VA-Gov and VA-Legislature: McDonnell Wins, Lege Results To Come

UPDATE: MSNBC just called it for McDonnell. Not a surprise, indeed, it's a bit of a surprise that it took an hour. A couple of notes from the legislative elections that should chill folks a little bit. The House candidate who made the infamous "ballots or bullets" comment back in the summer is only down 53-47 to Albert Pollard. Also, it looks like two seats are sure to change hands, but in different directions. In rural HD-03, Democrat Dan Bowling is done. Meanwhile, scandal-tarred Republican Phillip Hamilton is trailing badly with about a third of the vote in.

Election Results--Virginia Governor--11/3/09--36% Reporting

Bob McDonnell (R) 396,539 (62%)
Creigh Deeds (D) 241,085 (38%)

Election Results--Virginia Governor--11/3/09--8% Reporting

Bob McDonnell (R) 81,358 (64%)
Creigh Deeds (D) 46,670 (36%)

(Note: Still very early--bulk of vote coming from rural areas. Three districts reporting the most are the 5th, 6th and 9th)

Election Results--Virginia Governor--11/3/09--0.8% Reporting

Bob McDonnell (R) 6124 (67%)
Creigh Deeds (D) 3064 (33%)

So, Election Night 2009 begins in the commonwealth of Virginia, where the state's off-year election cycle selects a new Governor, plus two other constitutional officers (Lt. Governor and Attorney General) as well. Late polls in the race suggested a Republican sweep of these three offices.

In addition, the State House of Delegates will be up for grabs, with the GOP expected to pad their 55-45 majority (technically, it is 53-45-2, but the two Independents are GOP-friendly).

The early numbers are just that, really, really early. The exit polls are not declaring a winner yet (a potentially good sign--since all indications were that Deeds was going to get thumped).

That said, they are making some telling points about this election, and it looks like Markos was right when he made this point earlier today:

2010 will be a base election. The party best able to turn out its core voters has the best chance of winning. If Democrats want to see a repeat of Virginia at the national level next year, then they should cave to Blue Dogs and the media nabobs and water down reform efforts (whether in energy, health care, financial services, or immigration).

What have the exit polls told us thus far? One fifth of voters were under the age of 30 last year. This year? Just 10% of the electorate. Nearly a third of the Virginia electorate were minority voters last year. This year? 20%.

Daily Kos will follow the numbers all evening, while Democrats continue holding out hope that this will not be a quick call.