For many of us who followed politics in that fascinating year, those special elections still stand out.
Meanwhile, Democrats have to defend 15 incumbents and two seats for which special elections are expected to be held.
And for those of us with long memories, it has always been the special elections that are most memorable.
There were three such special elections held Tuesday, all three in districts that had elected Republicans in the last election.
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As with other special elections, the race didn't have a state or national slate to draw voters to the polls.
"Turnout in special elections is light, even in the best of times, " said Michael Krasner, a political-science professor at Queens College.
Since that ballot, the opposition has edged up to 86 seats in Parliament through special elections, though it lost control of one state.
Special elections like this one are generally decided by the party faithful, the ones who turn out despite the 100-degree temperatures in June.
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"It does increase voter participation, especially in special elections, " Sample said.
Go back to I think some of the races that you saw in -- go to the special elections that you saw in New York last year.
But special elections are won and lost on turnout, and GOP operatives wisely sensed early on that an upset was possible if all of the planets aligned perfectly.
Obviously off-year races, as you know, Chuck, are -- and special elections are a far different breed than regularly scheduled elections on every other -- or in even-numbered years.
Democrats have now won two special House elections formerly held by Republicans.
And concerns about the disproportionate influence of big business and other special interests on American elections and policy seem ripped from modern headlines.
We have both said we support the public financing of campaigns as the best way to get special interest money out of our elections.
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For over a hundred years Congress has made a judgment that corporations must be subject to special rules when they participate in elections, and this Court has never questioned that judgment.
Among the possibilities: a special session of Congress after the November elections to dramatize the need for a solution.
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The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington, or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections.
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Both parties seem to take lots of money from special interest groups so they can win their elections so much so that more and more independents, libertarians, tea parties, are getting in.
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If we're going to have a special set of rules for groups focused on elections and lobbying -- which we should -- then we need rules that mark clearer lines between political and nonpolitical activity, and an agency with the will and the resources to enforce them.
Special allocations are permitted and useful on fund partnership tax filings, but not with S-Corp tax returns, since special allocations reverse (taint) S-Corp elections.
First, Mr Karzai set up his own special court to investigate electoral fraud in the September elections, an initiative which the country's two election commissions declared illegitimate.
That's why, working with people like Dick Durbin, who's been vocal on this for a long time, we've got to confront the gaping loophole that the Supreme Court recently opened in our campaign finance laws that allowed special interests to spend without limit to influence American elections.
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Tuesday's special election is the last congressional race before the November elections, and that's why it's important, Kinski said.
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Last year, in the Citizens United case, she defended bipartisan campaign finance reform against special interests seeking to spend unlimited money to influence our elections.
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Earlier this week, Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. State Department's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the Afghan elections were critical to quelling a resurgence of the Taliban.
Cuomo and Senate Republicans first extended the tax in a special session in December 2011 after promising in the 2010 elections to reject the measure as a job killer and a bad message for New York to send to employers.
Before the 1998 elections, Richard Holbrooke, the Clinton administration's special envoy to the Balkans, reflected on the problem.
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