The Official Election 2006 Results Thread

[DjTj]

I've been staying out of political threads for a few days because things have gotten a little too partisan, even for the Tailgate. There has been a lot more campaigning than honest debate recently, and it seems that we lost redskinslvrgrl in the fray.

Tonight that all ends. There is no more time for campaigning, speculating, or predicting. Ballots are being counted right now, and it's time for results.

I wrote a little election day guide for Bang's site: http://www.bangcartoon.com/columnist...politicalremix

And I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we could all discuss the results.

First, the current counts:

The House: 202 (+28) Democrats/Independent and 229 (-28) Republicans
The Senate: 45 (+5) Democrats/Independent and 55 (-5) Republicans
Governors: 22 (+6) Democrats and 28 (-6) Republicans

The polls have already closed at 6pm EST in parts of Indiana and Kentucky. There are four House races to watch where Democrats could pick up a seat:

6:00pm: IN 2nd District (R): Chris Choccola (R) vs. Joe Donnelly (D)
6:00pm: IN 8th District (R): Brad Ellsworth (D) vs. John Hostetler (R)
6:00pm: IN 9th District (R): Baron Hill (D) vs. Mike Sodrel (R)
6:00pm: KY 3rd District (R): Ann Northrup (R) vs. John Yarmuth (D)
6:00pm: KY 4th District (R): Geoff Davis (R) vs. Ken Lucas (D)

At 7pm, the polls close in Georgia, Virginia, Vermont, and the Florida peninsula. The big race here is the Virginia Senate race:

7:00pm: VA Senator (R): George Allen (R) vs. Jim Webb (D)

There are also six House races to watch, including Mark Foley's open seat in Florida's 16th District:

7:00pm: FL 13th District (R): Vern Buchanan (R) vs. Christine Jennings (D)
7:00pm: FL 16th District (R): Tim Mahoney (D) vs. Joe Negron (R)
7:00pm: FL 22nd District (R): Ron Klein (D) vs. Clay Shaw (R)
7:00pm: GA 8th District (D): Mac Collins (R) vs. Jim Marshall (D)
7:00pm: VA 2nd District (R): Thelma Drake (R) vs. Phil Kellam (D)
7:00pm: VT At-Large District (I/D): Martha Rainville (R) vs. Peter Welch (D)

At 7:30pm, the polls close in Ohio and West Virginia. Ohio is a major battleground, with races for Governor, Senator, and several House seats up for grabs. This could be an early sign of trouble for the Republicans if they lose a majority of these seats:

7:30pm: OH Governor (R): Ken Blackwell (R) vs. Ted Strickland (D)
7:30pm: OH Senator (R): Sherrod Brown (D) vs. Mike DeWine (R)
7:30pm: OH 1st District (R): Steve Chabot (R) vs. John Cranley (D)
7:30pm: OH 6th District (D): Chuck Blasdel (R) vs. Charlie Wilson (D)
7:30pm: OH 15th District (R): Mary Jo Kilroy (D) vs. Deborah Pryce (R)
7:30pm: OH 18th District (R): Joy Padgett (R) vs. Zach Space (D)
7:30pm: WV 11th District (D): Alan Mollohan (D) vs. Chris Wakim (R)

At 8pm, the polls close in 19 states. This includes some of the biggest Senate races, and if the Democrats sweep these races, it will mean the Senate will change hands:

8:00pm: CT Senator (D): Ned Lamont (D) vs. Joe Lieberman (I/D) vs. Alan Schlesinger (R)
8:00pm: MD Senator (D): Ben Cardin (D) vs. Michael Steele (R)
8:00pm: MO Senator (R): Claire McCaskill (D) vs. Jim Talent (R)
8:00pm: NJ Senator (D): Tom Kean (R) vs. Bob Menendez (D)
8:00pm: PA Senator (R): Bob Casey (D) vs. Rick Santorum (R)
8:00pm: TN Senator (R): Bob Corker (R) vs. Harold Ford (D)

In Florida, Massachusetts, and Maryland, Republicans may lose a few governorships:

8:00pm: FL Governor (R): Charles Crist (R) vs. Jim Davis (D)
8:00pm: MA Governor (R): Kerry Healey (R) vs. Deval Patrick (D)
8:00pm: MD Governor (R): Bob Ehrlich (R) vs. Martin O'Malley (D)

There are also a number of tight House races in Connecticut, Illinois, and Pennsylvania:

