Colorado Senate Race : Still Too Close to Call
Posted on Wed Nov 03, 2010 at 01:45:00 AM EST
Tags: Colorado 2010 (all tags)
Final Update: 12:45 am: Ken Buck has moved back into the lead by about 6,000 votes. Which means there could be an automatic recount. Senator Bennet decided to release a statement rather than address his supporters in person at the end of the night (He had addressed them earlier in the evening.)
Seems to me they are crunching numbers, and if they think the only votes outstanding are from rural pockets of Colorado, that's not a good sign for Bennet. On the other hand, parts of Adams county are still out and that's got a bigger population and more Democrats than pockets of rural Colorado. Looks like this race won't be resolved before morning.
Media Goofs on Vote Counts [More...]
Update: 11 pm MT: The media goofed big time. A few minutes ago, the Associated Press (according to local news) gave Ken Buck a 30,000 vote bump, putting him in the lead over Michael Bennet for the first time tonight. What? It was a mistake, the votes should have gone to Bennet. The votes probably came from Boulder, which was running 70% for Bennet all night, and then went to 54%, with a difference of about 30,000 vote. In other words, the media put them in the wrong column. The corrected numbers show each with 47% of the vote and within 4,000 votes of each other.
There are still a significant number of votes to be counted. The local news says only 56% of votes are in. CNN says only 50% of Denver is in, which is running 70% for Bennett. Check out the gender gap -- and the leanings of independents -- in this CNN exit poll:
90% of those who voted for Obama voted for Bennet. 90% who voted for McCain voted for Buck. This is a Republican vs Democrat race, and if the exit polls are right that independents voted for Bennet, he should win. Stay tuned.
Original Post:
Both Sen. Bennet and Mayor John Hickenlooper sent out e-mails this afternoon warning of low turnout and asking that everyone make a call to someone they know and tell them to vote. I called the TL kid, who was still at the office, and told him he had the power to stop Ken Buck from winning. He went directly to his polling place.
The polls are now closed. I'll be following Colorado results here.
Update: Bennet and Hickenlooker take big early leads, but local pundits say it may be the Denver metropolitan area. Other local races: Betsy Markey is also ahead. Jared Polis is a big winner. John Salazar may be in trouble.
Update: Betsey Markey is out and John Salazar is in deep trouble. Michel Bennet still has a five point lead over Ken Buck. Araphoe County, which is predominantly Repbublcan, ran out of provisional ballots due to high turnout, and a judge ordered polling places to remain open until 8:30. So the Senate race may go on for hours yet. Buck.
Update: The personhood amendment failed.
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