Merkley claims victory in Oregon. Smith concedes.

[techs]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITI...election/#cnnSTCOther1

CNN) -- Democrat Jeff Merkley is declaring victory over Republican incumbent Sen. Gordon Smith in the Oregon Senate race, moving Democrats one seat closer to a filibuster-proof majority in the body.

"This is the beginning of a transformational change for America," Merkley said at a news conference at Portland State University.

He said he would be working with President-elect Barack Obama "to put this nation back on track."

Merkley said Smith called him to concede Thursday morning.

"I thanked him for his 12 years of service to our beautiful state," Merkley said.

With 100 percent of the counties reporting, Merkley received 48.4 percent of the vote to Smith's 46 percent, according to unofficial results from the Oregon Secretary of State's office.




I'm wondering if this is in response to Coleman declaring victory in Minnesota that Smith decided to do the gracious thing and concede? Difference to me seems to be that in Minnesota the difference is just a few hundred votes while in Oregon its tens of thousands.
So, I guess that gives the Dems 57*

(* Lieberman and Sanders)

 

[dainthomas]

Good. Smith always seemed like a flunky who would invariably crumble under the slightest pressure from bush. He tried to adopt a "moderate" label by voting against bush occasionally, but only when his vote wasn't needed or the bill wouldn't pass anyway.

Oregon doesn't need senators who don't reflect their views.

 

[miketheidiot]

i'm satisfied, the repubs can have the rest. If one more goes dem, i won't care too much, but i would almost be offended to get 59 or 60



if things go well, we can get 60 in 2010, if not, then we probably don't deserve it.

 

[Mani]

Dems will likely kick Lieberman out of the caucus, so make it 56.

 

[Vette73]

Well it was over 40,000 vote difference. So that is a little different then MN's 500diff and even AK 5000diff.

Still can;t believe AK voted to send a convict back to the senate. :roll:

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Well it was over 40,000 vote difference. So that is a little different then MN's 500diff and even AK 5000diff.

Still can;t believe AK voted to send a convict back to the senate. :roll:

alaska like crooks and wannabe crooks. See palin

 

[jpeyton]

The RNC just sent lawyers to Alaska to investigate Palin for spending far more than $150,000 on clothing and personal items for herself and her family.

Campaign aides are saying Palin used the aides campaign credit cards to rack up more charges on her shopping sprees. Gucci shoes for all her kids.

Corruption in Alaska...you don't say?

 

[OCGuy]

So how many out of Obama's 57 states has he won now?

 

[m1ldslide1]

<--- voted for Merkley. It was really close there and looked like he wasn't going to win yesterday, but I'm glad he pulled through.

 

[Drakkon]

Georgia looks like the place to watch in the coming months - runoff election for that seat so you know the RNC/DNC will be unloading any and all funding they have to control that seat. Something tells me its going to get ugly down there but it could definitely be that deciding seat.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
The RNC just sent lawyers to Alaska to investigate Palin for spending far more than $150,000 on clothing and personal items for herself and her family.

Campaign aides are saying Palin used the aides campaign credit cards to rack up more charges on her shopping sprees. Gucci shoes for all her kids.

Corruption in Alaska...you don't say?

To you it's corruption, to them it's mavericky!

 

[jpeyton]

Without the third candidate running, the GA election should be a lot closer.

Obama could even do a little campaigning in that state for the race.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I voted for Merkeley. Smith wasn't a bad Senator for being a Republican, but he voted party line much, much more often than not, and I really don't agree with the Republican party line (especially when their policies shifted from fiscal conservativism to social conservativism). The only letter I've ever written to a politician was a letter I wrote to Smith a couple years ago when I thanked him for shifting his stance on Iraq and moving away from the Bush administration's view. Too little, too late to get me to vote for him, but still a gesture I appreciated on his part, and one I felt the need to thank him for.

 

[Pepsei]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
The RNC just sent lawyers to Alaska to investigate Palin for spending far more than $150,000 on clothing and personal items for herself and her family.

Campaign aides are saying Palin used the aides campaign credit cards to rack up more charges on her shopping sprees. Gucci shoes for all her kids.

Corruption in Alaska...you don't say?

maybe that picture of piper carrying a LV bag was real?

