MIAMII-DADE GOVERNMENT

Unions joining recall effort against Miami-Dade mayor

The effort to recall Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez through a referendum gained momentum Wednesday when it received the support of some county unions.

FLORIDA POLITICS

Diaz-Balarts yank endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist for Senate

Two Miami-area congressmen have pulled their endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate.

EGGELLETION CASE

FBI used paid informant in Josephus Eggelletion case

The U.S. Attorney's office revealed that the FBI used a paid informant to build the case against suspended Broward Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion.

ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE

Prosecutor seeks GOP nomination for Florida attorney general

A Tampa-area prosecutor has joined the Republican race for Florida attorney general.

What's ahead for Gov. Palin? Seven challenges

For two months she basked -- and sizzled -- in the world's hottest celebrity spotlight. Now Sarah Palin has come home to begin the last two years of her term as governor of Alaska. Time to take a deep breath and consider some of the key challenges that lie ahead for Sarah Palin.

Election defined a shift in history for Columbus, Ga., residents

A look at Election Night through the eyes of a generation of older black Americans who came out of the Great Depression as children, lived through segregation and the struggle for civil rights and have now seen the election of the nation's first black president.

How Elizabeth Dole's 'godless' ad was created

The famous -- or infamous, depending on your point of view -- "godless" TV commercial in North Carolina's campaign for the U.S. Senate almost didn't happen.

Political Q.& A: Missouri's new A.G. talks about what he'll change

Among the Democrats swept into office Tuesday was Chris Koster, the state senator and former Cass County prosecutor who will become Missouri’s 41st attorney general in January.

Can Barack Obama undo Bush's tangled legal legacy?

When Barack Obama becomes president in January, he'll confront the controversial legal legacy of the Bush administration. From expansive executive privilege to hard-line tactics in the war on terrorism, Obama must decide what he'll undo and what he'll embrace.

THE WASHINGTON POST | ANALYSIS

Campaign gives some clues to how Obama will govern

There are enough clues to an Barack Obama presidency in the 21-month campaign he waged to win the White House to provide a preliminary assessment. (May need to register)

Emanuel to be Obama's White House chief of staff

The selection of the highly partisan Emanuel, 48, signals that Obama wants a tough taskmaster to run his White House, as well as steely insider able to help push the Obama agenda through Congress. News of his appointment angered some Republicans, who called it a betrayal of Obama's pledge of a more civil politics and bipartisan governing.

Palin effect: Republicans she opposed in Alaska won

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, found guilty of seven felonies last week, is beating his Democratic opponent. So's Rep. Don Young, who's been under federal investigation for years. Some strategists suggested a "Palin effect," which is ironic, given that she backed Young's opponent in the primary and called on Stevens to resign.

4 Ky. Appalachian counties proud they went for Obama

John McCain won 112 of Kentucky's 120 counties, but not the Appalachian counties of Elliott, Menifee, Wolfe and Rowan. Political leaders in the four counties said race wasn't a factor for their mostly white constituents.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

As economic crisis peaked, tide turned against McCain

The presidential race entered a critical three-day period in September when the economic crisis cast the candidates' differences in sharp relief. How the candidates responded -- Sen. John McCain's dramatic moves and sometimes-uneven temperament and Sen. Barack Obama's more analytical reaction and calm vibe -- was a window into how they made decisions. And voters responded. (May need to respond)

Florida, California voters approve gay-marriage bans

A ban on gay marriage, which is already illegal in Florida, looks like it will be enshrined in that state's Constitution. California voters also approved a gay marriage ban for the state constitution, six months after the state's Supreme Court ruled that such a ban violated the state's Constitution.

N.C. voters deny Dole, elect Hagan to U.S. Senate

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole lost her re-election bid Tuesday night to state Sen. Kay Hagan, done in by a combination of Hagan's tireless campaigning, millions of dollars from national Democrats and Barack Obama's strong emphasis on North Carolina.

Obama's updraft lifts N.C. Democrats

North Carolina, long one of the most contested pieces of political turf in America, was trending blue Tuesday as Democrats rode uncertainty about the economy and the Iraq war to a strong showing.

Ban on same-sex unions winning in California

Six months after the California Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage in the state, voters Tuesday were repealing the landmark decision with about half the precincts reporting.

Result resonates in South

The red-brick Bethel AME Church on the corner of Racepath Avenue was built in 1866, only a few years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves that attended it. On Tuesday, the congregants gathered around two small televisions in the fellowship hall witnessed the barely believable: The country built on the backs of their ancestors had just elected as president a man who shared their skin color.