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Keith Olbermann is reporting now that the Associated Press is calling the Viriginia U.S. Senate race in favor of Sen. George Allen’s Democratic opponent, Jim Webb.
5:43 PST UPDATE: Olbermann reported just now that NBC is calling the race for Webb.
Just before the president’s news conference at 11AM PST, the CNN crawl announced that the network was calling the election for Democrat Jon Tester in Montana. Sen. Conrad Burns will face the rest of the Abramoff inquiry without the comfort and privilege of his U.S. Senate seat.
If they are right, there will be 50 Democrats, for certain — and if Webb prevails in Virginia, there will be 51.
Can you say, “irony?” I though you could. If you had to pick a district in Florida where voting was most under suspicion,” wouldn’t you pick U.S. House District 13, the seat most recently occupied by — wait for it — Katherine Harris?
Republican Vern Buchanan was clinging to a 368-vote edge over Democrat Christine Jennings for the 13th Congressional District early this morning…
The results were loaded with controversy as nearly 13 percent of all ballots cast in Sarasota didn’t include a choice for Congress. That difference, and scattered reports of difficulty finding the race on Sarasota’s touchscreen ballots, raised concerns about under-votes in the race.
Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent couldn’t explain why 8,000 to 10,000 fewer people voted in the congressional race than in other high-profile races for governor, attorney general or U.S. Senate. But she said nothing mechanical went wrong with the county’s $4.7 million touchscreen voting machine system…
Throughout the day voters complained that touchscreen voting machines were not registering votes for Jennings properly.
Wait, it gets better.
Buchanan is an ultra-rich car dealer who defeated Tramm Hudson in the Republican primary. You would have thought Buchanan — despite pumping over $2.1 million of his own money into his campaign — would be at a disadvantage because of pesky fraud allegations in a sealed lawsuit. But Hudson was the guy who said blacks can’t swim. You decide.
Buchanan was also one of the few Republicans desperate enough to welcome heavy support from both Dufus Bush and his popular wife, the Lauratron 4000.
Until campaigning for Buchanan, Pres. Bush’s only other visit to Sarasota was on Sept. 11, 2001, when he read the book, “My Pet Goat,” with Sarasota school children, largely without moving his lips. They were just getting to the good part when the news came about the Twin Towers, which explains why another nine minutes went by before our hero returned to his presidential duties of being shuttled back and forth above flyover country.
But I digress.
We’ll keep you posted on how it all comes out, but something tells us Buchanan will maintain his amazing victory. After all, it’s District 13. Not that we’re superstitious, but we’d call Karl Rove in for one of those cleansing ceremonies with a priest before Buchanan unpacks in Harris’ old office.
Hope it sticks — if it does, Dems are one seat away from control of the U.S. Senate:
Sen. George Allen’s political career hung by a thread on Tuesday, as Democrat Jim Webb claimed victory — though fewer than 8,000 votes separated the two, and a recount was virtually certain.
“The votes are in and we won,” Webb said, though there were still votes to count. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Webb had 1,170,564 votes, or 49.6 percent, to Allen’s 1,162,717, or 49.3 percent.
A final count, including all absentee ballots, was expected later Wednesday.
There are no automatic recounts in Virginia, but state law allows a candidate who finishes a half-percentage point or less behind to request a recount paid for by state and local governments.
With a margin greater than that but less than 1 percentage point, the trailing candidate can still seek a recount but has to pay the costs if the results are unchanged. Either way, a recount could not begin until after the State Board of Elections certifies the results Nov. 27; the losing candidate has 10 after that to request a recount.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won reelection decisively yesterday, with 56 percent to Democrat Phil Angelides’ 39 percent. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was virtually unopposed, won decidedly, as well.
Democrats easily retained control of both houses of the state legislature but while it’s been a decade or more since any Republican was elected to down-ticket statewide office in California, Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire, won election as insurance commissioner over Democrat Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, 51 percent to 39 percent.
Democrats won other statewide offices:
As of 5:55 AM today, the winner in the race for secretary of state had not been called, but Democrat Debra Bowen was leading appointed incumbent Republican Bruce McPherson 49 percent to 45 percent.
Our long national nightmare may be coming to an end.
The Democrats have taken the House of Representatives, and the Senate is up for grab pending recounts in Virginia and Montana where the Democratic candidates both hold slight leads.
In the House, some sweet victories must be savored:
CA 11: GOP Rep. Richard Pombo, a rabid anti-environmentalist who the Republicans made chairman of the House Resources Committee — the proverbial fox in the henhouse, lost to a little known Democrat, Jerry McNerney.
AZ 05: Bombastic blowhard GOP Rep. J.D. Hayworth was trounced 52 percent-48 percent by Harry Mitchell.
OH 18: In Rep. Bob Ney’s district, Democrat Zach Space defeated Republican Joy Padgett, who once slimed former hostage Terry Anderson in a political campaign. Space won handily, 61 percent-39 percent.
AZ 08: As expected, Democrat Gabrielle Giffords took the seat being vacated by retiring openly gay GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe (who has been accused of being overly friendly with a former House page 10 years ago.)
NC 11: Conservative Democrat Heath Shuler defeated GOP Rep. Charlie Taylor. 53 percent-47 percent.
And there’s a tie:
NC 08: This is the district outside Charlotte where I went to high school. Republican Rep. Robin Hayes, heir to the Cannon Mills fortune, is in a recount with populist Democrat Larry Kissell.
The actual numbers from the Montana Senate race, as of 8 a.m. Eastern time are:
Democrat Tester: 168,121
Rebpublican Burns: 165,008
The Montana Secretary of State’s website doesn’t say what percent of votes that represents.
Meanwhile, Montana’s News Channel 8 shows more results.
…we’re still waiting for final numbers from Yellowstone and Gallatin counties.
The numbers are still trickling in, and Sen. Burns is now within a percentage point of Tester. Vote tallies have been delayed by equipment glitches, high turnout and a recount in Yellowstone County.
The newest numbers show that with 91% of state’s precincts reporting, Tester is leading Burns 174,045 to 172,392.
Yellowstone is the state’s biggest county and the recount is still in process.
Too soon to be indicative but still a bummer. MSNBC has Virginia Sen. George Allen with over 50,000 votes and Jim Webb has over 30,000.
UPDATE from Trish: ABC is now reporting Allen with 50% and Webb with 49%! Meanwhile, Britney is still leaving K-Fed.
UPDATED UPDATE from Trish: Allen now has only 1,757 more votes than Webb, with 99.10% of the precincts reporting. Do they have run-offs in Virginia Senate races? I’m sure they have recounts. Meanwhile, Brit is still way over Kevin.
Charlie Crist is giving his victory speech, and so far he’s thanked his sisters, which he always does as a way to show himself embracing females on the stage; Jeb Bush, whom he called — and I’m not making this up — “the world’s” greatest governor (note to Crist’s handlers — explain international political systems to the newbie); and mother-frickin’ Pres. Bush, whom he called a brave leader. I can’t stand it.
An in-depth PR analysis of the Tennessee Senate race between Ford (Dem) and Corker (Rep) shows a whole bunch of the state not yet counted. Polling place problems meant after-hours voting in Nashville and Knoxville, while Shelby County (Memphis), Ford’s home and the biggest county in the state, is uncounted. So don’t call it Repug yet.
In the diplomatic ranks, trained professionals toil,
To keep the peace and tamp down foreign turmoil.
But for Greek ambassador,
Trump picked an artful dodger —
The grifting, drunken blackmailer Kimberly Guilfoyle.
