November 2, 2010
LA Times: Prop 19 Goes Down
LA Times: "Prop. 19, the measure to legalize marijuana in California, drew its strongest support from voters under 25 years old, Democrats and big-city-dwellers. But the California exit poll also found that opposition to the initiative was widespread. The Bay Area was the only region that tilted toward the measure -- and just barely, at 51% to 49%. It lost 54% to 46% in Los Angeles County, and 59% to 41% in the rest of Southern California."
***
Reid Looking Good in Nevada
NYT: We've finally gotten some votes in from Nevada. They're early ballots, it looks like, and they're from Clark County, home to three-quarters of the state's population, where Harry Reid has a roughly 12-point lead over Sharron Angle. By contrast, Barack Obama won Clark County by 19 points in 2008, when he won Nevada by 12.5 points over all. If you extrapolate those numbers -- the Democrat performs 6-7 points worse in the whole of Nevada than he does in Clark County -- it suggests that a 12-point margin in Clark County would be enough for Mr. Reid to carry Nevada by a couple of points. But there are several caveats. First, we don't know if the results of live ballots will match those of early ones. Second, rural turnout might be comparatively higher in this election than it was in 2008. Still, that is not a bad number for Harry Reid, which is why trading markets now think the race slightly favors him."
Paladino Brings Baseball Bat to Concession Speech
HuffPo: Carl Paladino, erstwhile Republican candidate for New York governor who lost tonight to Andrew Cuomo, used his concession speech as an occasion to wave a baseball bat around and cry, "You have not heard the last from Carl Paladino."
***
CA: Jerry Brown + Boxer Projected Winners -- 8:15 PST
LA Times: "With the polls now closed in California, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is projected to become the next governor of California, based on exit poll results. Brown, who had previously served as California's youngest governor since the 1850s, became the oldest Californian ever elected to the post Tuesday, winning a decisive victory over Republican Meg Whitman."
More LA Times: "Sen. Barbara Boxer is projected to win a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, based on exit poll results.
Boxer defeated former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina after a bruising multimillion-dollar campaign. The Democratic incumbent bucked the national tide that saw Republicans make gains in the Senate and take control of the House of Representatives."
***
Feingold Not Conceding Yet -- 1.4 Million Uncounted Votes
TPM: Via the blog WisPolitics, Feingold is not conecding. "Russ is down by 80,000 votes, but...up to 1.4 million votes haven't been counted," his campaign manager, George Aldrich, said at Feingold HQ. "[N]ot a single vote" from the liberal city of Madison has been counted yet. "We are confident that this race is going to tighten, it is going to tighten quickly, and we may be in for a long night here," he said.
***
Joe Sestak Loses Lead in Penn.
NYT Nate Silver: "We wrote earlier that Joe Sestak needed to perform strongly in Berks and Lehigh counties to maintain his advantage over Pat Toomey. Unfortunately for the Democrats, he hasn't: both those counties have now flipped to Mr. Toomey, as has the state of Pennsylvania, although by an extremely small margin. The Times's Matthew Ericson reports that if you extrapolate out the current vote in the remaining counties, Mr. Toomey would win by about 30,000 votes. That clearly makes the state too close to call, although the advantage is now Mr. Toomey's."
***
GOP Rep. Joseph Cao Loses In LA-02
Talking Points Memo: "In one of what seems sure to be a very small number of Dem pickups tonight, Democrat Cedric Richmond has beaten GOP Rep. Joseph Cao, the AP projects."
***
NBC: Feingold Loses in Wisconsin
MSNBC: "NBC News projects that incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold has lost his bid for re-election to the Senate. Republican Ron Johnson, a businessman, defeated the liberal senator from Wisconsin in what became an unexpectedly tight challenge for Feingold."
***
Racist Tancredo Goes Down
Washington Post: "Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has won the Colorado governor's race after a campaign in which the GOP nominee imploded and a third-party candidate made a late surge.
Hickenlooper is a former brew pub owner who benefited from the collapse of GOP nominee Dan Maes. Immigration hard-liner Tom Tancredo got in the race as a third-party candidate and couldn't overcome Hickenlooper's widespread popularity."
***
POT = GOTV
LA Times: "One in ten voters who showed up at the California polls today were there to vote primarily on proposition 19, exit polls from California show. For younger voters, the figure was slightly higher, with the pot legalization initiative ranking as the third-strongest motivator, behind the governor’s race and the Senate race, the L.A. Times reports." This is a major piece of election news -- if pot inspires a 10% turnout, then expect all the more effort put into legalization efforts across the country. Of course the prohibitionist LA Times desperately tried to undermine this shocking statistic in its article.
