Live Blogging the 2006 midterm election results

Posted on by

11:50 p.m. PST: Last Update of the Night (to see updates in the proper sequential order see down below):

The DEMS WIN THE HOUSE. Control of the Senate has come down to a recount in Virginia (provided Montana doesn’t shift too much). MACACAS MADE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IN THIS ELECTION!

————————————–

Hey SM folks, I am going to keep this post up and will be updating it through tomorrow. Feel free to leave comments regarding the results of ANY races and/or ballot measures you are interested in. I will mainly be reporting here on some of the races featuring (or of particular concern to) South Asian American candidates but most of us are interested in a whole lot more. I won’t be in front of a computer for the next several hours but when I get back in front of one later tonight I will go into Abhi Russert mode.

Let’s hope things turn out well!

Update 1: 5:17p.m. PST:

The latest #s [via Drudge]

VA SEN [35.28% IN]
ALLEN 392,816 49.39%
WEBB 392,854 49.39%

Update 2: 10:05 p.m. PST

I’m back! Here we go:

Raj Bhakta (R) loses:

Allyson Schwartz (DEM)* 143,031 66%
Raj Peter Bhakta (REP) 73,429 34%
99% of precincts reporting… [Link]

Raj Peter Bhakta, a former hopeful on Donald Trump’s television show “The Apprentice,” lost his long-shot bid Tuesday for a job as a GOP congressman.

Bhakta had sought to oust first-term Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz, two years after he occupied the posh Manhattan boardrooms of Trump’s show in which eager young men and women competed for a job with the real-estate mogul. He was fired from the program after a home renovation project went awry. [Link]

<

p>

Update 3: 10:18 p.m. PST

It’s Bobby Piyush Jindal (R) in a landslide victory:

Bobby Jindal (REP)* 130,277 88%
David Gereighty (DEM) 10,888 7%
Stacy Tallitsch (DEM) 5,004 3%
Peter Beary (LIB) 1,670 1%
100% of precincts reporting… [Link]

<

p>Kumar Barve (D) is looking good:

Md. State House District 17
Candidate Votes %
Jim Gilchrist (D) 18,089 26
Luiz Simmons * (D) 17,052 24
Kumar Barve * (D) 16,889 24
Mary Haley (R) 6,530 9
Other 11,405 16
Key: * Incumbent | Red Checkmark Winner
Precincts: 77% | Updated: 1:12 AM ET | Source: AP… [Link]

<

p>Update 4: 10:23 p.m. PST

<

p>Raj Goyle (D) won in Kansas!!

State House – District 87 – 11 of 11 Precincts Reporting
Name Party Votes Pct
Goyle, Raj Dem 3,216 56.36
Huy, Bonnie (i) GOP 2,490 43.64… [Link]

<

p>Update 5: 10:36 p.m. PST

<

p>Dilip Paliath not looking so good from what I can tell.

<

p>Neeraj Nigam (a.k.a. “other”) loses…big time:

Va. U.S. House District 10
Candidate Votes %
Frank Wolf * (R) 129,508 58
Judy Feder (D) 91,739 41
Other 3,764 2
Key: * Incumbent | Red Checkmark Winner
Precincts: 98% | Updated: 1:37 AM ET | Source: AP… [Link]

<

p>

<

p>Update 6: 10:51 p.m. PST

<

p>Swati Dandekar looks like she is headed for victory in Iowa:

District 36
14 of 15 precincts – 93 percent
Swati Dandekar, Dem (i) 5,398 – 54 percent
Nick Wagner, GOP 4,564 – 46 percent… [Link]

<

p>Update 7: 10:59 p.m. PST

<

p>AJ Sekhon is getting smoked:

U.S. House – District 2 | COUNTY RESULTS
Candidate Votes % of votes
Wally Herger (REP)* 78,466 66%
A. J. Sekhon (DEM) 37,425 31%
55% of precincts reporting

Update 8: 11:24 p.m. PST

First Muslim elected to Congress:

Voters elected a black Democrat as the first Muslim in Congress on Tuesday after a race in which he advocated quick U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and made little mention of his faith.

Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old lawyer and state representative, defeated two rivals, television networks said, to succeed retiring Democrat Martin Sabo in a seat that has been held by Democrats since 1963.

Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student in his native Detroit, won with the help of Muslims among a coalition of liberal, anti-war voters. [Link]

Update 9: 11:29p.m. PST

Chad Khan loses in Houston:

State House Dist. 126 In: 100%
Chad Khan, D
9,072 32.6%
Oscar Palma, L
735 2.6%
Patricia Harless, R
18,003 64.7%… [Link]

Satveer Chaudhary scores a big victory in Minn:

District 50
27 of 27 precincts (100%) Percent of vote
Satveer S. Chaudhary, D* 19,139 63
Rae Hart Anderson, R 11,105 37… [Link]

<

p>

<

p>

<

p>Update 10: 11:37 PST

<

p>The NATIONAL RACE HAS COME DOWN TO MONTANA AND VIRGINIA:

There will be a recount that will take weeks in Virginia. They are counting really slowly in Montana. The Democrats need to win BOTH to take control of the Senate. The Democrats have a razor’s edge lead in both races as of this post (11:37p.m. PST). The Democrats easily captured the House. Nancy Pelosi is third in line to be President should our government be decapitated.

398 thoughts on “Live Blogging the 2006 midterm election results”

  2. not sure about absentee ballots, but carville just mentioned on cnn that virginia would start counting provisional ballots tomorrow

  4. Even if Webb wins VA, I think the story of this election is that it’s not a mandate for the Dems. It’s a vote against Dubya. Thanks to all who voted, regardless of political stripe, extra special thanks to the SM folks for keeping us informed. Extra Extra special thanks to peeps like Taz, who make it a personal goal to get all us brown people involved in the political process.

  6. Allen is on C-Span right now, thanking God and his (Jewish!) mother for living in a land where rights are enshrined in the Constitution. Allow me to channel Hunter S. Thompson for a moment: I am sending him a fax that has the Patriot Act printed on one side, the Constitution on the other, and “Macacas Rule!” scrawled on the first one in big thick black Sharpie.

  7. fox news just reported that the allen campaign says they are really up by 5k votes. something about the votes not being transposed correctly.

  10. Local news in DC has given up on the VA Senate election. They’re breaking to normal broadcast. It’s going to be a while.

  11. I give up. I did my part. Good night y’all. I just want to say that I felt very patriotic today. Regardless of the outcome, I did, and said, all I could and I wasn’t thrown in jail. There’s hope for this country.

  12. MSNBC says as many as 33,000 uncounted votes remain in Fairfax. 33,000.

    PP, that can’t be right. The state site says 99.56% in. Can you share the link? I don’t see it.

    33,000 uncounted votes…damn. That’s a lot. But Fairfax looks comfortably pro-Webb, so I’d still be cautiously optimistic about that being a good thing for Dems.

  13. But Fairfax looks comfortably pro-Webb, so I’d still be cautiously optimistic about that being a good thing for Dems.

    Fairfax county is Northern Va, which is Webb’s bread and butter. The further you get from DC, the more Republican it gets.

  14. 99.56 percent of precincts, not ballots. (And I saw it on TV, not on the website, so I also might have misheard it.)

  16. a friend just IM’d and said she heard 33,000 votes as well. (and that she’s pleased.)

  18. Right. But 99.56% of precincts in Fairfax County! 33,000 uncounted votes would kind of make that number a lot lower, ya know? There’s definitely not .44 of a precinct out there in Fairfax with 33,000 ballots in a truck. At least…I sure hope not.

    Aight, time to turn in. I gotta say, this is a good bunch of macacas to watch elections with. Though I think the reds were largely underrepresented tonight (‘cept for maybe Gujudude). Anyway, we’re all still one country in the morning.

    yawn

  19. i think the 33,000 uncounted votes number probably represents absentee ballots because carville just said on cnn that his sources tell him that there are about 32,000 early ballots which are yet to be counted, mostly from fairfax county.

    so things are looking good in virgina since webb is up going into tonight, and (if) there are 30k+ uncounted votes from the north

    missouri is looking good as the votes so far are split pretty evenly and apparently a significant portion of st. louis hasn’t reported yet

    (sorry to keep parroting carville but he seems to be the only one reporting anything of value other than just the hard numbers that are accessible everywhere)

  21. Brother Salil, I consider myself more of a red-blue mix, kinda like a cool Popsicle 🙂

    I find it difficult to find any party that ‘represents’ me. Frankly, I hate political parties. People become far more loyal to their party/tribe than what really matters – The United States.

