Election 2010: OB Rag Live Blogging

12:09 am PDT – Let’s end with something positive: Sharon Angle’s concession speech where she admits 80% of the money spent by her campaign came from out of state, and she was proud of it. “We’re one nation, under god. And because we’re one nation under god, we help each other. They came and helped us.”

12:00 Midnight – as always the elections were mixed. The House of Rep taken over by the R’s, but the Senate stays with the D’s. The R’s will have 244 seats to the D’s 191 in the House. Several races, Alaska gubernatorial, Washington Senate, Colorado Senate, and Florida governor all still too close.

Most pundits have retired for the evening and I’m shutting down here too.

11:48 Anna Daniels sends me bad news from Arizona:

KGUN9: A swell of approval from voters who support Arizona’s new immigration law and feel that most illegal immigrants should be deported helped Republican Jan Brewer win the governor’s race.

11:40 Prop 20 passed and 27 was defeated; 25 is passing;

11:37 Looks like Meg is conceding … “I gave it my all and so did you. I have just called Governor-elect Brown (boos) to wish him well.” More boos.

11:30 Doug Porter tells us that there was quite a scene down at Golden Hall Election Central earlier this evening:

here’s the scoop from Golden Hall. Angry teabagger Poppavitch supporters back Bob Filner into wall. Little fistfights break out. Mayor Sander’s security rescues Filner. KUSI cameras on scene “see” nothing.

City Beat’s Dave Maas on Twitter:

I have not seen anything as disgusting as Popaditch smiling as his supporters push Filner and supporters up against a wall.

11:27 Roberts has 58% vs 42% for Whitburn ; Gronke has 46% vs Horn’s 54%; Brian Bilbray has 58% vs Busby’s 42%.

11:26 Doug Porter says Prop 19 folks have conceded.

11:23  Prop J losing with 48%.

Zapf has 51% to Wayne’s 49% – Wayne’s numbers creeping up …

11:19 Barbara Boxer is speaking in Hollywood, and comments about Carly not conceding. But Boxer is thrilled because LA County votes have not been counted, and neither have Alameda County ballots been part of the totals. “This is my 11th victory!”  “I have no other agenda than to make life better for you – the people of California.” “They threw everything at us – including the kitchen sink! ” With 145,000 supporters we beat those special interests!” She is now leading by 5 points.

11:18 Props 19 going down; 25 is passing, 21 going down,

11:17 Carly Fiorina refuses to concede.

11:08 Long-time incumbents Horn and Roberts ahead in their bids for board of supervisors districts

11:05 More good news for CA Democrats: Gavin Newsom ahead, Debra Bowen, John Chiang, Bill Lockyer all leading big,

11:01 We now have a 72 year old new-old governor, Jerry Brown (even tho’ Meg hasn’t conceded yet). Schwarzenegger sent Brown a congratulatory tweet.

10:51 David Alvarez running away with Council District 8. Only a quarter of the precincts have reported, Alvarez leads Hueso, 59 – 40.

10:44 – CITY OF SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT NO. 6

Reporting 26 of 93 at 28.0% counted.

LORIE ZAPF —8585 50.85 %

HOWARD WAYNE —-8297 49.15 %

10:36 Updated County governor results as of 10:25 pm:

MEG WHITMAN – REP     173844   51.99%

EDMUND G. BROWN – DEM    141910  42.44%

CHELENE NIGHTINGALE – AIP  6101  1.82%

DALE F. OGDEN – LIB                 5601     1.67%

LAURA WELLS – GRN            4160     1.24%

CARLOS ALVAREZ – P-F    2792     0.83%

10:28 Meg Whitman’s campaign chair Pete Wilson told a crowd at their campaign HQ that she is not conceding, as it’s too close to call, especially since there was some kind of computer glitch at the State voters agency.

10:25 Prop 19 is losing 56 to 44 so far. Only 22% of precincts reporting.

10:20  Prop D has gone down – Mayor Sanders and Donna Frye gave a concession speech tonight.

9:58 So, Sarah Palin’s two “mama grizzlies” lost today; Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell.  With a number of races still too close to call, and with Cali ballots still coming in – a short break at this end.

9:48 Democrats retain enough seats to hold on to the U.S. Senate, The Washington Post projects.

9:47 California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has won her bid for a fourth term, fending off a tough challenge from former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina (R), the Associated Press projects.

9:43 – Rachel Maddow: “Sharon Angle ran the most racist campaign this country has seen in awhile.” This was who the Republicans put up against the Senate Democratic leader – and their campaign crashed.

9:41 – Jerry Brown has won the governorship with 50% vs 46% with 28% of the precincts reporting.