***
Ill. Sen: Dem Giannoulis Still Leading
From TPM: "About half the vote in in Illinois, and Alexis Giannoulias has a 6 point lead."
***
Pa. Sen: Sestak on Verge of Upset Against Toomey
NYT-Nate Silver: "Joe Sestak's numbers in Pennsylvania look ... more robust. He's holding his own in the western portion of the state, the Philadelphia suburbs, and performing well in the industrial areas in the eastern portion of the state. He has accumulated a 100,000-vote advantage so far in Philadelphia. This race ought to worry Republicans."
***
OH: Progressive Kaptur Holds off Nazi Impersonator
Huffpo's Ryan Grim: "Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat, is claiming victory. She fought off Rich Iott, who infamously enjoys dressing up as a Nazi, with "a clear focus on jobs and improving our economy for our middle class," she tells HuffPost in an email. She notes that she was outspent 4-1."
***
Prostitute Scandal Doesn't Stop Vitter from Re-Election
TPM: "If the Louisiana Senate race was a referendum on Democratic rule, it was also a referendum on Sen. David Vitter (R). He joined the House in 1999 as a values conservative on the right flank of the Republican party, replacing the disgraced Bob Livingston. Rumors swirled around Vitter for years, but he nonetheless moved to the Senate in 2005 replacing the retiring Democrat John Breaux. His reputation was shattered in 2007, though, when he was discovered to have solicited prostitutes in both Washington DC and Louisiana. Tonight, however, he defeated Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon in one of the most vicious campaigns of the 2010 cycle."
***
MO Sen. -- Blunt Beats Carnahan
TPM DC: "The Missouri Senate delegation will remain divided in 2011, as tonight Republican Rep. Roy Blunt defeated Democrat Robin Carnahan to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Kit Bond."
***
Oklahoma Votes to Make English State's Official Language & Bans Sharia Law
From the AP: "Oklahoma voters have approved a measure requiring that all official state actions be conducted in English. The author of the official English bill, Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, has said that English and the 'melting pot' process it makes possible,'"has made the United States the most successful multiethnic nation in history.' The measure drew opposition from several groups, including the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, which says the question discriminates against new citizens who want to do business with the state."
And Oklahoma has banned sharia law as well.
***
Cuomo Wins Big Against Paladino, Progressive Schneiderman Leading
NYT: "Andrew M. Cuomo, whose career in government appeared all but over just eight years ago, was elected the 56th governor of New York on Tuesday, a stunning comeback for the scion of one of the state’s legendary political families. ... Recent polls that show State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, the Democrat, with a thin lead over Daniel M. Donovan Jr., the Republican district attorney from Staten Island, in the race to succeed Mr. Cuomo as attorney general. In the state comptroller’s race, Thomas P. DiNapoli, the incumbent, is trying to eke out a victory against a dark-horse Republican opponent, the former financier Harry J. Wilson. Polls showed that race also tightening in recent weeks."
***
NBC Calls House for Republicans
Politico: "NBC News has projected that Republicans will win the House of Representatives. According to MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, the network predicts Republicans will win 236 seats and Democrats will hold 199 seats. The margin of error is 13 seats. The network made the call after polls in 14 states closed at 9 p.m. EDT."
Alan Grayson Goes Down
From Talking Points Memo: "With 160 of 239 precincts reporting, Republican former state Sen. Dan Webster leads Grayson 57.4%-39.2%, and has been projected as the winner by CNN and the Orlando Sentinel."
***
House Challenger Krystal Ball Loses in Va.
From the Daily Press: "Democrat Krystal Ball won a measure of fame during her initial run for public office, but it was hardly enough to pull off an upset on Tuesday. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, cruised to an easy win over Ball in the 1st Congressional District, a conservative swath of Virginia that stretches from the Virginia Peninsula to the Fredericksburg area. With 44 percent of the vote tallied. Wittman had 64 percent to 34.1 percent for Ball, according to unofficial returns. Independent Green Party candidate Gail Parker finished third with 1.2 percent." AlterNet published Ball's essay on fighting her smear campaign and breaking through the glass cieling of male-dominated politics on earlier in October.
***
Joe Manchin wins in W. Va
From Talking Points Memo: "We now have a result in a key red state -- where Democrats have been saved the loss of the seat that was previously held by the late Dem Senator Robert Byrd since 1958 -- as Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin has defeated Republican businessman John Raese. With 12% of precincts reporting, Manchin leads by 54%-43%, and has been projected as the winner by NBC News and Fox News."
