Today's podcast is in the can, and after I take my potty break, let's see what the initial returns bring in, shall we?
UPDATE: It'll be a twenty-minute potty break. Don't ask.....
5:23 PM PST: Here are the declared U.S. Senate winners so far:
ALABAMA: Jeff Sessions (R)
ILLINIOS: Ali Dickbar al-Durbini (D)
KENTUCKY: Mitch McConnell (R)
MAINE: Susan Collins (R)
MASSACHUSETTS: Ed Markey (D)
MISSISSIPPI: Thad Cochran (R)
NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker (D)
OKLAHOMA: James Inhofe (R), James Lankford (R) (to replace the retiring Tom Coburn)
RHODE ISLAND: Jack Reed (D)
SOUTH CAROLINA: Lindsey Grahamnesty (R), Tim Scott (R)
TENNESSEE: Lamar Alexander (R)
WEST VIRGINIA: Shelley Moore Capito (R) (the first flip of the night)
This is all low-hanging fruit; the serious contests are yet to come.
5:33 PM PST: In governor's races:
ALABAMA: Robert Bentley (R)
ARKANSAS: Asa Hutchinson (R) (second flip of the night for the GOP)
OHIO: John Kasich (R)
PENNSYLVANIA: Tom Wolf (D) (cancels out Arkansas)
SOUTH CAROLINA: Nikki Haley (R)
TENNESSEE: Bill Haslam (R)
No surprises here either in the early going.
Now we wait....
5:49 PM PST: Tom Cotton (R) has unseated Mark Pryor (D) in Arkansas. GOP now a +2. Also, Chris Coons (D) declared the winner in Delaware.
Maggie Hassan (D) has been re-elected governor of New Hampshire. That doesn't bode well for Scott Brown (R).
5:54PM PST: Gary Peters (D) has won the seat of the retiring Carl Levin in Michigan. Al Franken (D) re-elected (or, rather, elected) in Minnesota. John Cornyn (R) retains his seat in Texas. And Mike Rounds (R) has flipped the South Dakota seat of the retiring Tim Johnson. Senate score now GOP +3.
Andrew Cuomo (D) re-elected New York governor...with 0% of precincts reporting. Dennis Daugaard (R) re-elected in South Dakota. Despite voting machines showing David Dewhurst as the GOP candidate, Greg Abbott (R) is the next Governor of Texas.
6:10PM PST: No calls in New Hampshire, North Carolina....or Virginia Senate races yet. Mark Warner (D) was supposed to cruise to easy re-election. Hmmmm.....
6:15 PM PST: Pete Ricketts (R) holds the Nebraska governor's mansion for the GOP.
6:17 PM PST: Senator Ben Sasse (R) joins Governor-Elect Ricketts in the Nebraska winner's circle.
6:27 PM PST: Following in Stuart Smalley's rotund wake, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton (D) gets a second term.
6:29 PM PST: Senator Mike Enzi (R) and Governor Mike Mead (R) declared the winners in Wyoming. Mary Fallin (R) re-elected Governor of Oklahoma.
6:33 PM PST: Some details on those aforementioned uncalled Senate races:
With 84% of precincts reporting, Virginia Donk Senator Mark Warner....trails, 49%-48% to Republican Ed Gillespie. Can you say, "WAAAAAAAAVE!!!!"?
On the other hand, Kay Hagen (D) is leading Thom Tillis (R) in North Carolina....49% to 48% with 2/3 of precincts in.
Finally, Jeanne Shaheen (D) is up 52%-48% over Scott Brown (R), with....only a third of the vote in? Slackers.
6:40 PM PST: Yep, Shaheen has been declared the winner.
6:54 PM PST: Interim updates....
GEORGIA: Just under half the vote is in, and Republicans David Perdue and Governor Nathan Deal are (so far) blowing out Democrats Michelle Nunn and Jason ("Li'l" Jimmy) Carter 59%-39%.
KANSAS: With 31% reporting, GOP Senator Pat Roberts slightly leads George Soros plant Greg Orman 49%-47%, but GOP Governor Sam Brownback is trailing Democrat challenger Paul Davis 50%-46%, with Libertarians screwing the GOP candidates out of 4% of the vote each.
