President
You know the result. At this time they are still not calling North Carolina (likely Obama) or Missouri (likely McCain).
Senate
A net gain of 5 for the Democrats. Six months ago Democrats would have been ecstatic to win 5. But to win 5 when we expected to win 8 is a bit of a letdown. Who didn't win? Merkley in Oregon and Begich in Alaska. ALASKA RE-ELECTED A SEVEN TIME CONVICTED FELON! I know Alaskans like to be quirky, but come on!
Democrats were a bit behind but had high hopes for Franken in Minnesota, Musgrave in Mississippi, Martin in Georgia, and Lunsford in Kentucky. Unfortunately, we got a goose egg on those four.
House
Gains, but also disappointing. Democrats appear to have netted 18 more seats. Again, six months ago that would have been great but expectations had been raised. Sadly, Michelle Bachman (the one who wants to investigate members of congress to see if they are "real Americans) won. Nancy Boyda, a Democrat representing a conservative district in Kansas lost.
The last remaining Republican serving in the House from New England - Chris Shays - lost. Now all the congressmen from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are Democrats.
Iowa - US Senate and US House
Senator Harkin and all incumbent House candidates won. The challenge against Congressman Latham wasn't as much of a challenge as my party had hoped.
Iowa - State Senate and State House
The Register website is OK. The Gazette website is awful. I hoped to be able to report how many seats Democrats and Republicans will have next year. I can't. I think Democrats gained one in each chamber. The most notable loss for Republicans was Tami Wienceck. She was a popular reporter for KWWL.
Iowa surprises: Two Democrats - one in the state house and one in the state senate lost by less than 100 votes. Ouch
Benton County
My home did not fare well for Democrats. Obama barely won the county but it was a bloodbath on the local races. We lost the races for state senate, state house, sherriff and two supervisor races. All but one were challengers going up against incumbents, and the senate seat was an open seat that included very Republican Grundy county.
If I had been in Iowa I would have been at the Benton County Democratic post election party. It had to be a bittersweet affair. It's great to cheer on Obama, Harkin, and I guess Boswell (although I can't bring myself to cheer for him... voting for him is the most I can muster). While it would have been depressing to see all of our county candidates lose.
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The Benton race I was watching closely was the state house seat. The seat is currently occupied by Dawn Pettingill. I like Dawn. I helped recruit her to run four years ago. She was elected as a Democrat and served in the minority for two years. Then the Democrats took over the state house. Being in the minority is easy. Being in the majority is hard work. Dawn shocked all of us and switched parties.
A man who was my neighbor growing up, Terry Hertle, ran against her this year.
Let me repeat, I like Dawn. She a nice person... but she's also a flake. And in Des Moines she's become a well known flake.
A flake in the minority has no chance to help the people of Benton county. Terry Hertle sitting in the majority could.
That's a sad opportunity lost for Benton county.
I e-mailed you. Where are you getting that Franken lost? Everywhere I have looked has it too close to call. What I see is that he is currently down by about 700 votes - and I think there's a mandatory recall at that point. And only 99% of precincts reporting. I'm not giving up hope yet!
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