2014 US Midterm Election Results & Discussion Thread

[Antilogic]

Removing gas tax indexing seems shortsighted.

I would like the infrastructure to be supported via another less-regressive method myself, but I'd rather put that in place before killing the funding. Something like half of the bridges in MA need repairs.

Any official word anywhere on North Carolina? The things I am watching are afraid to say anything yet.

Honestly kind of sorry to see Michelle Nunn lose. I had great respect for her father, even if he was a Democrat ( ) and assuming the apple didn't fall far from the tree, she would have been a great Senator.

EDIT: And literally as I clicked submit, OAN called North Carolina for the Republican.

Yeah, calls in Iowa and North Carolina for the GOP, they won control of the Senate.

Nunn would have been following the centrist Democrat playbook for the most part, a lot of those conservative-leaning Dems are gone now. Pyror is out, Landrieu is very likely to be gone after the runoff, and so on.

Well 53 is looking likely at this point. Only way the Dems retain control if a mass party defection happens post election.

53 looks right, especially with Warner's narrow lead now in VA. He's about a half-point ahead and there's not much left. I don't see much of a reason to believe Begich could win in Alaska. But we could get another surprise.

 

[Archbob]

Thought Walker would win, but didn't see it by 7%. That was a shock.

 

[Antilogic]

Don't look now, but CNN just showed the Connecticut governor's race. The Democratic incumbent is ahead by 7 (sic) votes.

 

[bhsup]

Brownback win in Kansas governor race.

 

[Antilogic]

That's not called on RCP and the others I can check, but it does look like he has a 3ish point advantage.

Looks like Massachusetts is going GOP for the governor's race, guess making up stories about fishermen didn't hurt Baker. Maryland is a bit of surprise, it's called for the GOP with a 6ish point margin. Colorado and Connecticut are still too close to call.

 

[bhsup]

Admittedly, it was that OAN network that called Brownback. That said, it's now the lead article for the Kansas City Star as well.

 

[Kaitzilla]

What it all boils down to,

 

[Phrossack]

Well, factoring in the Republican control of both houses, and the lack of motivation among Dem voters, it's probably going to be next to impossible to overturn the restrictive voter ID laws. I predict consistent Republican control of both houses for many years, and that the government will become even less functional, with constant lawsuits and attempts to repeal the ACH.

 

[Antilogic]

Okay, I'm going to bed in a moment here, figured I'd drop this from the rants thread since it is relevant:

It's not like anyone expected them to be good. We should have been ranting about the lack of decent third party candidates in more states and the massive amounts of cash dumped into the races (the figure I have heard is $4 billion).

And mention the projectioneers have not called several gubernatorial races. Hickenlooper in Colorado and Malloy in Connecticut currently have small leads, The Other Walker is virtually tied in Alaska with Parnell, and Shumlin is leading by a slim margin in Vermont.

A lot of the other news networks have caught up with OAN and called Kansas for Brownback. Looks like the purge worked.

Additionally, Scotty B has conceded the New Hampshire Senate race and vowed to run in Maine in 2016. Just kidding.

 

[Archbob]

They'll repeal the ACH, wait for a republican president and then name it something else and attempt to pass it again.

 

[onejayhawk]

What it all boils down to,

No. He was not born in Kenya.

J

 

[onejayhawk]

Well, factoring in the Republican control of both houses, and the lack of motivation among Dem voters, it's probably going to be next to impossible to overturn the restrictive voter ID laws. I predict consistent Republican control of both houses for many years, and that the government will become even less functional, with constant lawsuits and attempts to repeal the ACH.

The polls clearly did not favor Republicans. The bias, if any, was toward the Democrats. That said, it is hard to separate signal from noise at this level. Did the Democrats get slightly favorable polling, or did they under perform by staying home?

The surprise of the night was the Virginia election, which was not projected as close. A recount looks inevitable. The next surprise is the state races. Even with the Democrats pulling out CT and CO in the late counting, Republicans far outperformed expectations, winning WI and GA easily, FL, MA, KS, ME, IL and MD. Even with Alaska going independent, the GOP netted 2 seats. Sabato in his day before projections had them losing 3.

J

 

[Cutlass]

The CT governor's race still doesn't have a definitive winner. It looks like the Republican incumbent governor won in Maine.

 

[bhsup]

Keepin' it real, Berkeley passes sugary drink tax. 1¢ per oz.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29911804

 

[Cutlass]

Jon Stewart did a 5 minute piece on the CT governor's candidates.

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/ax0lkm/democalypse-2014---some-like-it-yacht

 

[Light Cleric]

I would be a lot happier about Harry Reid no longer being majority "leader" if Mitch McConnell wasn't taking his place.

Also I'm turning off cable news again for another couple years so THAT's a win

 

[IglooDame]

One of the most conservative counties in Texas voting in a fracking ban.

A literal 'fracking' ban, or an *expletive deleted* ban?

 

[bhsup]

Literal fracking. I read about that last night, though I didn't know it passed. Some city (or was it county) voted to ban fracking within its borders.

 

[JollyRoger]

Denton, Texas -home of proud free market types.

 

[Antilogic]

I would be a lot happier about Harry Reid no longer being majority "leader" if Mitch McConnell wasn't taking his place.

Also I'm turning off cable news again for another couple years so THAT's a win

Eeee-yup, aaah-slow ahnd steady wins the race. Eee-yup.

Denton, Texas -home of proud free market types.

They have no pretention.