we were watching here at Free Exchange was the race for the Minnesota 6th District where ABOR and Intelligent Design proponent Michelle Bachmann was running against Patty Wetterling.  Unfortunately, Wetterling couldn't overcome Bachmann's decided advantages in the district.

In the States

Arizona
The Arizona state legislature remained more or less the same, with the Democrats making some gains in the House.  Governor Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, was re-elected in a landslide.  Nevertheless, Arizona remains a potential hotspot for ABoR legislation.  Free Exchange will continue to keep an eye on this.

Maine
Looks like Maine's Democratic Gov. John Baldacci has defeated Republican challenger Chandler Woodcock who as a Maine State Senator voted for proposed legislation to enact an Academic Bill of Rights.  This is important since Maine Republicans have committed to reintroduce ABOR in this upcoming session. Update: Still don't have the final Maine House and Senate count Maine Democrats opened a huge margin in the House and maintained their lead in the Senate.  Highlights include Stephen L. Bowen who introduced ABOR initiative in 2005 lost as did Lance Cowan who promised to reintroduce ABOR if elected but was trounced by incumbent Emily Cain who opposes ABOR.

Michigan
While voters in Michigan approved a ballot initiative to outlaw affirmative action, the Detroit Free Press reports that "University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman says the school will explore its legal options after the state’s voters approved a ban on [...] programs that offer preferences to women and minorities."

Pennsylvania
We have been watching the Keystone state’s legislative race with interest since the House Select Committee on the ABOR inspired H.R. 177 is scheduled to report out this month and any recommendations they make that involve legislation would be taken up by the new PA House. The Committee would have no basis for such recommendations, but politics being what they are, we watch with a cautious eye.

The PA Senate looks to have remained firmly in control of the Republicans, but the House has turned into a nail biter. According to Capitolwire.com (subscription) Republicans are claiming victory in the House by the narrowest of margins 102-101 which represents a seven seat gain for the democrats. A number of those races were very close and Capitolwire reports that "those victories, including a 19-vote margin in one House race, will be scrutinized today and the rest of the week by the House Democrats."

Interestingly, it seems that the far-right-wing faction of the PA Republican’s may have lost some influence. Gib Armstrong, Republican from Lancaster and sponsor of HR 177 didn’t even get on the ballot, loosing his primary. Tom Stevenson, Republican from Allegheny county and Chair of the Select Committee, lost his primary to a right-winger who promptly lost the seat to the Democrat. Let’s hope a mood of moderation takes over the committee when they meet to release their findings.

Here is how the members of the select committe fared this cycle.

As one Pennsylvania Free Exchanger noted:  "A lot of lame ducks -- hope they don't lay an egg of a report." 



Other State News

Good news for Higher Education funding: "TABOR" ballot initiatives failed in Maine, Nebraska, and Oregon.

Remember those right-wing legislators calling for the heads of the 9-11 conspiracy theorist professors at schools in Wisconsin and New Hampshire?  Well Wisconsin Democratic Governor Jim Doyle was re-elected, and the state Senate flipped for the Democrats as well.  The New Hampshire state House went to the Democrats for the first time in nearly a century, Congressional Republicans were sent packing, and Democratic governor John Lynch was re-elected in a landslide.  Not a good day for right-wing opponents of academic freedom.