PENNSYLVANIA - Incumbent Republican Tom Corbett lost by a wide margin, as expected. Dogged by the Penn State controversy, and running a sucky campaign in general, nobody was betting on him winning. He was soundly defeated by Democrat Tom Wolf. Unfortunately for the rats, this was where their good news ended.
GEORGIA - Early hopes for Democrat challenger Jason Carter (relation of Jimmy Carter) against incumbent Republican Nathan Deal proved unfounded. Deal stomped to victory by a little under ten points
WISCONSIN - Incumbent Republican Scott Walker comfortably sees off the final challenge to his governorship, Democrat Mary Burke. Walker is now poised for a 2016 run having won 3 times in Wisconsin.
MICHIGAN - Incumbent Republican Rick Snyder defeats Democrat challenger Mark Schauer by topping 50% of the vote. Right to work vindicated. Obama, who actively campaigned for Schauer, looks like a fool.
OHIO - Once thought vulnerable, Republican incumbent John Kasich decimated his opponent, Democrat Edward Fitzgerald, who ran a lackluster campaign. Many suspect Kasich will also mount a 2016 bid.
KANSAS - One of the most surprising survival stories of the night, Republican incumbent Sam Brownback who had seen a RINO revolt against him as well as a massive influx of Democrat money, saw off his challenger, Paul Davis, by about 4 points.
MAINE - Republican incumbent Paul LePage, controversial in the state due to his unvetted outbursts and provocative statements, had long been considered a lost cause, but the conservative governor retained his position by a 5 point margin as Democrat Mike Michaud was undercut by Independent candidate Elliot Cutler, and failed in his bid to become the first homosexual governor in the USA.
FLORIDA - Republican incumbent Rick Scott retained the governorship in a squeaker against the despicable chameleon and now perennial joke, Charlie Crist. Massive failure of the Clinton machine here.
NEVADA - Republican incumbent Brian Sandoval was never really in trouble against Democrat Robert Goodman, but as a side note, his solid victory in Nevada puts him in a good position to unseat Harry Reid from his senate seat in 2016.
ARIZONA - Republicans retain the governorship in Arizona as the awful Jan Brewer leaves office. Doug Ducey won out over Democrat Fred DuVal in a landslide.
TEXAS - Republican AJ Greg Abbott was always going to win the governorship of retiring Rick Perry over Wendy 'Abortion Barbie' Davis. The question was by how much. He won by over 20 points.
ARKANSAS - There was some worry when one-time loser Asa Hutchinson won the Republican primary to try and take the governorship for the GOP as Mike Beebe retires. The worry was unfounded. Hutchinson crushed Mike Ross by just under 15 points.
ILLINOIS - In probably the most embarrassing loss of the night for the Obamas, Democrat incumbent Pat Quinn, who had driven the state into a ditch, lost by 5 points to Republican businessman Bruce Rauner. The tightening polls led pollsters to believe Quinn could win, but they were wrong.
MARYLAND - Everyone is calling this one stunning, but for those on the ground, it wasn't. The race for the open governor's seat between Republican businessman Larry Hogan and Deval Patrick wannabe Anthony Brown wasn't going to be close. Brown ran an awful campaign, and lost by just under 10 points. This has implications for retiring Democrat governor Martin O'Malley, who was expected to run for president in 2016.
MASSACHUSETTS - Republican Charlie Baker ran as a Democrat. Democrat Martha Coakley ran as a communist. As some had predicted, Coakley, being an unelectable crone, lost by 2 points. She is a perennial loser and will never be heard from again.
COLORADO - In a disappointing near miss, Republican Bob Beauprez looks to have fallen about 2 points short of ousting incumbent Democrat John Chickenlooper. Blame it on the illegals.
CONNECTICUT - In another annoyingly near miss, Republican Tom Foley came 3 points short of ousting unpopular incumbent Democrat Dan Malloy.
VERMONT - In an unexpected result, Republican Scott Milne ran just 1 point behind incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin. It didn't matter too much. When no candidate gets about 50% in Vermont, the communist legislature makes the decision. Shumlin is back in.
