(A good night all around -- kos)
Lost in the excitement of tonight's Iowa caucauses was a Democratic victory in the race to fill a vacant Republican state senate seat (SD25).
It's not being reported on the Secretary of State's website, but a credible report on the ground indicates that Northfield contains a wide enough margin of victory for DFLer Kevin Dahle to avoid a recount and give him the win and the DFL Senate caucus a veto-proof majority.
The final numbers:
Dahle (DFL): 6802
Cox (GOP): 5225
A huge turnout for Iowa Democrats and a red seat turns blue in Minnesota. Overall, a good night for Democrats.
Update [2008-1-4 3:5:33 by RandySF]:
I be remiss if I did not share more about Kevin Dahle
Occupation: High School Teacher in the Northfield School District since 1993. Teaching since 1982. Social Studies and Driver Education
Age: 47
Family: Wife Beth, Children Kalista 8, Greenlee 5, Griffith 2
Education: BA University of Northern Iowa, MA in Education St. Mary's University, Winona, MN
Experience: I have taught Civics, Economics, Political Science, and Social Psychology for 23 years. I am currently President of the Northfield Education Association (for about 10 years), currently serve on the Council of Local Presidents for Education Minnesota, member of the Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield Historical Society, member of the United Methodist Church, worked with Citizens for Quality Education, active in several campaigns at local, state, and national level. I've been a liason to Ukraine with the United States Department of Education. While in Ukraine I worked with community and school leaders to teach civic education.
Priorities: Education, affordable health care, building working coalitions