LOUISIANA: As expected, it's going to a runoff. But Bill Cassidy (R) is two points up on Democrat incumbent Mary Landrieu, FWIW.
NEW MEXICO: Senator Tom Udall (D) only up by six over challenger Alan Weh (R), while Governor Susanna Martinez (R) is crushing Democrat Gary King 60%-40%, with a quarter of the vote in.
NORTH CAROLINA: With 77% of the vote in, Thom Tillis (R) is leading Senator Kay Hagen by about nine thousand votes.
VIRGINIA: 86% of precincts reporting, Republican Ed Gillespie leads Democrat Senator Mark Warner by eighteen thousand votes. Could be the upset of the night (so far).
7:12 PM PST: New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez wins re-election.
7:14 PM PST: Uh-oh, Senator Warner is closing fast, back to within 7,000 votes.
7:16 PM PST: However, Senator Hagen appears to be fading, now down 34,000 votes.
7:18PM PST: I'll go out on a limb and predict there'll be no runoff elections in Georgia.
7:21 PM PST: Incidentally, the GOP has retained the House and will recover the seats they lost in 2012 - at the very least.
7:26 PM PST: Iowa Governor Terry Branstadt (R) already declared the winner. Joni Ernst (R), on the other hand, trails Democrat Bruce Braley by ten points for the seat of the retiring Tom Harkin with a fifth of the vote in.
7:33 PM PST: Mark Warner (D) regains the lead in Virginia....by 2,500 votes. Also, if New Mexico isn't called for Donk incumbent Tom Udall soon, I'll be happy to do the honors. Call it a gesture of bipartisan goodwill. That, and a dislike for wasting time.
7:39 PM PST: With half the vote in, Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts is not just "hanging in there," he's got a 51%-45% lead over de facto Democrat Greg Orman. Looks like the GOP "establishment" may have saved the only seat it looked like we were going to lose.
7:43 PM PST: Cory Gardener (R) already declared the winner in Colorado 51%-44% over Donk incumbent Mark Udall, at almost the same time that New Mexico was finally called for his cousin Tom. Hey, one for two ain't bad, guys, all things considered.
Also, it's now GOP+4.
In the Colorado governor's race, Republican Bob Beauprez has an eighteen thousand vote lead on Governor John Hickenlooper.
7:49 PM PST: Democrat Gina Raimondo is the new Governor of Rhode Island.
7:56 PM PST: Joni Ernst (R) closing percentage-wise (down 50%-46%) in Iowa, but still behind by sixteen thousand votes.
7:58 PM PST: Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) survives, and it really was never that close. So much for any Dem pick-ups tonight. Also, don't look now, but Governor Brownback has taken the lead as well.
8:01 PM PST: Senator Warner's lead up to 9,000 votes with 93% in. Looks like he's going to survive.
8:03 PM PST: David Perdue (R) holds the Saxby Chambliss seat.
8:05 PM PST: With 95% of precincts reporting, Thom Tillis (R) is maintaining a 50,000 vote lead on Senator Kay Hagen (D-NC). I think we might win this one.
8:08 PM PST: Yep, no runoffs in Georgia, as GOP Governor Nathan Deal has been declared the winner.
8:09 PM PST: Call Iowa GOPer Joni Ernst the comeback kid, at least for the moment, and she's soared to a 7,000 lead over Democrat Bruce Braley with half the vote counted.
8:12 PM PST: California Governor Jerry Brown declared the winner. Hordes of Neel Kashkari fans despondent. can't understand how their guy couldn't have won. And also why he spells his name "Neel". "Where's the 'K'?" they ask.
8:16 PM PST: Oddly, GOP Governor Rick Snyder has won another term in Michigan. How about that?
8:17 PM PST: Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz (D), Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (D), Idaho Senator Jim Risch (R) all re-elected. And Republican Steve Daines takes the Montana seat of the retiring Max Baucus. That makes the score GOP+5.
8:22 PM PST: Joni Ernst (R) declared the winner in Iowa. Make that GOP+6. And kiss our elephantine asses, Dirty Harry. Now, to run up the score.
8:27 PM PST: Doug Ducey (R) succeeds Jan Brewer as Governor of Arizona. That's the small news. Governor Scott Walker has been declared the winner in Wisconsin. That's HUGE news. The presidency is now within reach in 2016. If Barack Obama doesn't cancel that election, of course - which, after this one, is even more likely.