HAWAII - Early on, Republican Duke Aiona led in the polls as incumbent Democrat Neil Abercrombie was ousted in a contentious primary. It didn't last. Aiona was crushed by Democrat David Ige
ALASKA - The race is still undecided and close races here can take years to straighten out. Republican incumbent Sean Parnell remains a little behind an Independent ticket led by former Republican Bill Walker. It seems unlikely Walker will govern as a liberal in any case, so best to ignore this race in the final equation.
OVERALL RESULT: REPUBLICANS + 3 GOVERNORSHIPS TO A TOTAL OF 31 GOVERNORSHIPS
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-- US SENATE RACES --
KENTUCKY - The polls were wrong. Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes appeared never to have a shot, and had seen the polls reflect that in some way as she imploded towards the end of her bid to unseat incumbent Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell, who won by 16 points. A lot of Democrat money wasted.
GEORGIA - To replace retiring Republican Saxby Chambliss, David Perdue avoided a runoff on Tuesday by topping 50% against Democrat Michelle Nunn (daughter of former senator Sam Nunn). He won by 8 points.
KANSAS - Another one the polls got totally wrong. For all the nail-biting, incumbent Republican Pat Roberts, damaged by his residency in Virginia, cruised to victory over stealth Democrat/Independent Greg Orman by more than 10 points. Republican money wasted here, and we must thank VP Biden for destroying any hope Orman had at the end by declaring he was a secret Democrat.
NEBRASKA - Tea Party candidate Ben Sasse cruised to a solid victory over Democrat Dave Domina.
WEST VIRGINIA - As expected, Republican congresswoman Shelly Moore Capito cruised to a blistering victory over Democrat Natalie Tennant in the race for the seat formerly held by retiring Democrat Jay Rockefeller. The first female senator from the state, West Virginia rebuked Obama's anti-coal policies up and down the ticket, handing Capito over 60% of the vote.
SOUTH DAKOTA - Some worried had surrounded former Republican governor Mike Rounds in his run for the senate seat vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson, but he took it in a walk over Democrat Rick Weiland and Independent Larry Pressler.
MONTANA - As was expected after the scandal that felled appointed Democrat senator and candidate-to-be John Walsh, Republican Steve Daines seized the seat in a walk over last minute Democrat Amanda Curtis. The seat has not gone red in about a century.
ARKANSAS - Republicans knew they would beat incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor, but in the end, it was more than a beating. It was a Blanching. Pryor didn't even break 40% of the vote against congressman Tom Cotton.
NORTH CAROLINA - Painfully close polls and a lackluster campaign by establishment candidate Thom Tillis had everyone worried. It looked like incumbent Democrat and Obama sycophant Kay Hagan would survive. She didn't. Swept out by the red tide, Hagan lost by just over a point. I still say Greg Brannon would have beat her by 3 and been a better senator, but glad to see Hagan fall.
IOWA - Polls showed the race for the seat of retiring Democrat Tom Harkin to be close between Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst. Ernst was never supposed to present a challenge to the experienced top tier candidate of the dems, but she ran a flawless campaign and Braley tripped all over himself. Ernst cruised to a massive 9 point victory.
COLORADO - Incumbent Democrat Mark Udall seemed assured victory early in the race, but after being branded Mark Uterus for his focus on abortion, he never recovered from a drop in the polls. Republican Gardner, who ran a highly positive campaign beat him by about 3 points.
ALASKA - Not yet called due to outstanding ballots, Alaska appears all but assured for Republican Dan Sullivan, who unseats incumbent Democrat Mark Begich, whose campaign virtually imploded when he ran a sex assault ad that had to be pulled when the victim's family cried foul.
LOUISIANA - As expected, no candidate achieved the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Republican challenger Bill Cassidy heads to a runoff with incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu, at a 2 point deficit, but the 12% of the vote that went to Tea Party candidate Rob Maness is unlikely to break for Landreau in a runoff. She is effectively DOA.
VIRGINIA - The biggest shock of the night, Virginia's results came in early to the backdrop of a double digit poll lead by incumbent Democrat Mark Warner. It didn't turn out that way. In fact it was so radically inaccurate that Larry Sabato called for an investigation into the polling organizations. By the end of the night, Mark Warner held onto a lead of less than 1% point against Republican Ed Gillespie who ran a low key positive campaign. This heads to an automatic recount. Gillespie could overturn the result on a recount, but he has a lot of votes to invalidate. Even so, this sets him up for a run at something else in the future.
