Campaign Trivia

Combing through the annals of history.

With the pick of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, much has been made of the historical nature of the event. Not only is she the first woman to be nominated to the Republican ticket, but only the second woman ever nominated to a major party ticket. She's also the first Alaskan to be nominated to a major party ticket. That got us here at the Worb thinking - what other states have yet to field a presidential or vice presidential nominee?

Since the 1788, fifteen of the fifty states have yet to be represented by a major party candidate. And for those of you with insatiable curiosity, here they are:

• Colorado
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Mississppi
• Montana
• New Mexico
• Nevada
  
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• Utah
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Some of those should come as no surprise; for instance, some the Mountain West states have been members of the union for only about a hundred years, limiting their chances. But some states (like Mississippi and Florida) caught me off guard. We've never had a Floridian on either party's ticket in 232 years? Really? Nor anyone from Vermont or Rhode Island?

One last note: while Barack Obama was born in Hawaii (contrary to some rumors), he is currently representing Illinois, so he is counted as being from Illinois.

Find any states or candidates I forgot? Leave a comment and set me straight!