Nate Silver points out that it would both be wrong to read too much into the election and that it also might point the way for future Democratic and Republican strategies. Well, obviously. But more usefully he notes that the Democratic heavy urban areas report later than the Republican heavy western counties. So don’t hyperventilate too early if Gillespie starts the night ahead.
Yep. Happens every year. Hell, I can remember Jim Webb being behind by 5,000 votes in the 2006 senate election with 99.1% of the vote counted…and winning by half a percent.
I’m really interested in seeing what happens in the elections for the general assembly. I think that may be a better bellwether.
Oh, and elsewhere since this is a somewhat selfishly titled thread, Democrats have a chance to flip the entire NJ state governance blue, and can take over the Washington legislature. There are also races to get Medicaid expansion voted into law in Maine, and all kinds of mayoral, town council, city manager, and other similar elections all over the country going on.
Every election is important now, more than ever. If there’s a ballot initiative where you live, GO VOTE.
It seemed to me only Virginia’s outcome was significantly close enough to worry over, but I’ll expand the title franchise.
Courtesy of Taniel, some of the biggies tomorrow:
Glad my vote in Westchester Co. will mean something. The war of campaign signs outside our neighbors’ houses has been fierce.
What do y’all think about this state convention referendum?
About that Minneapolis city council election… my ward does have a mix of interesting and also-ran candidates, but my eye is on the mayor’s race. Interestingly, there are NO Republicans running for the mayor’s throne, but there is a clown car’s worth of DFL (Democratic Farmer-Labor, our version of Democratic), Green, Libertarian, and Rainbows Unicorns Butterflies candidates, including perennial not-winner Captain Jack Sparrow. I would highly doubt an unorthodox/Socialist Alternative candidate will take the mayor’s position, though, even with our snazzy ranked voting system.
A quick reminder for those voting later today: the league of women voters has a resource that lists local races, candidates, and ballot initiatives:
https://www.vote411.org
Even City council elections are important. I’m voting an a fairly important one today.
PTSD anyone?
Let me be honest i’m a bit terrified. The primary turnout for Trump was shocking, the longest lines I’ve ever seen by a magnitude - and far longer than the lines in the general election. Polling really underestimated the Trump effect. In an odd-year, off election year, i’m kind of scared the Trump voters will flood the polls again. It wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t either, but i do remember 2016.
Of importance on that dial: that’s gonna be margin only today…not probability.
You don’t need that trigger-warning dial for margin.
Prediction: Gillespie will be up 125-150,000 votes when we’re at like 65-70% counted.
Then (hopefully) the deluge from Northern Virginia.
My polling place in Capital City was a ghost town at 8am. More like a city wide election than state wide races.
Weather here is cloudy, with temp dropping & rain predicted for this PM.
Local elections in Reading were not drawing people this morning according to our paper. I saw no one in line when I drove past my local polling place. I intend to vote on the way home today (we have two Township Commissioners open and a Judge for the County).
We also have a question on the ballot regarding State Property Tax that’s rather important.
Far more people voting at my polling place in NoVA than there were in 2016. So that’s cool.
The big one in Ohio today is Issue 2 which looks to cap the amount the state pays for drugs at the VA rate. It’s drawn ~$75 million in out-of-state money (the most financed ballot issue in state history), mostly from the pharmaceutical lobby trying to oppose. I have some issues with the bill myself but on the whole it looks like a nice framework to build upon and move towards single payer.
One of the downsides of Washington state voting is that we do all ballots by mail, and it’s easy to set it aside and say I’ll get to it later. My wife and I have done that, and we really need to get those ballots done and in the mail because this bullshit of a couple of our so-called democrat state legislators going in to caucus with the republicans has made for some really poor lawmaking the last few years. To hell with that, says I.
That was my take as well. I guess that’s two yes votes so far … does that mean we won?
There are almost never serious republican candidates. They run as independents instead. There hasn’t been an elected Republican in Minneapolis since they disbanded the library board. Every serious candidate is DFL this year.
I’m really glad we’re doing ranked choice voting. It makes my choices way easier.
I voted. Lots of Supreme Court elections in PA, so it is a big deal. Also a lot of empty slots for the Democratic party. I wonder what it would take to get my name on some of those ballets, if only as a place holder?