Live Coverage of Election 2008, Part Three

11:01 pm MST: In WY, GOP challenger Lummis wins the at - large US House seat in The Cowboy State, defeating Democratic candidate Trauner by a 53 - 43 margin or by about 25,000 votes to fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Republican Barbarba Cubin, a seven term incumbent. This is a disappointment for WY as its entire delegation will just the opposite of NM, entirely Republican. Outside of monies for national parks and other federal lands, not much money will be coming into WY particularly for transportation, water projects, and education with these developments. Sitting Governor Dave Freudenthal will have be the voice in Washington DC to help WY get a bigger share of the federal pot for projects and investments long overdue and ignored by the state's congressional and senatorial delegation, particularly roads and highways, mass transit, improvements and upgrades concerning public lands, and assistance and incentives for developments of alternative clean energy sources such as wind and solar which are incredible abundance across The Equality State.

The final numbers from the voting for the Presidency from citzens voting in WY ended up with a McCain margin of 66 -32 or by over 80,000 votes out of over 236,000 cast. Obama only carried two of the 23 counties in the state: Albany in SE Wyoming where the University of Wyoming is; and Teton in NW Wyoming where the wealthy and enlightened enclave of Jackson Hole lies. In some WY counties, McCain got over 80 % of the vote.

11:18 pm: The contest in Minnesota for the US Senate seat between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken remains extremely close at this point. With 78 % of precincts reporting in MN, Coelman has a 6000 vote lead.

The delegation in the US House will likely be 5 -3 in favor of Democrats, but two seats that are held by incumbent Republicans remain closely contested with about 70 - 80 % of precincts reporting in each of those two districts at this moment. A comeback win by the Dem challengers in those two districts remains a possibility.

11:25 pm: In NV, Obama leads McCain 57 -41 or by over 129,000 votes with 40 % of precincts reporting from across The Silver State. The state remains unprojected at the moment.

Results are slow to come in from rural outlying NV as only 22 % of the precincts that cover the state that makes up the Second Congressional District are reporting. In that contest, the incumbent GOP Heller leads the Dem challenger Derby by about 11,000 votes or by a 49 -44 margin. In District One, the incumbent Dem Berkley has won re-election easily, while in the Third District, the Democratic challenger Titus leads the GOP incumbent Porter by more than 19,ooo votes or by a 48 -42 margin with 54 % of precincts in that congressional district reporting.

11:32 pm: New Mexico is moving towards close full completion of votes being counted rather early compared to what is transpired historically as the number of precincts reporting has passed the 90 % mark across the state and in all three congressional districts. The three Dem challengers continue to lead comfortably and its becoming all but a sure thing they will all win, resulting in a pickup of two seats in the US House for Democrats. Tom Udall cruised to an easy win for the open US Senate seat by about a 60 - 40 margin as he has a better than 135,000 vote lead with 93 % of precincts reporting across NM at this moment.

11:36 pm: Dem incumbent Governor Gregoire continues to lead GOP challenger Rossi; at this moment with 43 % of precincts reporting, the margin is by over 46, 000 votes or by a 53- 48 margin.

11:40 pm: CA has an enormous 53 seat delegation in the US House of Representatives, over 12 percent of the total national number of representatives. Results at this moment are still in the very early stage with some seats showing zero votes being counted still almost three hours after the polls close in The Golden State. Thus, it is much too soon to make any kind of conclusions from the votes cast across the state for this congressional delegation. It is likely a somewhat final analysis will not be presented on this blog until sometime early THR 5 November am.

11:47 pm: The races for Congress in AZ ended as they were anticipated earlier with a 5 - 3 edge in the delegation for Democrats, an increase of one. The First Congressional District than covers much of eastern and northern AZ switched over to the Dems with Kirkpatrick beating Hay by around a 55 -40 margin or by over 35,000 votes with 96 % of precincts reporting.

Two ballot issues of interest in AZ both won comfortably: The statewide ban on gay marriage, and the clarification of language in the state constitution and state laws when addressing issues concerning illegal aliens and employment.

11:52 pm: SD saw victories by incumbent Democrats for contested seats in the US Senate and US House. Incumbent Johnson was an easy winner by about a 63 -37 margin or by more than 88,000 votes over Repub challenger Dykstra. In the race for the at-large seat, incumbent Dem Sandlin has scored a wide victory by a 68 -32 margin or by over 125,000 votes.

