Amid the endless hand wringing going on in the diaries on DKOS, here's a postive note: "POPULIST DEMOCRATS HAVE TAKEN OVER A RED STATE!!!"
The election has been nothing less than extraordinary. Democrats have taken the governor's office for the first time in 16 years, and every state-wide state office except one, an unprecidented event.
The democrats have taken a majority in the state sentate 27 to 23, the first time in 15 years, and may have a 50 50 tie in the state house depending on the final count of one very close race.
Demos thought that they had won the scretary of state race, but a repub who spent $120K of his own money in the race has edged out a 3,000 vote win. The republican candidate says he will use the office to promote "core christian republican values to the state". Unfortunately this wing nut made it into office.
Moderates got elected and relected to the state supreme court, turning back a scary right wing extremist in one of the races.
And in Flathead County, a democrat won election to the county commission (one of the farthest right in the state) by 137 votes, with a coalition of democrats and moderate republicans who are attempting to take their party back from the crazed libertarians and constitutionalists.
In the initiatives, Montanans also beat back an attempt to weaken the state's environmental mining regulations, althought the "defense of marriage" initiative passed handily.
Previous details can been seen here in
Montana Goes Purple Parts1 and 2
These wins took nearly a decade of planning and organizing by the local democrats (with no help from the 527s). Now we begin the hard work of planning a transition to a democratic admisinistration, something that hasn't been done in this state since 1984!
Progressives can still win in America. Montana is turning blue again.