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November 07, 2006
And We're Off
Not looking good, but not looking horrible either.
So far, we've lost the ones we expected to lose and the rest are too close to call. Networks seem to be jumping the gun on calls to me.
Maine results here. With 4% of the vote in, it looks like most of our incumbents are staying right where they are, and if those TABOR numbers hold, it's going to mean the end of that type of ballot initiative for awhile. Palesky failed, now TABOR is squeaking. If it does go down for defeat, it will be awhile before voters put up with another one.
Allah, Ace and Dave also liveblogging. Dave notes something odd - they are calling races incredibly early. Too early. I think we're going to see a lot of Florida 2000 redux. So much for being careful.
Maine turnout was near 50% - great for an off-year election.
Now they're calling Michigan with 5% reporting. And Minnesota with 1%. Would it kill them to wait until, oh, 50% was counted or so?
AP has called the race for Snowe. Big surprise there. /sarcasm
AP is really jumping the gun on some of these races, though. I thinkn a few are going to have to be recalled. I mean, the more votes that are counted in Maryland, the farther Steele pulls ahead of Cardin, but according to the media, it's already over.
How is that possible?
Okay, now Steele is falling behind. Santorum conceding now.
However...
190,000 absentee ballots were requested in Maryland. Maybe the networks should wait until votes are counted?
10:07 p.m. - Looks like Baldacci is going to pull it out with a plurality. Woodcock's support plummeted in the last couple of days, I guess and there was a last-minute surge for LaMarche? Weird.
Also, with 16% in, TABOR is down by 13%. I don't think they're going to bridge that gap. I'm not calling that yet, but it doesn't look good.
I hear Fox news is calling the House for the Dems. Just what I figured. Let the party infighting on the left begin...
Good point by ace - a realignment election.
TABOR cut to 9% deficit - yes still ahead, with 20% in now. Still a big gap. My gut is that it will lose by about 2 or 3%.
BDN says turnout was 53% or so. Amazing.
And Steele is back up, it seems. Refusing to concede, according to the Corner (no link, as their site is wonky).
Lieberman giving victory speech. Glad to see him win.
10:48 p.m. - And, with 27% of the vote in...the BDN server craps out and the full results are unavailable. But the front-page results are there, and trends are still holding.
And it looks like we had 56% turnout in this state. Astounding.
Oh, and libertarians suck.
Some races are easier to call than others, I guess. The media just makes the same mistakes over and over again.
Wow. Bob Casey is really boring.
11:03 p.m. - 30% in Maine and all trends holding. Merrill really made an impressive showing. I think she pulled support from Woodcock and Baldacci. Baldacci has this one, though. Still, with 39% of the vote and the makeup of the House and Senate in flux, he'd better not act as though he's got a sweeping mandate.
Cardin claimed victory based on exit polls, it seemed. Not smart, as his opponent is now 11,000 votes ahead. On the menu? Crow.
So far, the Dems are having a good night, but this doesn't seem to be the wave predicted by Charlie Cook and others. I think that was held off by Republican turnout, fueled in part by Kerry's verbal gaffe and Pelosi's early celebrating.
The votes keep coming in for Maine, and the trends are holding. TABOR may lose by more than 3 or 4%.
11:22 p.m. - The Washington Post decided to be the first to sample that tasty, tasty crow. They just withdrew their call for Cardin in Maryland.
Forgot to mention - Question 2, which will effectively set limits on the citizen's initiative process? Looks like it's going to pass.
The Maine governor race is over. Woodcock concedes, Baldacci gives a victory speech.
Almost half the vote is in and TABOR is still 9 points behind. I'll have more on this point tomorrow in a recap, but I think TABOR supporters can safely blame Bill Owens and overpromises for this defeat.
Wow. Local reporters ask dumb questions.
12:03 a.m. - 53% of the vote is in and the TABOR numbers are holding steady 55% no, 45% yes. This one's over, folks. Nothing to see here.
And Allen might still lose in Virginia. Disappointing, but the guy ran a terrible, terrible campaign. At least this kills the "Allen for President" nonsense.
Posted by slublog at November 7, 2006 09:23 PM
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