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Nevada to decide who'll face Harry Reid

(NEWSER) - Tomorrow's primary races will set the stage for gubernatorial and Senate contests in 11 states. Time reports on the 9 key races—here are 4 of the most important.

1. Nevada, Republican Senate: The state will decide who is to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It's shaping up to be a battle between Sue Lowden, an established Nevada Republican, and Sharron Angle, a Tea Party-endorsed candidate.
2. Arkansas, Democratic Senate Runoff: Incumbent Blanche Lincoln failed to win by a big enough margin last month to secure her candidacy, so now she has to square off with her Lt. Governor, Bill Halter.

Northeast, Midwest would lose seats if today's census was used

(NEWSER) - The South is gaining population and power at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday. If House seats were distributed based on the estimates, which are believed to be a strong predictor of the 2010 census results, Texas would be the big winner, gaining three seats, with Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each adding one. More»

Magnet states in West, South lose residents; Texas gains the most

(NEWSER) - The recession has turned migration patterns on their heads in the last year. So-called magnet states in the West and South aren't so magnetic anymore, with Florida and Nevada starkly illustrating the trend. Earlier this decade, they both topped the growth charts, but now see more people on the way out than on the way in. Florida “was a growth machine,” a demographer tells the Washington Post . “And it just sort of stopped.” More»

Ariz., Fla., Ill., Mich., and NJ among others facing crises

(NEWSER) - California has by no means cornered the market on enormous financial problems at the state level, with a report out today saying Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are also at tremendous risk. The Pew Center sees widespread unemployment, huge budget deficits, and the ongoing foreclosure crisis as common factors—plus various constraints that keep many of the states from raising taxes. More»

(NEWSER) - The many states hoping gambling will revive their troubled budgets are in for an unpleasant surprise, writes Nate Silver for Esquire. Gambling is supposed to be recession-proof, but that hasn’t been the case this time. "The year 2008 was the first time in history that total casino gaming revenues declined throughout the United States," writes Silver, of FiveThirtyEight.com fame. In Las Vegas, they were down a whopping 12%, and they’ve fallen another 15% this year. More»