***
Two Key GOP House Seat Gains
Nate Silver at NYT: "The races in Virginia's Ninth Congressional District, where Rick Boucher, the Democrat, had been thought to be a slight favorite, has instead been called for the Republican, Morgan Griffith. So has the race in Florida's 24th District, where Suzanne M. Kosmas was defeated, although her loss had been expected. While there haven't been any huge surprises so far, this continues to look like a fairly good night over all for the Republicans."
***
Dem Insiders: Feingold Still Alive?
From Sam Stein at the HuffPo: There is an obvious interest among the national Democratic Party in keeping voter enthusiasm and interest sustained for as long as possible. Races on the west coast are ongoing. News of a blowout along the Atlantic would depress turnout there. Still, two separate Democrats have now reached out to the Huffington Post to caution against writing off Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), who had been trailing badly in most polls leading up to the election. A senior Democrat relayed media consortium data that showed the Wisconsin Democrat down just one point in exit polls. Another survey of voters leaving sites had him in a dead heat. It’s spin, to be sure. And the betting money remains on Feingold losing. But combine that with optimistic takes on the chances of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and one gets the sense that Democrats aren’t quite as bearish as they have been about their Senate prospects. “How real the data is I don’t know,” the senior Democrat said of the Feingold numbers. “But we will fight the fight as if it is real.”
***
Blumenthal Wins -- WWF CEO McMahon Defeated
From TPM: "Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has defeated McMahon, the Republican nominee, in the contest to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.
With less than 1% or precincts reporting, Blumenthal leads by 62%-36%, and has been projected as the winner by Fox News and NBC News. (Keep in mind that with so few precincts in, the margin is likely to fluctuate considerably throughout the night -- the current numbers are not final.)"
***
Dems Holding out in Kentucky
Nate Silver at NYT: "O.K., here's a sign that tonight might not be an apocalypse for Democrats: the Kentucky Third District, where John Yarmuth, a Democrat, had been favored but the polling had been erratic, has been called for him. The other vulnerable Democrat in Kentucky, Ben Chandler, is also leading so far in Kentucky's Sixth District. Even though Rand Paul has won the Senate race in Kentucky, I'm not sure he didn't hurt the G.O.P. at the margins down ballot."
***
Christine O'Donnell Loses in Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del. — Democrat Chris Coons easily won Delaware's Senate race over Republican Christine O'Donnell, a tea-party backed candidate who struggled to shake old television footage in which she spoke out against masturbation and talked about dabbling in witchcraft.
An Associated Press analysis of exit polling data showed Coons easily winning the race. O'Donnell's upset win in the GOP primary over moderate congressman Mike Castle likely cost Republicans the contest. Castle, a popular former governor, had been heavily favored to win Vice President Joe Biden's old seat. Coons is a wealthy attorney and the stepson of the founder of the company that developed Gore-Tex fabrics. He is the executive of the state's largest county and mostly supports the Obama administration's agenda. -Associated Press
***
Rand Paul Wins: What Does It Mean?
From Mother Jones' Josh Harkinson and Nick Baumann: "Tea party Republican candidate Rand Paul has won the Kentucky US Senate race. Throughout the campaign, Democrat Jack Conway occasionally seemed to come almost within striking distance, but ultimately Conway, the state attorney general, was unable to overcome a bad year for Democrats in an increasingly red state. The real nail-biter now is how politically extreme Paul will be once he's in the Senate.
Even at the end of this obsessively watched campaign, it remains unclear how Paul would legislate--or anti-legislate. Is he a libertarian with tea party tendencies, or a tea partier with libertarian impulses? It's hard to know, because Paul won this race virtually without talking to media. One of us went to Kentucky to try to get someone--anyone--on the Paul campaign to discuss Paul's positions on various issues and policies. We didn't have much luck." Read More
***
Lynch Wins in New Hampshire
From the AP: "Democratic Gov. John Lynch has overcome an anti-incumbent groundswell and defeated Republican John Stephen to win a historic fourth consecutive two-year term as New Hampshire's governor.
The 57-year-old Lynch faced one of his toughest re-election battles against Stephen, a former health and human services commissioner. Stephen tried to tap voter unrest by promising to cut state spending without raising taxes. He said Lynch's mismanagement would leave a huge budget deficit for the next governor to fix."
No comments:
Post a Comment