8:00pm: CT 2nd District (R): Joe Courtney (D) vs. Rob Simmons (R)
8:00pm: CT 4th District (R): Dianne Farrell (D) vs. Chris Shays (R)
8:00pm: CT 5th District (R): Nancy Johnson (R) vs. Chris Murphy (D)
8:00pm: IL 6th District (R): Tammy Duckworth (D) vs. Pete Roskam (R)
8:00pm: IL 8th District (D): Melissa Bean (D) vs. David McSweeney (R)
8:00pm: KS 2nd District (R): Nancy Boyda (D) vs. Jim Ryun (R)
8:00pm: NH 1st District (R): Jeb Bradley (R) vs. Carol Shea-Porter (D)
8:00pm: NH 2nd District (R): Charlie Bass (R) vs. Paul Hodes (D)
8:00pm: PA 4th District (R): Jason Altmire (D) vs. Melissa Hart (R)
8:00pm: PA 6th District (R): Jim Gerlach (R) vs. Lois Murphy (D)
8:00pm: PA 7th District (R): Joe Sestak (D) vs. Curt Weldon (R)
8:00pm: PA 8th District (R): Mike Fitzpatrick (R) vs. Patrick Murphy (D)
8:00pm: PA 10th District (R): Chris Carney (D) vs. Don Sherwood (R)

At 8:30pm, the polls close in Arkansas and North Carolina, where the Democrats may pick up another governorship and former Redskins draft pick Heath Shuler might get his ticket back to Washington:

8:30pm: AR Governor (R): Mike Beebe (D) vs. Asa Hutchinson (R)
8:30pm: NC 11th District (R): Heath Shuler (D) vs. Charles Taylor (R)

At 9pm, the polls close in 13 more states, with a number of important governor races:

9:00pm: CO Governor (R): Bill Beauprez (R) vs. Mark Ritter (D)
9:00pm: MI Governor (D): Dick DeVos (R) vs. Jennifer Granholm (D)
9:00pm: MN Governor (R): Mike Hatch (D) vs. Tim Pawlenty (R)
9:00pm: NY Governor (R): John Faso (R) vs. Eliot Spitzer (D)
9:00pm: WI Governor (D): Jim Doyle (D) vs. Mark Green (R)

There are also two critical Senate races:

9:00pm: MN Senator (D): Mark Kennedy (R) vs. Amy Klobuchar (D)
9:00pm: RI Senator (R): Lincoln Chafee (R) vs. Sheldon Whitehouse (D)

And there are competitive House races across the country, including Tom DeLay's open seat in the 22nd District in Texas and a disgraced Democrat William Jefferson in the 2nd District of Louisiana:

9:00pm: AZ 5th District (R): J.D. Hayworth (R) vs. Harry Mitchell (D)
9:00pm: AZ 8th District (R): Gabrielle Giffords (D) vs. Randy Graf (R)
9:00pm: CO 7th District (R): Ed Perlmutter (D) vs. Rick O'Donnell (R)
9:00pm: LA 2nd District (D): William Jefferson (D) vs. Joe Lavigne (R)
9:00pm: MN 1st District (R): Gilbert Gutknecht (R) vs. Tim Walz (D)
9:00pm: MN 6th District (R): Michele Bachmann (R) vs. Patty Wetterling (D)
9:00pm: NM 1st District (R): Patricia Madrid (D) vs. Heather Wilson (R)
9:00pm: NY 19th District (R): John Hall (D) vs. Sue Kelly (R)
9:00pm: NY 20th District (R): Kirsten Gillibrand (D) vs. John Sweeney (R)
9:00pm: NY 24th District (R): Michael Arcuri (D) vs. Ray Meier (R)
9:00pm: NY 26th District (R): Jack Davis (D) vs. Tom Reynolds (R)
9:00pm: TX 17th District (D): Chet Edwards (D) vs. Van Taylor (R)
9:00pm: TX 22nd District (R): Nick Lampson (D) vs. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R)
9:00pm: WI 8th District (R): John Gard (R) vs. Steve Kagan (D)

At 10pm, the polls close in Iowa, Montana, and Nevada:

10:00pm: MT Senator (R): Conrad Burns (R) vs. Jon Tester (D)
10:00pm: IA Governor (D): Chet Culver (D) vs. Jim Nussle (R)
10:00pm: IA 1st District (R): Bruce Braley (D) vs. Mike Whalen (R)
10:00pm: IA 2nd District (R): Jim Leach (R) vs. Dave Loebsack (D)
10:00pm: NV 2nd District (R): Jill Derby (D) vs. Dean Heller (R)

At 11pm, the polls close on the west coast:

11:00pm: OR Governor (D): Ted Kulongoski (D) vs. Ron Saxton (R)
11:00pm: CA Governor (R): Phil Angelides (D) vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
11:00pm: CA 4th District (R): Charles Brown (D) vs. John Doolittle (R)
11:00pm: WA 5th District (R): Peter Goldmark (D) vs. Cathy McMorris (R)
11:00pm: WA 8th District (R): Darcy Burner (D) vs. Dave Reichert (R)

Finally, at 1am, the polls close in Alaska, where the govenors' race is competitive:

1:00am: AK Governor (R): Tony Knowles (D) vs. Susan Palin (R)

The Democrats need six seats to take the Senate and fifteen seats to take the House. It should be a fun night.