9:36 – Harry Reid is now projected to win over Tea Bagger favorite Sharon Angle, with 51%. This is a big win for the country, despite Reid’s lack of leadership in the Senate over the last couple of years. But Angle was refusing to talk to reporters as a way to keep her bloopers under control.  Angle was a point person for the Tea Party, and was defeated in her own county.

9:25 The Sacramento Bee reporting marijuana legalization Prop. down by about 15 % with about 16 % of precincts reporting

9:09 See current San Diego County governor race votes:

MEG WHITMAN - REP

161929

52.38%

EDMUND G. BROWN - DEM

130009

42.05%

9:08 The San Diego County Registrar of Voters’ website is finally back up, go here.

9:02 The Tea Party is below its national strength in Nevada, which is good news for Reid.

8:59 Fox News projects Brown and Boxer win, Prop 19 fails

8:57 Filner in front of Popaditch, 60 % to 39.9 %, with 67 of 291 precincts reporting;

Simple majority to pass budget is ahead right now state wide.

8:56 Alvarez ahead of Hueso for SD City Council Dist. 8 by about 19 percent, 59.8 % to 40.1 %, 18.8 precincts reporting

8:54 SD City Council District 6 Zapf over Wayne by three/tenths of a percent. 50.19 to 49.81, 11.8 percent of precincts reporting.

8:50 To close to call yet, but Harry Reid has a 8 point lead over Sharron Angle.  52% vs 44%

8:49 MSNBC declares Barbara Boxer beat Carly by huge margin.

8:47 From the Denver Post: Denver Initiative 300, the measure to create a commission to deal with credible reports of extra-terrestrial activity in Denver has failed. The commission would have been charged with dealing with credible UFO reports, listening to and documenting reporting of encounters and abductions, among other responsibilities.

8:38 Prop 23 going down by a wide margin statewide in the early results- 40/60

8:34 Dave Maass says?Major fail for the Secretary of State: Website completely kablooey

8:22 – NBC San Diego: Tonight could be a good night for Darrell Issa

If the Republicans take over the U.S. House, one of two most important figures to emerge is North County Congressman Darrell Issa.   Issa is poised to become a major player in national politics if he wins re-election and Republicans claim a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.   If those two things happen, the 57-year old Republican from Vista becomes chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa, who was recently profiled by the NY Times as “Obama’s Annoyer-in-Chief” has promised to use that committee’s subpoena power to probe several Obama administration initiatives.   Rep. Issa is running against Democrat Howard Katz and two minor-party candidates.   Just before the polls closed, Issa released the following statement:

““Tonight was a referendum on the Obama agenda and the American people rejected it. The American people have sent a clear and direct message to Washington that they want less spending, limited government and more accountability. The mandate is clear: Advance an agenda that will create real jobs, not government jobs, but real jobs to get our economy moving again. Reduce the footprint of government in our lives, get government to live within its means and make government more transparent and accountable.”

The wealthiest person in Congress, Issa made his fortune in car alarms creating the Viper system.

8:17 Democrat John Hickenlooper won the Colorado Governor race and it is possible that Dan Maes (R) might not get 10% costing the Republican party major party status.

8:16 – South Dakoto medical marijuana ballot measure lose by a wide margin as expected by recent polling.

8:13  That fire-spitting tea bagger Michele Bachman has won re-election.

8:12 Keith Olbermann said one-quarter of the voters are 65 or older.

8:03 Ed Shultz says there are some positive things in Nevada in the Reid vs Angle race – still too early to call. Early votes are encouraging.

8:00 – The polls have closed on the West Coast.

7:54 – NBC: 37% in exit polls said they were voting to protest Obama.

7:50 Firedoglake: Barney Frank (D) will keep his seat with no trouble.   In Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry won another term. This is a case of a good Democratic challenger running in just the wrong cycle.  Roy Blunt (R) wins MO Sen race by a wide margin.

7:42  The new breakdown of the House is: R: 240, D: 195

7:40 – Joe Sestak (D-PA) is still beating the Republican. No decision yet.

7:38 One of the lions of the Senate, Dem Russ Feingold has lost to his GOP challenger Ron Thompson. This had been predicted, but still this is a loss to the left side of the Democratic Party. A lot of outside money had poured into Wisconsin – which helped cause the 15 point spread. But Johnson had a lot of his own money to use, which he did.

7:35 This story has been around awhile already: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) defeated businessman Carl Paladino (R) in the New York gubernatorial contest. Cuomo will succeed outgoing Gov. David Paterson (D), the Associated Press projects.  Cuomo is the son of former governor Mario Cuomo. Paladino had some fairly stupid things to say about gays.