8:31 PM PST: The 50,000 vote lead held - Thom Tillis (R) is North Carolina's next Senator. GOP+7. With Alaska still to go, we're looking at an eight-seat haul and a 53-47 GOP Senate come January.
Pardon me whilst I shamelessly steal from Allahpundit....
8:39 PM PST: Clean forgot about Louisiana. If Bill Cassidy (R) wins the runoff over Senator Mary Landrieu - which he will be favored to do - it's a nine seat pickup and a 54-46 GOP majority.
8:46 PM PST: The Republicans have retaken the U.S. Senate, and civilization as we know it has not come to an end yet. Further bulletins from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-ingbat) as they come in.
8:48 PM PST: Charlie Baker (R) avenges Mitt Romney, retakes the Massachusetts Governor's mansion. Ditto Bruce Rauner (R) in Illinois, sending the [BLEEP]ing crook Pat Quinn (D) packing.
8:51 PM PST: Brian Sandoval (R) re-elected Governor of Nevada. This just isn't Dirty Harry's night, is it? I wonder if he might not decide to retire himself and save Nevada voters the trouble of doing it for him in two years.
8:54 PM PST: Meanwhile, down in Florida, Governor Rick Scott (R) is up 77,000 votes on "Sorry Charlie" Crist with 97% of the vote in. Looks like raping strippers doesn't pay after all.
8:57 PM PST: More challenges to my eeyore-ism: Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) is surviving by 14,000 votes over Donk challenger Mike Michaud with 77% reporting. And in Maryland, Republican Larry Hogan is crushing Democrat Anthony Brown for Governor Martin O'Malley's job 54%-45% with 72% of the vote in. Don't know why they haven't called it yet.
I wonder if Mr. Brown regrets being seen with Barack Obama now?
9:02 PM PST: Florida called for Governor Scott.
9:05 PM PST: Eeyore who? Republican Tom Foley is up 8,000 votes on Connecticut Donk Governor Dan Malloy with 54% of precincts reporting. Also, Idaho Governor Butch Otter (R) - isn't that a great name for the person running the Potato State? - will win in a walk, as expected.
9:09 PM PST: With three-quarters of the votes tallied, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is barely hanging on (2,600 votes) against GOP challenger Scott Milne.
Vermont.
9:15 PM PST: Maine called for Governor LePage. Thanks, Kaci Hickox!
9:17 PM PST: Anthony Brown (D) still trails Republican Larry Hogan by 90,000 votes with 78% in. Wow, Maryland is racist, huh? And South Carolina is not.
9:29 PM PST: My Congressman, Dave Reichert (R-WA8) was easily re-elected, as was the entire Washington congressional delegation (six Democrats, four Republicans). So much for local election news.
9:32 PM PST: Larry Hogan (R) is the new Governor of Maryland. But Anthony Brown (D) can take heart - at least he's got Barack Obama. And that's it.
9:34 PM PST: Aaaaaand Kansas has been called for Governor Brownback (R). Which makes four of the six governor's seats I had predicted the Dems would gain that the GOP held onto (Florida, Kansas, Maine, and Wisconsin), with Alaska yet to be determined. Meanwhile, we've taken Maryland and Illinois, with Colorado about to fall and Connecticut and Vermont dead heats. That means losing a net of one governorship at worst (28-22) and gaining a couple at best (31-19).
Meanwhile, Virginia still hasn't been called for Senator Warner (D) yet. I'll keep an eye on that one and the remaining governor's races, but until Alaska's results start arriving, this night appears to be all over but the yawning. And also, in my case, the gurgling. I'm gonna get something to eat.
11:15 PM PST: With nearly half the vote tallied, Republican Dan Sullivan is leading Alaska Donk Senator Mark Begich 50%-44%. The race hasn't been called yet, but it's just a matter of time.
GOP+8.
Nothing else called, although Connecticut Governor Malloy is finally putting some distance between himself and GOP challenger Tom Foley. Alaska Republican Governor Sean Parnell is doing better than expected but still slightly trailing Democrat Bill Walker. Thanks, Sarah Palin!
And with that, I bid you all good night, pleasant dreams, and a hearty qapla!
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