Politico 2010

[Valin]

Politico:
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6/8/10 8:13 PM

THE WAITING GAME: The food and liquor carts have rolled inside the Arkansas Room at The Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock, but supporters of Lt. Bill Halter's campaign have yet to arrive for the watch party.

With less than a half an hour until polls close, the anxious staffers and media are mostly pacing and muttering the most common phrase uttered on election night: "Whatcha hearin?"

But with no official results yet in, it's mostly shrugs and elevator music that are filling the room.

A spokeswoman says Halter and his wife are upstairs in their hotel room enjoying some much deserved down time.

Meanwhile, the ground game continues until 7:30 p.m. Central Time.

SEIU spokeswoman Lori Lodes e-mails that the union still has about 200 troops helping turnout and transport people to the polls, mostly around the Little Rock and Pine Bluff areas.

While Halter's watch party for the runoff is the same location as on May 18, Sen. Lincoln's campaign has switched from the Holiday Inn to the lower level of Union Station, just a half a mile west down the road. --David Catanese.....(Snip)

[Valin]

Real Clear Politics: Live Blog

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AR Senate Runoff

 

 

 

AR returns are trickling in. Lincoln is up 57%-43%, but these look like they're probably absentee ballots, which may be atypical.

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Politico Reports...

 

WELCOME TO CONGRESS: Former Georgia state Rep. Tom Graves has defeated former state Sen. and fellow Republican Lee Hawkins in the special election in Georgia’s 9th District, the AP reports. Graves will succeed former GOP Rep. Nathan Deal, who resigned in March to focus on his campaign for governor.

[Valin]

Hot Air: Open thread: Super-ish Tuesday; Update: Haley closing in on 50%?

6:57 pm on June 8, 2010 by Allahpundit

 

6:57 pm on June 8, 2010 by Allahpundit

printer-friendly

 

The polls close in South Carolina in just a few minutes, so here’s your thread. Politico runs down all nine key races, including the tea-party challenge to Bob Inglis in SC-4, the last stand of scandal-ridden Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, and the attempt by Meg Whitman to buy herself the gubernatorial nomination in California by spending $81 million. (By comparison, Romney spent $45 million on his presidential campaign.)

 

Of the four marquee races, only two are in doubt. Fiorina and Haley should win easily; the question in the latter’s case is whether she can finish off the field tonight by pulling a clear majority or whether we’re in for two more weeks of sleaze before the run-off. The close races are for the GOP Senate nomination in Nevada, where tea partier Sharron Angle now leads early frontrunner Sue Lowden, and in Arkansas, where Blanche Lincoln actually trails lefty darling Bill Halter despite endorsements from Obama and Bill Clinton. You’ll be hearing a lot tomorrow in the media about those darned polarizing wingnuts if Angle pulls this out, but remember that Lincoln, the 60th vote for ObamaCare, somehow wasn’t left enough for the left, even in a red state where a more centrist Democrat is likelier to fare better in the general. If she loses, she’ll be the third incumbent senator this year to crash and burn in a primary, which is the highest number since 1980. Think that might have any “polarizing” effect on how senators who are up for reelection in 2012 will vote over the next two years?

 

You can follow the multi-state results at Politico’s homepage. One last fun fact: Orly Taitz, a.k.a. America’s most famous Birther, is on the ballot for California secretary of state and may have an outside chance of winning. If she does, do you s’pose the media might draw any lessons from it tomorrow?

[Valin]

Politico

SMELLING VICTORY: Supporters of state Rep. Nikki Haley cheered as the latest round of results show Haley with a double-digit lead over her closest rival in the four-way race for the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor.

 

Haley had 48 percent of the vote with 30 percent of precincts reporting. U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett was a distant second with 23 percent of the vote.

 

Haley is already at the Capitol City Club in Columbia, accompanied by her family, though she has yet to make an appearance for the crowd. Haley’s daughter, Rena, turns 12 today.

 

If Haley wins less than 50 percent of the vote tonight, she will likely face a June 22 runoff with Barrett – and whoever wins the Republican nod will face Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen. Sheheen won a convincing 58 percent of the vote with 46 percent of precincts reporting. --Kasie Hunt