From the most southeastern point in the 50 United States to the most northwestern, it's primary night!
Among the contests at stake, this evening we learn whether Democrats will be represented by Kendrick Meek or Jeff Greene in Florida's U.S. Senate race, whether Republicans will be represented by Rick Scott or Bill McCollum in Florida's gubernatorial race, whether John McCain will return as the GOP's nominee for U.S. Senate, and whether or not Sarah Palin's chosen allies will prevail in her home state primary.
Here's a schedule of poll closing times (times given are Eastern and Pacific, a transparent attempt to avoid figuring out Arizona and Alaska's atypical time zones):
Florida primary: Most of the state closes at 7ET/4PT, though panhandle region in the Central time zone closes at 8ET/5PT. (More on the down-ballot contests here.)
Vermont primary: 7ET/4PT
Oklahoma run-off: 8ET/5PT
Arizona: 10ET/7PT
Alaska: Part of state at 12ET/9PT and rest of state at 1ET/10PT (that's 1:00am Eastern)
Stay tuned throughout the evening as we update you on results and developments.
In the mean-time, via Crisitunity at SSP, here's PPP's most recent poll of the U.S. Senate general election in Florida:
Public Policy Polling (8/21-22, likely voters, 7/16-18 in parens):
Kendrick Meek (D): 17 (17)
Marco Rubio (R): 40 (29)
Charlie Crist (I): 32 (35)
Alex Snitker (L): 3 (4)
Undecided: 8 (15)
Jeff Greene (D): 13 (13)
Marco Rubio (R): 37 (29)
Charlie Crist (I): 36 (38)
Alex Snitker (L): 4 (3)
Undecided: 10 (16)
As Crisitunity notes, the big shift here is Rubio appearing to pick up support from undecided voters and from Crist supporters, though it's always possible that this particular poll simply reflects a slightly more conservative sample. Crist's job appears easier with Greene as a nominee, mostly because Greene would be a worse nominee for Democrats than Meek. PPP's Tom Jensen also flags an interesting challenge for Crist:
Crist's support continues to show an awkward balance that may ultimately make victory for him impossible. 57% of those planning to vote for him if Meek is the nominee think he should caucus with the Democrats in the Senate if elected while 28% think he should side with the Republicans. He's more likely to find the additional support he needs to get elected from Democrats than Republicans, but can he do that without losing the 20% of Republicans who are still with him? Whether he finds a way to thread that needle or not will probably determine his fate.
Of course there's still plenty of time between now and election day and by the end of the night we'll have at least one more important piece of data in our hands: we'll know who the candidates will be.
Update: Some very early results in Florida before all the polls in the Panhandle are closed:
U.S. Senate (D): Kendrick Meek leads Jeff Greene by 15 points, 51-36 -- but less than 10% reporting.
Governor (R): Rick Scott leads Bill McCollum by about 6 points, 48-42 with about 5% reporting.
Update 2:
U.S. Senate (D): Kendrick Meek is crushing Jeff Greene by 20 points with about a quarter of precincts reporting.
Governor (R): Rick Scott leads Bill McCollum by 2 points, 46-44, with a bit over 15% reporting.