2012 Election
November 7, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Jon Tester retains his Senate seat, with an assist from Libertarian Party candidate Dan Cox, who in turn was assisted by Tester’s supporters. The results are: Tester 48.7 percent Rehberg 44.8 percent Cox 6.5 percent. In North Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp defeated Rick Berg by just under 3,000 votes. The breakdown is: Heitkamp 50.5 Berg 49.5 Both Tester and Heitkamp campaigned as independent-minded moderates. In Tester’s case, that was outright fraud.
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November 7, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday was a comprehensive disaster. Here in Minnesota, to add a local perspective, not only did the state go for Obama–no surprise there–but the Democrats recaptured both houses of the legislature, and voters defeated two ballot initiatives, one on gay marriage and one on voter ID. Similar losses were sustained across the nation, although there were a few bright spots here and there. So yesterday’s defeat was not about a
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November 7, 2012 — Scott Johnson
As a natural pessimist I am rarely disappointed. I am nevertheless having a hard time absorbing President Obama’s reelection last night. Given Obama’s record, Obama’s reelection is a remarkable achievement. I thought that the Republican field from which Mitt Romney emerged was a weak one and that our strength remained on the bench this time around. Even so, I can’t imagine what Republican could have prevailed against Obama yesterday. The
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November 7, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
The biggest surprise of the night isn’t President Obama’s victory. It was always plausible to believe that Obama would triumph based on narrow wins in battleground states like Ohio and Virginia. The real surprise is in the Senate, where the Democrats will probably expand their majority in what should have been a difficult year for them. And it won’t be because of the comments of Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Let’s start with the three Power Line picks. Tom Cotton has been declared the winner in Arkansas’ Fourth District. Right now, he’s up 60-36. The victory of this outstanding American brightens an otherwise gloomy evening. Chip Cravaack trails in Minnesota’s Eighth District by about 3,000 votes with approximately one-third of the vote counted. Mia Love is more than 5,000 votes behind in Utah’s Fourth District with a little less than
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November 6, 2012 — John Hinderaker
It has been a terrible night for Republicans, with hardly a bright spot anywhere. The Senate has gone South, and Mitt Romney has underrun his expected (by me and many others) performance in pretty much every contested state. I’ve been ready to give up for a while, but Karl Rove says it isn’t quite over yet. If Romney wins all of the outstanding swing states: Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio,
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
As noted earlier, Josh Mandel has lost in Ohio. Right now, Sherrod Brown leads that race 51-44. STEVE adds: People around Ohio in my recent visits there all said the same thing–Mandel was too young, and seemed to be moving too quickly to try to move up the ladder, having just arrived as state treasurer. But no one else stepped up to challenge Brown, so they give him props for
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Thompson’s defeat surprises me a little. Wisconsin has tilted back to the Dems. As for the Senate as a whole, it may be a scramble just to keep the current 53(D)-47(R) composition. STEVE adds: I’m not hugely surprised by this. I thought all along that Thompson was the GOP’s Mondale; past his time; worn out his welcome. I thought he’d probably win, but thought he’d be vulnerable if he ran
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
CNN and Fox both say so. Since there is no tabulated vote in many House races, I assume Republicans will hold the House by a good margin.
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Fox has called it for incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. I resigned myself to losing this race a while ago.
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November 6, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Click here to join now! Power Line Live is the place to be tonight. You can keep up on races around the country while chatting–celebrating or commiserating, as the case may be–with likeminded PL readers. We had around 2,000 people at a time in PL Live for the presidential debates, so there should be a good crowd tonight. More than 600 have already gathered. One word of advice: as the
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November 6, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Election Watch 2012 is being streamed online tonight from the Americans for Tax Reform headquarters in Washington. The show is being hosted by radio personality Tony Katz and a number of commentators will appear over the course of the evening. You can watch the show here. Katie Pavlich was on a moment ago, so I would advise you to hurry. I will be appearing via Skype in around two hours,
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November 6, 2012 — John Hinderaker
There has been considerable buzz today about various purported news stories: voting machines that don’t work; stocks that are soaring in expectation of a Romney victory; apparent turnout in a particular Ohio suburb; most recently, exit polls; and so on. Everyone wants news about the election, and when there isn’t any real news, such scraps will have to suffice. My advice is not to get caught up in anything until
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November 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
I have been reluctant to predict the outcome of the presidential election because I believe the race is too close to call with any confidence. That, in any event, is what the national polls say. However, last night, during his Ricochet podcast, John asked me for a prediction. As a guest, I could hardly refuse. I picked Romney to win narrowly, both in the popular and the electoral vote. Why?
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November 6, 2012 — John Hinderaker
It is being reported that Democratic Party operatives are evicting court-appointed Republican poll watchers from polling places in Philadelphia. Specifically, this reportedly has happened in Ward 32, Div 13; Ward 43, Div 14; Ward 56, Div 1; Ward 56, Div 22; Ward 32, Div 28; Ward 32, Div 28; Ward 12, Div 17; Ward 39, Div 1; Ward 24, Div 9; Ward 18, Div 25; Ward 43, Div 14; Ward
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November 5, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Maryland’s ballot questions this year include such big ticket items as same-sex marriage, a dream act, and congressional redistricting. But by far the dominant question, measured by the amount of campaigning, is gambling. Specifically, Marylanders have been bombarded with electioneering on the issue of whether a new casino should be added to the few that already exist, and whether certain table games should be permitted at all Maryland casinos. It
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November 5, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Maryland is such a Blue State these days that the results of races for office are nearly always a foregone conclusion. 2012 is no exception. However, this year Marylanders do get to vote on an array of controversial ballot questions as to which the outcome is in doubt. These issues included same-sex marriage (Question 6), a Dream Act (Question 4), gambling expansion (Question 7), and congressional redistricting (Question 5). The
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