A controversial ballot issue in The Coyote State went down to defeat as limits for abortions were not chosen by SD voters by about a 55 - 45 margin or by about 35,000 votes.

In the voting for president among SD voters, John McCain took about 54 % of the vote as compared to 44 % for Barack Obama, with McCain having about a 33,000 vote edge.

12:00 Midnight: Results continue to come in rather slowly from OR, as at the moment just 43 % of precincts have reported. Dem challenger Merkley leads Repub incumbent Smith by about 3800 votes in the US Senate contest. It is unclear as to when a decision may come into view.

12:05 am: NE did indeed have all three GOP incumbents hold their seats in the US House, and Johanns took the US Senate seat by a 58 -40 margin. Ben Nelson will remain the sole Democrat in Washington DC from Nebraska as an elected official.

12:10 am: Like NV and OR, results are slow to come in from ID. In the race for the First Congressional District, Dem challenger Minnick leads GOP incumbent Sali by a 52 - 48 margin or by less than 6000 votes with 50 % of precincts reporting. Lets hope we get a result in the next two to three hours. In the US Senate race from ID, GOP challenger Risch has been declared the winner over Dem candidate LaRocco, keeping this seat in Republican hands after the retirement of Larry Craig.

12:14 am: Across the Mountain States region, Democrats have picked up seats in the US House of Representatives from the following: one in AZ, one in CO, and two in NM. MT, UT, and WY will remain the same with no changes in political party representation. Two seats remain unsettled in NV, and one in OR.

Going into the election, Republicans held 17 of the 28 seats from the Mountain States region in the US House of Representatives. These new results have now led to the 28 member delegation switching to a 15 - 13 Democratic majority, and an 18 - 10 differential still remains a possibility.

As for the US Senate, Democrats hold two seats from CO, MT, and NM; one seat from NV; and none in AZ, ID, UT, and WY. This election's results mean the Senatorial delegation from the eight state region will be 9 -7 in favor of Republicans, an increase of two for Democrats, and the closest margin since the late 1970s.

Four senators will be up for re-election in 2010, in what is called a Senate Class III election Those senators from the eight state Mountain States region are Republican John McCain from Arizona; Democrat Ken Salazar from Colorado; Republican Mike Crapo from Idaho; and Republican Robert from Utah. Salazar and Crapo will run for re-election and are strongly likely to be returned to the Senate at this point, while it is unclear at this moment what the plans are for McCain and Bennett as far as running again. McCain will be 74 and Bennett 77 in 2010, and retirements by one or both are possible. The race to replace a retiring McCain could be a real horse race in AZ, while in UT sitting governor Huntsman may be opt to make the move up as well as several other noteworthy Beehive State Republicans. Utah will almost surely keep the Senate seat in GOP hands, while a change to Democrats is a possibility in AZ. It is difficult to imagine Crapo being ousted unless a major unforeseeable circumstance eventuates. Thus the delegation from the Mountain States region should remain as a Republican majority or at worst evenly split between the two parties two years from now.

12:37 am: The polls have been closed in AK for over one and one-half hours now, and results are coming, although rather slowly but not unexpectedly given the size and vastness of The Last Frontier. John McCain leads Barack Obama 58 -40 or by over 24,000 votes with 45 % of the precincts reporting. In the US Senate race, the GOP incumbent Ted Stevens, a recently convicted criminal felon, has a small lead over Dem challenger Begich by a 49 - 46 margin or by 4400 votes. In the US House race for the at - large seat, the incumbent Repub Young leads the Dem challenger Berkowitz by a 52 -44 margin or by about 9300 votes. Hopefully most of the votes will come in over the next three plus hours before this reporter calls it a night.

12:43 am: MO remains a very close race for the presidency as at even this late hour the race is all but deadlocked. 99 % of precincts are reporting from The Show Me State, and McCain leads Obama at this moment by less than 400 votes out over 2.85 million cast. A recount may become eventually necessary here.

A seat in the US Senate was not up for re-election in MO, but as usual the entire congressional representation was up for vote. The nine member MO congressional representation will stand with five Republicans and four Democrats for the 2009 - 2010 Congress, the 111th United States Congress.