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Republican Scott Brown fell short of ousting incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen by a 3 point margin. The close race however, siphoned off Democrat money.
OREGON - Karl Rove money drain Republican candidate Monica Wehby, a pro-abortion doctor, went down in flames against incumbent Democrat Jeff Merkley. What if this money had gone to Gillespie?
MICHIGAN - To replace the retiring Democrat Carl Levin, Republican Terry Lynn Land held a stubbord early lead over the bungling Democrat Gary Peters. However campaign missteps and the RNC pulling the financial plug doomed Land to eventual defeat by a wide margin.
MINNESOTA - Incumbent Democrat Al Franken blew away socially liberal Republican businessman Mike McFadden. No voter fraud required this time.
OVERALL RESULT: REPUBLICANS LIKELY +9 TO A TOTAL OF 54 US SENATORS
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-- US HOUSE RACES --
ARIZONA - Democrats overperformed here, and some say its down the the toxic Mitt Romney. Lesbian atheist Democrat incumbent Kyrsten Sinema held onto her gerrymandered seat in district 9 by over ten points. In district 1, Democrat incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick held onto her own seat by a more modest margin. However, good news late in the game is that in district 2, Republican Martha McSally is slightly ahead of incumbent 'gentleman' Democrat Ron Barber with few votes left to be counted. She likely wins.
CALIFORNIA - Things didn't exactly go great for the Moonbeam State Democrats. Incumbent Democrat Ami Bera appears to have lost district 7 to RINO Doug Osse (wish we would have run Igor Birman). And in a shocking upset, not yet confirmed but likely, unknown Republican candidate Johnny Tacherra was actually poised to beat incumbent Democrat Jim Costa in district 16. Though very close, and even when weighted down by a sexual assault scandal, homosexual Republican Carl DeMaio seems to have beaten incumbent Democrat Scott Peters in district 52. Republicans also came tantalizingly close in districts 9, 21, and 36, with those not yet called but Democrats leading by about a point or two in each.
FLORIDA - Plagued by scandal, incumbent Democrat Joe Garcia lost in a surprisingly narrow race for district 26 to Cuban Republican Carlos Curbelo. In one of the only GOP losses of the night, incumbent district 2 representative Steve Southerland was beaten in a tight race by Democrat Gwen Graham.
GEORGIA - Democrat John Barrow, the last white Democrat representative from Deep South, suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of Republican Rick Allen in district 12. Tea Party candidate Barry Loudermilk, running unopposed, is seated for an open seat in district 11.
ILLINOIS - Marxist rat Bill Enyart was destroyed by the epic 'Meltdown Mike' Bost, a Republican state lawmaker notable for his explosive anti-gun control speeches. He takes the seat in district 12. In district 10, Republican Robert Dold snagged his seat back from Democrat Brad Schneider after losing it in 2012. The despicable Tammy Duckworth unfortunately retained her Democrat seat in district 8 by a wide margin. I think Manju Goel, the Indian American candidate in the primary, might have fared better.
IOWA - It was a bad night for senate candidate Bruce Braley and a bad night for his former district (1) as well. Republican Rod Blum secured a narrow victory over his rival, Democrat Pat Murphy.
MAINE - In a stunning victory, solid conservative Bruce Poliquinn pulled out a 6 point victory over Democrat Emily Cain for the open seat of now failed homosexual governor candidate, Mike Michaud, in district 2.
MARYLAND - In the most disappointing race of the night, in district 6, Republican Dan Bongino (though it isn't yet official), is likely to have lost against Democrat John Delaney by 1 point. So close and Bongino is a solid conservative.
MINNESOTA - In a disappointing result, Republican Stewart Mills fell 1 point short of ousting sleepy Democrat incumbent Rick Nolan in district 8. Republican Michelle Bachmann's retirement in district 6 left an open seat now given to Tom Emmer who won it for Republicans in a walk. He has a good conservative record.
