posted by Alan Greenblatt
Republican Norm Coleman has a fractional lead against Democrat and comedian Al Franken in the closest U.S. Senate race.
With 4,129 of 4,130 precincts reporting, Coleman led Franken by 762 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast. Coleman had 1,210,790 votes, or 42.03 percent, to Franken's 1,210,028 votes, or 42 percent.
Coleman has declared victory while Franken says he'll wait for results of a recount.
posted by Alan Greenblatt
When I went out to Missouri to write a story about legislative elections recently, I was told Democrats were targeting three House seats in St. Charles County, which has been solidly Republican turf.
Republicans prevailed in two out of the three seats yesterday. State Rep. Mark Parkinson beat Kristy Manning in a race I wrote about in Governing, and Anne Zerr beat Tim Swope in a neighboring district that I visited but did not write about.
The one Democratic victor in the county was Kenny Bierman, a repeat candidate who pulled off the narrowest of wins -- 10,945 votes to Republican Vicki Schneider's 10,870.
posted by Alan Greenblatt
Darrell McGraw, the Democratic attorney general of West Virginia, won a fifth term in a squeaker, taking 50.3 percent of the vote.
That was the closest race among a dozen state attorneys general contests. Five other incumbents won reelection.
In fact, no offices changed party hands. In Delaware, Democrat Matthew Denn held the position being vacated by Beau Biden, son of the vice president-elect.
Ohio Democrat Richard Cordray will fill out the term of Marc Dann, who stepped down following a sex scandal.
Although Republican state Sen. Mike Gibbons held the lead in the race to replace outgoing Missouri AG Jay Nixon earlier in the night, he ultimately lost to Democrat Chris Koster. In Indiana, Republican Greg Zoeller narrowly held the office currently held by Steve Carter.
posted by Alan Greenblatt
Few legislative chambers changed hands Tuesday. Those that did reflected the increasingly regional nature of the major parties' strength.
Democrats won the biggest prize of the night, taking control of the New York Senate for the first time since 1966 -- and gaining control of the entire New York State government for the first time since the Depression. They now hold at least 32 seats in the 62-seat chamber. But that majority is tentative, at least for the moment -- four members are threatening to caucus with the Republicans.
Update: They also gained control of the Ohio House for the first time since 1994, gaining seven seats (they needed four to win). And they took the Wisconsin House, gaining overall control of state government for the first time in more than two decades.
In Nevada, Democrats gained a veto-proof majority in the Assembly and won the Senate for the first time since 1991.
Democrats now will control both legislative chambers in 27 states -- up from 23.
But Republicans pulled off the biggest surprise of the cycle, taking the Tennessee House for the first time since 1971. They also broke a tie in the Tennessee Senate, winning a solid majority that gives them total control of the legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
Republicans also broke a tie in the Oklahoma Senate, taking control of that chamber for the first time ever.
They won control of the Montana Senate and are hopefully awaiting results in recounts in the Montana House as well.
Generally speaking, continuing GOP inroads in Southern legislatures were offset by growing Democratic strength in the Northeast. Democrats added to their majority in the Delaware Senate, while taking control of the state House. Six incumbent House Republicans went down to defeat, including Terry Spence, the longest-serving House Speaker in the nation.
The Pennsylvania Senate is now the only Republican-controlled chamber north of Virginia.
Democrats appear to have held onto the Pennsylvania House, which they had held by a one-vote majority. They also preserved narrow control of the Maine Senate and the Indiana House.
They fell short in their hopes of capturing other chambers, including the Texas House, the Arizona House and the North Dakota Senate. It also did not look like Democrats were going to make much of a net gain in overall legislative seats nationwide. Nationwide, Democrats look to have gained about 100 seats about of the 5500 or so that were in play.
