8/27: Did 'Race for the Top' benefit Blue states?

Southern Political Report: John Tures: Did 'Race to the Top' benefit Blue states?

"As the US Department of Education's "Race to the Top" grants were being awarded to the competing states in August, speculation was rampant that they were a political payoff to places that voted for President Barack Obama. I investigate whether blue states really did get the money.

"In the first round of voting, Delaware and Tennessee won the grants, finishing at the top. The former voted for Obama, and latter didn't, though the Volunteer State did have a Democratic Party governor. In the second round of voting, the following states won: Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, Florida, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. All but Georgia voted for Obama.

"So the case is closed, right? No, this won't be my shortest column ever. Because 15 states that applied for the money that lost, and also voted for Obama, as well as 15 that didn't vote for him that lost out. Running a chi-square test, I find that the relationship between a state's 2008 vote and getting a Race to the Top grant is statistically significant, but not as strong a relationship as I expected (depending on whether or not you use the Pearson scores or Fisher's Exact Test, as some recommend for small samples). " MORE

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FLORIDA: State's growth management plan tossed out by circuit judge

GEORGIA: Special group formed by legislature to look at reforming Georgia's tax code

KENTUCKY: State court rules Christian-only health plan is insurance

LOUISIANA: Gov. Jindal talks about five years of progress since Hurricane Katrina

MISSISSIPPI: State could become first place in the world to turn woodchips into fuel oil

NORTH CAROLINA: State revenue falls even as more money comes in from taxes

SOUTH CAROLINA: "Virtual One-Stop" employment system set to launch in state

TENNESSEE: Unemployment picture improves in most of Tennessee

VIRGINIA: Massive computer failure is hurting state's government

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