    So, I just take it candidate by candidate and issue by issue. Based upon current definitions, I lean right, but in no way does the Republican party message resonate with me, nor does the Democratic one. It may have to do with not having been raised here or honestly having positions that span the spectrum.

    But I’ll play along as the ‘red’ punching bag 🙂

  22. fox is saying montana will “probably” go dem, and they are leading in missouri. that leaves virginia.

  23. There could also be provisional ballots. Who knows. I’m moving on to Missouri.

    p.s. GujuDude: okay, if you insist — punch, punch, punch. 😉

  26. the dems could control the senate. britney spears is divorcing K. Fed.

    just like the dems had planned

  28. britney spears is divorcing K. Fed.

    Popozaooo!

    Piper: The ousted Republican candidates surround me like a phalanx. Punch away! Muhahahahahah!

    Aight folks, have a good one.

  29. Senate could go 50-50. McCaskill is narrowly holding her lead and Montana is only reporting 58% with Tester ahead. Still hoping for the dems taking the senate though. crosses fingers

  32. mccaskill just declared victory. but talent didn’t concede yet. i just heard chris mathews say it’s the first time he can recall a senatorial candidate declaring victory without allowing the opponent to concede. a tradition is broken.

  33. I’m going out for some much needed meth and a message. There will be no happy ending tonght. Razib, page me if something happens. I’m rocked.

  34. a bit about virginia election law according to cnn: provisional ballots will be counted tomorrow nov. 8th, official election results will be released on nov. 27th, at which point if results are within 1%, the losing candidate can (and presumably will) ask for a recount within 10 days. a judge then has 7 days to set the rules of a recount and if the subsequent results are certified by a 3-panel court, they are considered final and cannot be appealed. looks like this will go on until near xmas…

    cnn just projected mccaskill the winner in missouri, so its down to montana and virginia…

  35. It’s all down to a recount in Virgina and slow counting in Montana. The master of the Senate might not be declared until next month.

  36. The chain of events started by S.R. Sidharth might end stopping the war.

    Webb is currently recount-proof, barring a big turn in the absentees and provisionals. But if it happens, Allen will try to subvert the recount. He’s the incumbent, the Republican and the one with national firepower since Senate control will rest on it.

  37. The chain of events started by S.R. Sidharth might end stopping the war.

    ..and that is what some of us macaccas might call poetic justice 🙂

  38. Am I hearing things or did Jim Talent just concede Missouri? Please tell me I’m not hearing things. Does a little dance anyway

  39. OK, I think it is safe to say now that Allen has lost. I am a Republican and it’s sad for me to see the Senate changing hands. However, from the Desi perspective, this is a huge victory. EVERYONE will point to the Macaca incident as the turning point in this contest and indeed the race for control of the Senate.

    Now of course, there were many other factors, but I do think that the power of Desis will now taken more seriously, similar to the Jewish lobby. This will be overstated, to be sure, but perception MATTERS.

    Message: DO NOT MESS WITH MACCACAS!

  40. The tv puditry says if webb can maintain ‘some’ lead in the next 24hrs, he will win ultimately after all recounts because nobody who is leading lost after a recount. I certainly hope so. I think Virgina gov is a dem so recount will be fair and balanced 🙂

  41. I think Virgina gov is a dem so recount will be fair and balanced

    Kaine is a Dem, but VA is driving distance from DC. An astroturf ‘riot’ like Rove assembled to shut down the Fla. recount is very doable.

  42. 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 also seek a recount, but would have to pay the costs if the results are unchanged. [Link]
  43. MACACAS MADE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IN THIS ELECTION!

    Yessir:

    Control of the Senate, thus Congress, thus Iraq may lie in this Virginia campaign. How beautiful it would be if the chain of events started by S.R. Sidharth and Macacagate saved thousands of soldiersÂ’ lives and ended this desert misadventure. [Link]

  45. An astroturf ‘riot’ like Rove assembled to shut down the Fla. recount is very doable.

    Oh come now, Mutineers, are we going to just let that happen?

    /whistles innocently.

  49. San Francisco Proposition J, Call for Bush/Cheney Impeachment Choice || Votes || %

    Yes     ||      90,937  ||  59.4% 
No      ||      62,036  ||  40.6%

    99% of precincts reporting Updated 11/07 11:41PM