9:45PM: There’s more action in California, if you’re in the need for another liveblog fix. Californianintexas has what you crave.
9:10PM: Democrats now control the Virginia Senate by 22-18. Holding control of that chamber will be crucial in order to get any veto leverage over whatever terrible redistricting map the House of Delegates attempts to produce after the census.
9:02PM: Democrat Dave Marsden has won by 317 votes. Nice.
8:49PM: Hunt (R) would have to win 67% of the outstanding votes in order to pull off a win here. Doesn’t look likely.
8:46PM: 38 precincts in, and Marsden is ahead by 368.
8:36PM: 37 precincts in, and Marsden is up by 406.
8:31PM: 36 precincts now in, and Marsden is up by just under 300 votes. Come on baby, hold together…
8:27PM: 32 of 40 precincts in, and things got a lot tighter: Marsden leads by 376 votes (2%).
8:21PM: 28 precincts now in, and Marsden (D) leads by 847 votes or 5.5%.
There’s a special election of note tonight in Virginia, where the open seat left vacant by new Republican AG Ken Cuccinelli is being decided. Strangely enough in times like these, Democratic Del. Dave Marsden is actually in the lead, beating former Fairfax Co. School Board member Steve Hunt by about 5 points with 23 of 40 precincts reporting. I haven’t looked at where the votes are coming from, but if Democrats can reassert some strength in NoVA with a win here, that will be a real shot in the arm for the dispirited Virginia Democratic Party.
Results: VA SBoE
Marsden still up 52.7-27.2 with 28 of 40 in.
Marsden overperforming in R areas and underperforming in D areas. Did his Republican Lite Creigh Deeds impersonation work?
… easily won the other seat up tonight.
BTW Not Larry Sabato called the race for the Hunt right at poll closing but has now retracted his call.
as expected the Republican easily won the other senate seat up for election.
He’s had a grudge against Marsden for years. It’s pretty pathetic, really.
The bumpiness starts now — four of the remaining precincts were won by Cuccinelli in 2007, while three were won by Oleszek.
51-49 with 32 of 40 in.
Map of results here. Can also see similar maps from past elections, like November’s AG race with Cuccinelli (occupying this seat at the time).
50.7-49.3 with 4 precincts left. Anyone know what’s left?
Three more precincts left, one just came in and Marsden gains roughly 100 votes.
another 100 in the Burke district. Hasn’t been posted on the SOS yet.
Not so comfortable, but a win is a win–as long as it’s a win. Unless someone made a transcription error somewhere, I think this is probably the end of the store.
D+1 in the VA Senate.
Marsden won the absentees 800-395
I didn’t expect the margin of victory to exceed 51%. I didn’t think Marsden would win, however, so that was a welcome surprise.
Now comes defending Marsden’s House of Delegates seat, which will be tough, but doable. It’s slightly more Democratic than SD-37, so it will just require finding the right candidate.
a redistricting before?
Is there a procedure for deadlock other than a court drawn map?
In a couple of hours we head off to the oc for the special election results down there:
http://www.ocvote.com/live/72n…
Are there any Democrats that would fuck us over in redistricting?