Last night was bad news in a lot of ways for us Democrats, but there are some side benefits in the GOP Onslaught of 2010.
I was saddened to see my home state (and my home county [Madison]) go Red.
Can the Liberals/Progressives make a comeback in 2012? Maybe we can get better Progressives then.
more after the jump.
I was real upset at a lot of the outcomes last night.
Democratic Stronghold Madison County goes Republican in some key races, including Kirk for IL-Sen and Brady for IL-Gov.
Party leaders analyze GOP's performance in Madison County
BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN - News-Democrat
EDWARDSVILLE -- Local party leaders on Wednesday were analyzing what led to the election of two Republicans to countywide offices in Madison County, something that no one can remember ever happening before.
Party insiders couldn't even remember the last time two Republicans held countywide offices at the same time.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was back in the '30s," said Don Weber, a Republican who served as state's attorney from 1980 to 1984. "It's just phenomenal that two Republicans got elected on the same day."
Madison County Republican Party Chairwoman Deb Detmers said the county is no longer a Democratic stronghold. She said the county used to be more blue-collar and pro-union, but now it's more suburban.
Madison County, IL, gets fed to the Wolves as the GOP takes some critical offices
IL-Gov: Quinn is narrowly winning, but still hasn't been called. He won only 4 counties (Cook, St. Clair, Jackson, and Alexander). Why Madison County was won by Brady: presence of Jason Plummer from Edwardsville.
Madison Co. Results [233 of 233]:
PAT QUINN AND SHEILA SIMON (D) 33023
RICH WHITNEY AND DON W. CRAWFORD (G) 1604
BILL BRADY AND JASON PLUMMER (R) 44338
LEX GREEN AND ED RUTLEDGE (L) 870
SCOTT LEE COHEN AND BAXTER B. SWILLEY (I) 2093
IL-Sen (6Y Term): Kirk won all but 2 counties (Cook and Alexander).
Madison Co. Results [233 of 233]:
ALEXANDER "ALEXI" GIANNOULIAS (D) 32536
LeALAN M. JONES (G) 2413
MARK STEVEN KIRK (R) 44105
MIKE LABNO (L) 2314
IL-Sen (Unexpired Term of Obama/Burris): 48-46%, Kirk.
IL-LD112: Jay Hoffman shockingly loses to Dwight Kay, one of THE biggest upsets in the country for a State Leglislative District.
Republican challenger Dwight Kay was heading to a victory Tuesday night against longtime incumbent state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville.
Kay won 19,473 to 18,102, a difference of 1,371 votes. Hoffman called Kay's office to concede shortly before 11 p.m.
The race for the 112th District, which covers much of Madison County and a section of St. Clair County, was one of the costliest legislative contests in the state, with spending that topped $1.57 million.
IL-SD49: Deanna Demuzio lost to Sam McCann, another big IL upset.
IL-Gov Recall Bill: 66-34, Yes
IL-17: Phil Hare got deposed.
IL-11: Debbie Halvorson was wiped out.
IL-08: Melissa Bean's time appears to be over.
IL-14: Bill Foster gets ran out by Hultgren.
MO-08: Jo Ann Emerson holds on to her seat as usual. Tommy Sowers put out a good effort to flip it Blue.
MO-07: Roy Blunt's old district stays Republican as Billy Long wins.
MO-Auditor: Susan Montee loses to Tom Schweich.
MO Prop A: Passed unfortunately, ruining STL and KC.
MO Prop B (Puppy Mill Bill): Mercifully, the bill passed.
Yes 992,094 51.5%
No 932,615 48.5%
MO-04: ConservaDem Skelton upsetted by Vicky Hartzler.
MO-03: Russ Carnahan appears to have held on, though Ed Martin will seek a recount.
Ed Martin won't give up [St. Louis Activist Hub]
Here's what Martins' letter to supporters said, posted in full by the St. Louis right-wing propaganda outlet known as KMOV:
Tonight’s election which came down to the wire is just too close to call. Ed Martin is calling on local election authorities to ensure every vote is counted. By the end of the day there were three glaring factors that stood out. The Secretary of State’s office, Robin Carnahan, reported irregularities early in the day. A newly appointed St. Louis City Board of Elections Democratic Chairwoman, Eileen McCann, hired a security company with close ties to Carnahan. Then just before midnight seven precincts in the city delivered an astounshing (and unbelievable) amount of votes. It will be interesting to see if the number of votes actually add up to the amount of registered votes in those precincts.
It all begs a lot of questions and with problems in the Secretary of State’s office as well it only makes sense to make sure in fact every vote counts.
"The people of this district want to make sure their voices were in fact heard and I pledged to them that I would fight to ensure it happens. We need to make sure the election process was in fact fair and that the numbers are correct. I saw several issues in my time at the St. Louis City Board of Elections and serious issues like this should and need to be addressed," said Ed Martin.
And here's reality:
At this point, however, it doesn't seem likely those allegations will play in Martin's favor, and the officials we called haven't substantiated his claims. A spokeswoman for the Missouri Secretary of State's office explained that the problem with computer systems didn't prevent anyone from voting and was only an intermittent issue from about 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
His claim about the security firm is, of course, nothing but nonsensical insinuation.
Can anyone say "sore loser?"
MO-Sen: Roy Blunt wins all but STL City, STL County, and Jackson counties.
Non-IL/MO notecard:
WA-Sen: Patty Murray is winning 50.9-49.1% (as of 9:23PM CDT).
CO-Gov: Hickenlooper wins as expected. Dan Maes stays above 10%, so the GOP still gets Major Party status in Colorado, home to hatemongers Malkin and Dobson.
AK-Sen 3-Way: Write-In Lisa Murkowski should stay in.
MN-Gov: Dayton (D) ekes out a win over Emmer (R).
OR-Gov: John Kitzhaber should win.
WV-Sen: The race that kept the Dems in control of the Senate, Joe Manchin, won.
CT-Gov: Foley is hanging on by a thread.
WI-Sen: one of the biggest losses for the Dems, Russ Feingold, lost to Rob Johnson.
SC-Gov: Nikki Haley won as expected given it was a DEEP Red state, but Vince Sheheen kept her win margin to less than 7%. There may be hope in SC after all.
ID-01: Fake Democrat Walt Minnick lost to Raúl Labrador. So a great loss for the Dems to happy about there.
AR-Sen: Good riddance to DINOcrat Blanche Lincoln.
FL-08: Alan Grayson, a Progressive Hero, loses to Dan Webster.
DE-Sen: Coons won, after O'Donnell was the GOP nominated candidate. They may as well called it for him the moment that she won the GOP Primary.
NV-Sen: Thankfully Reid won. But will he be Senate Majority Leader?
CA-Sen: Boxer won, despite attempts from Failurina (aka Fiorina) to buy the race.
MADISON COUNTY, IL (my home county)
Madison County Treasurer
37,779 . . . Frank Miles (D)
42,197 . . . Kurt Prenzler (R)
Madison County Sheriff
43,430 . . . Bob Hertz (D)
34,784 . . . Bob Hulme (R)
Madison County Recorder
37,195 . . . Kyle Anderson (D)
41,665 . . . Matt Rice (R)
Madison County Judge Retentions [233 of 233]:
YES RETAIN JUDGE THOMAS M. WELCH 50614
NO RETAIN JUDGE THOMAS M. WELCH 21315
YES RETAIN JUDGE A. ANDREAS "ANDY" MATOESIAN 52017
NO RETAIN JUDGE A. ANDREAS "ANDY" MATOESIAN 21341
Madison County Election Results