As they see it.

• Position: State legislator's election, violence penalty - Brief article

"When I first got elected, I received 70 percent of the vote in my part of town. I don't think people were looking at me as a Republican or a Democrat. I was Vinny, the local guy at the gas station who was one of us."

--Eight-term Representative Vinny deMacedo of Massachusetts, one 0f 30 Republicans in the 160-member House and owner-operator of a Plymouth gas station, as reported in The Patriot Ledger.

"I think we need to send a message that this kind of violence is unacceptable in Oklahoma and will get you into serious trouble."

--Representative Bobby Cleveland (R) Oklahoma on his call for stiff penalties in the "knockout game, "a craze in which an assailant punches an unsuspecting victim while a buddy records it on video, in The Oklahoman.

"We've been told as young people that we can do anything we want to do, and tonight we've proven that to be true."

--Representative Jeramey Anderson (D) Mississippi, 21, to supporters after winning a runoff to become the youngest House member, in the Biloxi and Gulfport Sun Herald.

"We're making progress. By the end of the day we're hoping the teacher compensation system...