 

[MovingTarget]

Hmmm...there is still the longshot possibility that the senate will boot Stephens, which would force a special election in AK to replace him. Even if a Republican is elected, I still think Stephens should get the boot after those corruption convictions.

 

[seemingly random]

The dreamy 60 isn't going to happen. Lieberman looks like he's going to be kicked to the curb. It'll probably be a relief for him - coming out of the closet and finally owning up to being a republican.

 

[Lemon law]

I read one source saying that Stevens may resign his seat if he gets elected, and is somewhat running just for the vindication of it. Even a pardon by GWB may not get him seated by the Senate, where both repubs
and democrats want no part of him. The Senate has the constitutional power to set their own seating rules.

As for Smith, he was a solid moderate Republican, and precisely the type the GOP should look to for reform. Now sadly, Smith and people like Lincoln Chafee are GOP MIA because of their more zany remaining nuts.
I had hoped that Mitch McConnell might pay the price but its sure sweet to see Libby Dole go down. As a democrat I always respected Bob Dole as a moral man, but Libby Dole and Saxbe Chambliss are morally bankrupt in MHO. With the retirement of solid Moderate Republicans like Pete Dimedici, John Warner, and Chuck Hagel, the GOP moderate has really taken a beating in the last two years.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Georgia looks like the place to watch in the coming months - runoff election for that seat so you know the RNC/DNC will be unloading any and all funding they have to control that seat. Something tells me its going to get ugly down there but it could definitely be that deciding seat.

I don't see Georgia as being too interesting. Without the help from Obama, Martin doesn't stand a chance.

 

[Lemon law]

Alaska could be decided in days, the automatic recount in Minnesota will not start until after Nov 18, but if the dems can pull off both Alaska and Minnesota, look for the Georgia runoff election that starts in early December to become a money blackhole for both parties.

In any case, Obama will back Martin strongly and the dems will pull out all the stops. And so will the GOP.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
Alaska could be decided in days, the automatic recount in Minnesota will not start until after Nov 18, but if the dems can pull off both Alaska and Minnesota, look for the Georgia runoff election that starts in early December to become a money blackhole for both parties.

In any case, Obama will back Martin strongly and the dems will pull out all the stops. And so will the GOP.

Ask Georgia voters to finalize a Democratic filibuster-proof majority. If that happens I'll eat my hat, I don't care if Bill Gates spent his entire fortune trying to get Martin elected it wouldn't mean a thing.

 

[mect]

This was a case where the third party most likely led to the loss for Smith. I could be wrong, but I would bet that most of those who voted constitutionalist (85k votes) would have voted for Smith if those were the only two options.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
I voted for Merkeley. Smith wasn't a bad Senator for being a Republican, but he voted party line much, much more often than not, and I really don't agree with the Republican party line (especially when their policies shifted from fiscal conservatism to social conservatism). The only letter I've ever written to a politician was a letter I wrote to Smith a couple years ago when I thanked him for shifting his stance on Iraq and moving away from the Bush administration's view. Too little, too late to get me to vote for him, but still a gesture I appreciated on his part, and one I felt the need to thank him for.

My thoughts exactly. He did a good job in terms of bringing home the pork and meeting with the public, and if you were an Oregon conservative he did a good job of voting your beliefs. I however didn't care for his conservative POV, so out he goes. Hopefully he still participates in state government, I think he'd make for an interesting governor if he toned down his conservatism a bit more.

I'm a bit worried about Merkley though. For some reason he reminds me of Packwood...

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Hmmm...there is still the longshot possibility that the senate will boot Stephens, which would force a special election in AK to replace him. Even if a Republican is elected, I still think Stephens should get the boot after those corruption convictions.

I think in AK the Gov, Palin, just puts someone in his place to finish out his term. No special election in AK. That and if they send a convict back to the senate just because he is a Rep means anybody with a R next to their name will win there.

 

[umbrella39]

The MN race is getting even tighter. Colman's lead is down to 237 votes now.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: umbrella39
The MN race is getting even tighter. Colman's lead is down to 237 votes now.

At only 227 votes I'd say its completly up in the air. There are always votes that can successfully challenged.
It's gonna cost a lot of money for the parties, but they are going to go over every vote and it will definitely be up to the courts to rule on every challenged vote.