"This wasn't a big, overwhelming night for Democrats," says Tim Storey, of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "They definitely got their wins, but they didn't command legislative elections like they did two years ago."
posted by Josh Goodman
Social issues may have taken a back seat in the presidential race this year, but not on state ballots -- where South Dakotans rejected a measure that would have banned most abortions and California approved a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
The South Dakota abortion vote was much anticipated because it could have set up a new challenge to the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Voters in the state rejected the idea for the second time in three years. Voters in Colorado also turned back a proposal that would have defined life as beginning at conception. California was weighing a measure to require parental notification for minors to have abortions. Wednesday in the mid-morning it trailed narrowly, but the result was too close to call.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday morning that Californians had passed the state's closely watched constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. That amendment will reverse the California Supreme Court's decision earlier this year that legalized gay marriage in the state.
posted by Alan Greenblatt
Tennessee Republicans will control the legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night in legislative voting, they have taken the state House with a 50-49 majority.
It is the GOP's first House majority since 1971, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.
They also broke a tie in the state Senate, emerging with a 19-14 majority.
posted by Josh Goodman
So far, the proposal has a 53%-47% edge. This could really shake up the California legislature.
posted by Alan Greenblatt
Democrats made a net gain of just one governorship yesterday, with Jay Nixon's victory in Missouri. But they had surprisingly easy wins in two other competitive races.
Democrats now hold 29 governorships nationwide, compared to 21 Republicans. That represents their highwater mark since the Republican sweep year of 1994.
It was the year's only change in party control. In North Carolina, Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue will step into the state's top job, succeeding fellow Democrat Mike Easley. She beat Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, 50-47 percent. Perdue ran just a couple of thousand votes ahead of Barack Obama in the state.
She also ran just ahead of McCrory in Mecklenburg County. McCrory becomes the fifth straight Charlotte mayor to fall short in his bid for statewide office -- another victim of the so-called Charlotte curse.
In Washington State, Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire beat former state Sen. Dino Rossi in a rematch. Gregoire won their 2004 contest by just 133 votes, but is heading to a healthy if not overwhelming win.
Nixon, Missouri's attorney general, never trailed in his race against Congressman Kenny Hulshof. The unpopularity of outgoing Republican Matt Blunt, along with wounds from a contentious GOP primary, left Hulshof without a chance.
Vermont GOP Governor James Douglas won a clear majority against two opponents, Democratic state House Speaker Gaye Symington and independent Anthony Pollina. Douglas took about 55 percent of the vote, while his rivals each took about 21 percent.
Indiana Republican Mitch Daniels won a comfortable victory over Democratic former Congresswoman Jill Long Thompson, 58 to 40 percent.
Democrat Jack Markell easily held the Delaware governorship, where Ruth Ann Minner is term-limited.
As expected, the other incumbent governors coasted to big wins, including Republicans Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah and John Hoeven of North Dakota, as well as Democrats Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and John Lynch of New Hampshire.
posted by Josh Goodman
Talk about a survivor: Jim Douglas, the Republican governor Vermont, has won reelection. Every two years, Douglas has to deal with an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate -- and every two years he wins.
Even more shocking: The Democratic nominee, Gaye Symington, is only mustering 21% of the vote. Independent Anthony Pollina, who scored a series of labor endorsements, is narrowly ahead of Symington.
Perhaps in two years the Democrats will make Polling their nominee?
posted by Alan Greenblatt
We're still watching the Ohio House, where Republicans hold a four-seat edge. Here are current results in a few key races:
Repeat candidate Nancy Pillich has a 43-vote lead over Sharonville Mayor Virgil Lovitt in Hamilton County.
Democrat Nancy Garland is beating GOP Rep. Jim McGregor, 52-48 percent, in Franklin County.
In Cuyahoga County, Westlake City Councilwoman Nan Baker, a Republican, leads freshman Rep. Jennifer Brady, 51-49 percent.In Cuyahoga County, Westlake City Councilwoman Nan Baker challenged Democrat Jennifer Brady, who is in her first term, in a district that voted 61 percent Republican in 2004.