7:28 Washington Post:  Democrats lose House majority, networks say; Republicans likely to come up short in Senate

Republicans are poised to retake control of the House, riding a wave of voter discontent with the direction of the country and the economy as well as unhappiness the White House and congressional Democrats to claim the 39 seats they needed, according to projections by the three cable networks.

NBC, CNN and Fox News Channel all projected the GOP majority shortly after 9 pm eastern time. … Preliminary exit polling suggested a deeply dissatisfied electorate particularly with the state of the economy. A large majority said the economy was the most important issue facing the country and three times as many said it was getting worse rather than better.

Almost three quarters of voters said they disapproved of the job Congress had done and a majority also disapproved of how President Obama was handling his job.   At the Senate level, that dissatisfaction played out in victories by tea party favorites Rand Paul and Marco Rubio won Senate races in Kentucky and Florida tonight. “Tonight there is a tea party tidal wave,” Paul declared at a victory rally.

Republicans also claimed victories in … North Dakota where Gov. John Hoeven (R) was never seriously challenged.  But, the victory by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) in the Mountain State’s surprisingly competitive Senate race virtually ensures that Republicans will not win the 10 seats they need to win the majority.

In addition to Florida and Kentucky, the GOP also held a handful of their own seats including in Ohio, where former Rep. Rob Portman (R) cruised to victory in the race to replace Sen. George Voinovich (R), New Hampshire where former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte (R) won an open seat race over Rep. Paul Hodes (D) and Missouri where Rep. Roy Blunt (R) won the open seat of retiring Sen. Kit Bond (R).

There are five other Democratic-held states — Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington State — all regarded as toss ups heading into election day.

7:21 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.

7:18 – Tom Tancredo, the independent tea bagger in Colorado has lost. He has made some fairly racist statements over this campaign.

7:15 PDT – (Took a short break)

6:49 Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota are also voting on marijuana initiatives.

6:40 Christine O’Donnell have her concession speech, but it didn’t really sound much like a concession. This is the Delaware Tea Partier who didn’t know that the First Amendment established the separation of state and church. Coons, the Democrat, won handily, by 17% points.

6:18 firedoglake:

Pittsburg – One dead and two injured in shooting at a Pittsburgh, New Hampshire polling station earlier Tuesday, suspect is in custody. One man is dead and two others (one man, one woman) seriously injured Tuesday morning after shooting reports the New Hampshire Union Leader.   The online publication reports that the incident took place at the Lake Francis General Store, located at1624 Main Street approximately 10:30 am.

The deceased man was found in a car which was allegedly set on fire by the shooter and the two surviving victims we rushed to the local hospital.

Shortly after the incident safety officer at Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital told the Union Leader, “A man and woman were brought to the hospital. Both were stabilized but the woman is being taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland while the male patient is being flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.”

There is no motive thus far for the shooting, so no extrapolation. Still, it certainly would have a chilling effect on anyone heading over to that polling station…

6:16 NYT: Three important New York races are over, with Democrats taking all three spots, according to exit poll data. Andrew Cuomo has won the state’s governorship, winning the job his father once held. Senator Chuck Schumer has won re-election. And Kirsten Gillibrand, the state’s other Democratic senator, also has won re-election.

6:06 – Senator-Elect Rand Paul is giving his acceptance speech. “We’ve come to take our government back!”… “Government does not create jobs.”…

6:00 NBC is projecting that at the end of the evening the House of Representatives will be under Republican control with 236 seats, while the Dems will have 198.

5:58  Black Voters Being Intimidated At S.C. Polling Places

Suzy Khimm at Mother Jones reports:

Tea party activists in South Carolina are allegedly intimidating black college students and other black voters at the polls, according to the South Carolina Democratic Party. Early this morning, self-identified tea party activists showed up at a polling station near Benedict College in Columbia, “basically harassing students—telling people not to vote and generally making voters feel uncomfortable,” says Keiana Page, press secretary for the state Democratic Party, who said that the party’s legal team is currently investigating the reported incident at the historically black college.

Is the Fox News Voter Intimidation Email Tip Line broken, because they are not broadcasting any word of this, for some reason.

5:51 Progressive Alan Grayson lost his seat in Florida.  He was on the front lines of the health care fight, and the Republicans definitely targeted him.

5:49: Marc Rubio won in Floriday:NY TIMES:

How did Marco Rubio win? Here’s a peek inside some of the numbers, based on information from my colleague, Dalia Sussman.

Mr. Rubio capitalized on a wave of discontent among Florida voters, a majority of whom disapproved of the job Mr. Obama was doing as president. Those voters voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Rubio. Nearly four in 10 Florida voters said they supported the Tea Party and more than 80 percent of those voted for Mr. Rubio. In the early exit polls, Mr. Rubio won a majority of men, a plurality of women and nearly half of independents.

