Karina Henderson, live from the Andrew Rice watch party...
7:49 [Central] - Found a wireless connection and we're live from Cafe do Brasil in Oklahoma City! We have a great crowd building, waiting for Andrew to arrive and officially accept the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Results are coming in slowly but surely, and we're confident that the election will go in our favor.
In the meantime, we're enjoying the great food and keeping an eye on the TV and on the tubes.... Follow the returns here, and keep an eye right here for updates as they come in. We're going to launch a few new elements to the campaign tonight - so keep reading....
UPDATES BELOW THE FOLD
UPDATE 8:14 - Still watching the returns, and we're doing the math - right now, though we're not head-to-head, we have more votes than Jim Inhofe! It's good to see those vote tallies...
While you're waiting (as are we) for more updates, check out our website. There's a little surprise on our splash page that gives you a preview of what Andrew will be discussing shortly:
http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com
UPDATE 8:22 - Andrew is on his way!! Wish we could stream the speech, but we're taking video that will be on the website later...
UPDATE 8:24 - KOCO called it!! WE WON! http://www.koco.com/...
UPDATE 8:26 - State Rep. Al McAffrey is introducing Andrew as the next US Senator for the people of Oklahoma!
UPDATE 8:27 - The crowd is excited, waving American flags... very cool. Great crowd. Andrew is doing his thank-yous... family, staff, and volunteers.
UPDATE 8:29 - Andrew: "If I'm lucky enough... WHEN I'm lucky enough to be your U.S. Senator..." And the crowd goes wild!
UPDATE 8:30 - Andrew: Tonight we're challenging Jim Inhofe to a series of six debates...
NOW go to the website and sign the petition to bring the challenge to Jim Inhofe!
UPDATE 8:31 - Andrew's reminding all of us about Inhofe's atrocious record on veterans... even though Inhofe claims to be a friend of veterans, his voting record doesn't hold up. http://oklahomavets.org
UPDATE 8:33 - Inhofe has the resources, but "we've got the people on our side" !!
UPDATE 8:34 - Andrew will "serve with humility and honor... and respect." Yes, he will!
UPDATE 8:36 - Andrew's done addressing the crowd, but our work on the push toward November is just beginning! You can help us by holding Jim Inhofe accountable in this campaign and signing the petition to challenge him to a series of six regional debates between now and November 4th. Go to our website: http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com - sign the petition, and help push Jim Inhofe to debate Andrew Rice!
UPDATE 8:45 - Whew! We found a fan in the corner where I'm blogging and we're keeping an eye on all the results.
Andrew's doing some TV interviews here - haven't even had a chance to see the candidate! (I'm stuck to the computer...) Might go see if I can give him a congratulations - from me and from everyone reading along here!
UPDATE 8:54 - OK, I emerged for a few minutes to take a picture of Andrew with my cell phone, just to get some photos up here.... We'll have more on the website later on, but for the meantime, I'll upload the one!
UPDATE 9:17 - Picture...
The Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate!!!
UPDATE 9:34 - Andrew just finished up on OETA (PBS). Great interview. If I can find a recording of it, I'll post it - we'll see how much they put online...
UPDATE 10:00 - Last update of the night! Channel 4 is doing a live shot right now!
THANK YOU ALL! Now, on to November....