12:51 am: US Representative Chris Shays of CT went down to defeat tonight, and that means there are no Republicans whatsoever in the US House from the six state New England region. This is a marked change for this region from just a few decades ago when it was a strong GOP represented region.

12:55 am: IN has remained close all night in that state's contest for the presidency. Obama will apparently win the state as he has a 23,000 vote lead over McCain with 99 % of precincts reporting as over 2.68 million votes have been cast in The Hoosier State.

Like MO, IN had no senatorial election this year. The nine member Indiana congressional delegation will remain the exactly same for 2009 with 5 Democrats and 4 Republicans. All nine are incumbents and were re-elected by at least comfortable or wide margins.

1:02 am: FL, the nation's fourth most populous state, was viewed as yet again a battleground state that would largely come down to the wire as the vote for President was concerned, and it did not disappoint. Obama squeaked out a two percentage points victory over McCain, winning by about 200,000 votes out of 8.125 million cast to claim the state's 27 electoral votes.

The 25 member Florida delegation for the 111th United States Congress starting in January 2009 will consist of 15 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Two Congressional Republican incumbents and one Democratic congressional incumbent went down to defeat in The Sunshine State, resulting in an increase of one Democrat for the state's next congressional delegation beginning in January 2009.

The ballot issue in FL to ban gay marriage passed easily by a 62 - 38 margin.

1:20 am: NC was another state that went deep into the night before a winner emerged for the state's electoral votes which totalled 15. Over 4.19 million votes were cast, and Obama ended up with a margin of just over 12,000 votes.

Democratic challenger Kay Hagen ended up winning the US Senate seat by a 53 -44 margin over GOP incumbent Elizabeth Dole, wife of longtime Republican Kansas Senator and 1996 GOP Presidential nominee Bob Dole.

The thirteen seat delegation to US House from NC for the next Congress will consist of eight Democrats and five Republicans. All 13 incumbents ran for re-election with only one, the Republican from the Eighth Congressional District, being defeated. Thus, NC will see an increase of one Democrat to the state's delegation.

1:33 am: 50 minutes ago Obama held a tiny lead over McCain in MO. More votes have been tabulated since then, and at this moment the lead has switched over to McCain. His lead is a little less than 5000 votes, 1.440 million to 1.435 million. I will keep an eye on this and update it again in the second half of the 2am MST hour.

1:37 am: Numbers from NV continue to trickle for the contest for the Second Congressional District. Only 42 % of precincts hve currently reported, but projections are giving the race to GOP incumbent Heller over the Dem challenger Derby. The other two races are final. Earlier Dem incumbent Berkley won easily in District One, and now results from the Third Congressional District show Dem challenger Titus has upset three term GOP incumbent Porter by a 48 - 42 margin or by about 18,000 votes. This is yet another pick up for the Democrats for the US House and gives the party 16 seats in the 28 seat delegation from the eight state Mountain States region.

In the presidential race from NV, Obama won easily. With 73 % of the precincts reporting now, the President - elect has a 56 -42 lead over McCain, with over 513,000 of the over 903,000 cast and counted so far.

1:44 am: Its taking a long time to count votes in ID. The race for the First Congressional race remains undecided. With 72 % of the precincts reporting, Dem challenger Minnick continues to lead GOP incumbent Sali by about 44oo votes out of over 233,000 cast and counted so far. That is a margin of 51 -49.

1:47 am: HI is the state that gives the President - elect his widest margin of victory over John McCain. With 99 % of precincts reporting, Obama has a 72 - 27 margin with over 298,000 votes out of about 409,000 cast, a difference of about 188,000.

The two member House delegation from The Aloha State will remain both Democratic as both incumbents won by overwhelming landslide margins.

1:51 am: It now appears the final electoral college totals will end up as 364 for Obama and 174 for McCain. Thats a better than 2 - 1 margin of victory for the President - elect. The 11 electoral votes now in the McCain category could still spill back to McCain, resulting in changing the scoreboard to 375 to 163, nearly 70 % for Obama.

The question now is, is this a landslide and a mandate ?

That is going to be the subject of much debate and discussion over the coming weeks and months.

1:56 am: I will start a new post with more new entries at the top of the 2:00 MST hour. The title of the post will remain about the same but end with words, "Part Four".

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