The Nifty Fifty Bonus Party

We have now reached the halfway point in the Nifty Fifty, and so it is at this point I have decided to offer up a bonus page. The Bullet Train to November is grounded now in Idaho, but the focus is now on six "silent seats" who speak for the parts of the Union that are not part of a state...

THE DELEGATES

American Samoa: This territory is situated in the South Pacific to the east of Australia and northeast of New Zealand. While elections here are non-partisan, Eni Faleomavaega has served the territory as a Democrat since his first election in 1988. Former congressional aide and RNC member Aumau Amata Radewagen is the Republican candidate for this Delegate spot.

District of Columbia: Designed as a special district independent of a state with three electoral votes and no voter representation, the District has been the subject of statehood issues for quite some time and its residents pays federal income tax, hence the slogan "taxation without representation". The District is very heavily Democratic, and longtime Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is a heavy favorite for re-election; no Republican has filed to challenge her, only candidates from the Libertarian, Socialist Workers and Statehood-Green parties have filed to challenge the incumbent.

Guam: This territory is located north of Australia and draws its economy largely from tourism and American military bases. Its delegate since 2002 has been Madeleine Bordallo, who has caucused in Washington as a Democrat.

Northern Marianas: These islands as a whole make up a commonwealth situated north of Guam, which combines with the Northern Marianas to form the Mariana Islands, and serve as the only insular area of the United States with no congressional representation of its own; the Delegate from Guam primarily represents the commonwealth's interests on Capitol Hill. That will all change however, following a bill (S. 2739) signed by George W. Bush earlier this year which grants the commonwealth. The Republicans have picked Resident Representative Pete Tenorio, while Democrats have nominated former territorial Senator David Cing.

Puerto Rico: Here is another place where its political status is a subject of continuous debate. Three political parties describe the future of Puerto Rico: continue as a Commonwealth (Partido Popular Democrático (PPD)), become the 51st state admitted into the Union (Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP)), or become its own independent nation (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP)). PNP/Republican Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño is running for Governor, meaning there will be a new Resident Commissioner in 2008: either former Secretary of Justice Pedro Pierluisi (PNP), former Puerto Rico Government Development Bank President Alfredo Salazar (PPD), independence activist Jessica Martinez (PIP), or Carlos Alberto Velázquez, who is running under the Partido Puertorriqueños por Puerto Rico (PPR) ticket, which serves as a Green Party of sorts.

U.S. Virgin Islands: America's share of the Virgin Islands takes in the western islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas (The others, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Tortuga, Virgin Gorda, and a host of smaller islands fall into the British Virgin Islands). The American islands are represented in Congress by Delegate Donna Christensen.

Next stop: The Bonus Page (a much bigger one).