That last number was particularly important because Mr. Rubio beat out Charlie Crist, the state’s Republican governor who was running as an independent, among that crucial group.

Only half of the Democrats who voted supported Kendrick Meek, their party’s candidate, while 40 percent voted for Mr. Crist. That was clear evidence that the two men split their support.

5:45 In W. VA – NYT:

The victory for the Democrats is an early indication that Republicans will have a very tough time taking control of the Senate this year. The Republicans would have to essentially run the table of the remaining races to win the 10 seats they need.

The race in this conservative coal state had been one of the closest in the nation, with Mr. Manchin running away from President Obama’s record and Mr. Raese battling charges that he is wealthy and out of touch.

5:37: Democrat Joe Mandy beat GOP’er John Raese for the Senate in West Virginia.  Raese was the guy who called President Obama’s cabinet officer Chin “Dr Chow Mein”, plus wanted to take the state’s labor laws back to the 19th century. Russ Limbaugh yelled into his microphone that he and Raese were good buddies. Raese lost with only 43%.  On the other hand, the seat has been in the Democratic column for 50 years.

5:32 – Blanche Lincoln, the Democratic senator from Arkansas, has lost to her Republican challenger, John Boozman. Lincoln had been weakened by a tough primary fight from the left in that state.

5:25 Nick Blumenthal retains his Senate seat as a Democrat in Connecticut says MSNBC

5:23: firedoglake:

Rob Portman has won the Senate race in Ohio over Lee Fisher. Portman, the former OMB Director under George W. Bush, was widely expected to win.

The OH-Gov race between Ted Strickland and John Kasich is too close to call. Sherrod Brown is very encouraged and “confident” that Strickland will pull it out there, which would be enormous.

In North Carolina and West Virginia, the races are seen as too early to call. Incumbent Richard Burr leads Elaine Marshall in NC, and Governor Joe Manchin leads Republican John Raese in WV.

5:14 pm – No surprise but Tea Partier Christine O’Donnel has lost to Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware.

5:07 pm – Natch – more polls in the East have closed: Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Connecticut, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia.

4:53 pm – Update of exit polls:

Voters think the economy’s a wreck…but who’s to blame? Thirty-five percent of voters in early exit polls pin the blame on Wall Street. The next name on the list: former President Bush – 29 percent point their fingers in his direction. President Obama follows, at 24 percent.

4:50 pm – David Dayen of firedoglake says:

Here are some early data from today’s exit polls:  Voters around the country are intensely worried about the economy and dissatisfied with the way the federal government is working.

According to an Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll results and pre-election polls, voters say the economy eclipses any other issue as their top concern. Nearly all voters are worried about the future direction of the economy, and about 4 in 10 say they are worse off financially than they were two years ago.

Voters are expressing dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama and the Congress, and they don’t have a favorable view of either the Democratic or Republican parties.

Democrats are at 43/53 fav/unfav. Republicans are at 41/53. Obama’s at 45/54.

Self-described conservatives have jumped from 34% of the voting electorate to 41%. Young voters are 9% of the electorate, down from 12% in 2006. African-Americans are at 10% of the electorate.

4:44 pm – Democrat Pat Leahy won in Vermont.

National Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that Harry Reid would eke it out in Nevada.

4:40 pm – San Diego and West Coast polls are open for another 3 hours and 20 minutes.

4:38pm – Rachel Maddow on MSNBC just said that 45% of the Indiana voters identified themselves as “tea partiers” but they just elected a guy who has been in Washington DC for 30 years. “If you’re not going to take the country back from Dan Coats, who are you going to take it back from??”

4:29 pm : NBC reports:

The network also projected that Republican Dan Coats would win the open Senate seat in Indiana, the first Republican takeover of a Democratic seat in the 2010 midterm referendum on President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Republican Jim DeMint also held on to his Senate seat in South Carolina, NBC News projected. The only good news for Democrats in early reports was NBC’s projection that Sen. Patrick Leahy would win re-election in Vermont.

4:21 pm – The pundits have declared that Rand Paul – the Tea Party favorite – has won the Kentucky Senate race with 55% – (10% of precincts reporting…)

4:20 – We have an unconfirmed report from by organizers on the ground that youth turnout is so high that the polling location at San Diego State University has completely run out of provisional ballots. We’re hearing that it will take 3 or 4 more hours to re-stock the ballots there…

4:18 pm This is the beginning of our live blogging – which means I will post info and news about today’s election, but unlike regular posts, the most current news will be on top.