Election Blogging

2:55am -- Testers lead is now 4,000 with 81% counted. Looks like it will be a couple of hours before final results are known, but Democratic operatives in Montana believe they will win. I'm going to call it quits for the night. With any kind of luck, I'll wake up to find the Democrats have taken the Senate in addition to the House. Whatever happens in the Senate, it's been a very good night for Democrats.

2:35am -- Tester has a 5600 vote lead with 78% of precincts counted.

2:25am -- Tester [D] now has a 5500 vote lead with 75% 0f the precincts counted. Can he hold on?

1:40am -- The lead for Tester [D] in Montana is now down to about 7,000 votes with 71% of the precincts counted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

1:35am -- Webb has extended his lead to about 11,000 votes, so it looks like Virginia may well wind up in the Democratic column. I must admit that this one surprises me. I had expected "Macaca" to keep his seat.

1:10am -- NBC has just called the senate race in Missouri for McCaskill [D]. It looks like Webb [D] will hold on in Virginia pending a recount. Now it's just up to Montana. If Tester [D] wins in Montana, the Democrats will take over in the Senate.

12:50am -- McCaskill [D] seems to be stretching her lead in Missouri. She now leads by about 25,000 votes with 85% of the precincts reporting. Tester [D] is leading in Montana by about 10,000 votes with 60% of the precincts reporting. No change in the Virginia race. Webb [D] still has a 2700 vote lead with nearly all votes counted.

12:40am -- NBC is now reporting that the Republicans may finish with less than 200 House seats. They are projecting the Democrats will get 236 seats and the Republicans will get 199 seats. Nationally, it just keeps getting better.

12:05am -- McCaskill [D] has now taken a 14,000 vote lead with at least 90% of precincts reporting in Missouri. In Montana, Tester [D] has a 14,000 vote lead with 44% of the vote counted. In Virginia, Webb [D] has a 2700 vote lead with 99% of the vote counted. None of these races have been called yet.

12:00am -- This one is a surprise to me. Incumbent Republican in Arizona Hayworth has lost to his Democratic opponent Mitchell by 52% to 44%.

11:45pm -- There is a bit of good news here in Texas. Nick Lampson [D] has won in Tom DeLay's old district. Lampson got 53% of the vote to Sekula-Gibbs' 40%.

11:35pm -- NBC is reporting that Corker [R] has beaten Ford [D] in the Tennessee senate race. Webb [D] is now leading Allen [R] by about 2300 votes in Virginia. This is with 99% of the vote counted. Rumor has it that there are still 33,000 votes to be counted in northern Virginia [generally regarded as Webb country].

11:25pm -- It looks like the House of Representatives will have the following make-up: Democrats 235, Republicans 200. Joe Barton won his race in Dist. 6, but it looks like he'll no longer be a committee chairman. That's good news for those trying to pass bills on autism and breast cancer.

11:00pm -- Progressives are doing well on some of the ballot initiatives. South Dakotans have defeated the ban on abortions in the state by 56% to 44%. The following states have all approved raising the minimum wage -- Ohio, Nevada, Montana, Missouri, Colorado and Arizona. The election lottery proposition in Arizona has failed.

10:50pm -- C-SPAN has now called the Arizona Senate race for the Republican Kyl. Democrats still need three more seats from the four following states -- Missouri, Montana, Tennessee and Virginia.

10:35pm -- Tim Mahony [D] has defeated the Republican in Mark Foley's old district in Florida. This is normally a very Republican district.

10:20pm -- CNN has projected that the Democrats will win control of the House of Representatives tonight. The Senate is still up in the air, and we're waiting to see who wins the close races in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Montana and Virginia.

10:00pm -- With nearly half of the precincts reporting, Tim Curry [R] leads Terri Moore [D] by 53% to 47% in the race for Tarrant County District Attorney.

9:50pm -- With nearly 1.8 million votes counted, Perry still leads in governor's race in Texas. He is leading Bell by 11 points. In the race for State Supreme Court place 2, Willett is leading Moody by 51% to 44% with 33% of precincts reporting.

9:45pm -- Deval Patrick has been elected the first Black governor of Massachusetts.

9:00pm -- Brown [D] in Ohio and Cardin [D] in Maryland have both been declared winners in their Senate races. This doesn't really surprise me, but in the last few days the Republicans have been claiming they could win these seats. Looks like they were wrong. Still waiting for the Senate races in Tennessee, Virginia, and Montana.

8:50pm -- Indiana and Pennsylvania are breaking really well for the Democrats. Numerous Republican incumbents are losing in both states. I hate to say it, but it looks like Perry is doing even better than expected in the Texas governor's race. So far, he is getting 41% of the vote.

8:30pm -- More good news! Whitehouse [D] has defeated Chafee [R] in Rhode Island according to CNN. It looks like the Democrats still could take the Senate. Also, Donnely [D] has beaten Chocula [R] in the "bellweather" Indiana House Dist. 2.

8:25pm -- This is good news for Democrats. CNN is calling John Yarmouth [D] the winner in Ann Northup's Kentucky House seat. This was one of those "bellweather" races, so that bodes well for Democrats.

8:20pm -- Well, the Texas races are not going as I had hoped. So far, David Van Os is only pulling in 37% and Hank Gilbert is at 41%. Gary Page only got 34% of the early vote in US House Dist. 24.

8:10pm -- I hate this one. CNN has just declared Joe Lieberman [I] the winner of the Senate race in Connecticut. Too bad they couldn't elect a Democrat in that blue state.

8:05pm -- Tim Barnwell [D] is doing very well against Burgess [R] for District 26 House seat. In the early vote, Barnwell is trailing by only 51.7% to 46.2%. David Pillow didn't do as well as I expected in early voting for State House Dist. 94. He is trailing 62% to 33%.

8:00pm -- CNN has called Kay Bailey Hutchison [R] the winner in the Texas Senate race. Rats! The have also declared several other winners such as Stabenow [D] in Michigan. None of them are surprises.

7:45pm -- Forgot to mention it, but Florida has been called for Nelson [D]. He was expected to easily defeat Harris [R], and it looks like he has.

7:35pm -- NBC has just called the New Jersey Senate race for Menendez [D]. It looks like Kean [R] wasn't as close as some thought. This puts both Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the Democratic column. I will update as interesting races are called.

7:25pm -- It looks like the first big Republican has fallen. NBC has just projected that Casey [D] will win over "Man on Dog" Santorum [R]. That was expected by most, but it's still good to hear.

At this time in Virginia, Webb [D] is nursing a small lead over Allen [R]. It is 50% to 49% with about 23% of the vote counted.

7:05pm -- Didn't take long for my favorite politician to win his race. Five minutes after the polls were closed, Bernie Sanders was declared the winner in Vermont. This is no surprise. Sanders is such a strong candidate that the Democrats didn't even field anyone to run against him.