NEW YORK - Nowhere did Democrats perform worse than in New York. This was a slaughter. In district 1, Lee Zeldin crushed Democrat incumbent Tim Bishop, replacing the now defeated Eric Cantor as the sole Jewish Republican House member. Republican Elise Stefanik becomes the youngest woman ever elected congress at age 30 after winning an opens seat being vacated by Democrat Bill Owens. Incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei was crushed by 19 points in district 24 by Republican John Katko. The race for district 25 remains an unexpected squeaker between incumbent abortion enthusiast Louise Slaughter and Republican Mark Assini. Slaughter remains ahead, but this may be a recount. Republican incumbent in district 19, Chris Gibson, was expected to lose at the start of the cycle as one of the most vulnerable incumbents. He cruised to a 20 point victory. And in perhaps the most embarrassing result for House Democrat campaigners, they failed by a wide margin to unseat incumbent Republican Michael Grimm in district 11, despite the fact that Grimm faces a 20 count federal indictment, and had threatened to throw a reporter over a balcony on camera.
NEBRASKA - In a loss not unexpected after he gorged himself on federal money, incumbent Republican Lee Terry was brought down by Democrat Brad Ashford in a squeaker for district 2. Ashford is unlikely to survive in 2016 as the state goes more red than ever.
NEVADA - Scandal plagued Democrat incumbent Steven Horseford lost to radical conservative Crescent Hardy in district 4.
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Democrat incumbent Carol Shea-Porter for district 1 was narrowly ousted by Republican Frank Guinta. Unfortunately, Tea Party favorite Marlinda Garcia lost by 10 points to incumbent Democrat Ann Kuster in district 2.
NORTH CAROLINA - In the seat vacated by retiring bluedog Mike McIntyre in district 7, Tea Party candidate David Rouzer finally took the seat, and he did it in a walk. Incumbent Republican Renee Ellmers held onto her seat easily against celebrity challenge from Clay Aiken for district 2. It wasn't even close.
TENNESSEE - To the dismay of both Democrats and Republicans, district 4 refused to throw out their scandal plagued incumbent Republican Scott DesJarlais who won in a landslide.
TEXAS - In a surprise victory, incumbent Democrat Pete Gallego in district 23 was ousted by Republican Will Hurd, who will be the second black Republican elected to the house this cycle. One of the only losses suffered by Boehner's moderate caucus was Ralph Hall in the primary for Texas district 4 in which Tea Party congressman John Ratcliffe was seated on Tuesday unopposed.
UTAH - Democrat Doug Owens looked poised to win in a surprise upset over Republican Mia Love for the open seat in district 4. Thankfully this was a computer glitch, and Mia got over 50%. She becomes the first African American woman elected to the House on a Republican ticket.
VIRGINIA - Republican Dave Brat, who ousted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary, stomps to victory in district 7.
WEST VIRGINIA - Democrat Nick Rahall, another stubborn bluedog, was finally blown away by over 10 points by Republican Evan Jenkins in district 3. Tea Party candidate Alex Mooney won by a comfortable margin for an open seat in district 2.
(Not covering Louisiana, as its a complicated runoff palooza abound. Nothing too surprising)
OVERALL RESULT: REPUBLICANS +17 TO A MAGIC TOTAL OF 250 HOUSE MEMBERS (I think I have this right. Correct me if you think this calculation is wrong)
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-- STATE LEGISLATURE RACES --
The following lower chambers of state legislatures flipped to Republican control
Minnesota New Hampshire West Virginia New Mexico Nevada
Democrats may have been robbed of a supermajority in the California house as well.
Unfortunately Republicans failed to take the coveted Kentucky house
Right now, the fate of the Colorado and Washington lower chambers is still up in the air
Of the upper chambers across the country, Republicans unfortunately fell short of taking the Iowa state senate
They did however seize control of the Colorado state senate.
The Maine senate remains up in the air
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WINNERS & LOSERS
WINNERS -
1) The Country - Obama can no longer appoint radical activists to top positions, his playing hand has been crippled, he is essentially a lame duck. This is GREAT for America.
2) Karl Rove - Having gotten almost all his chosen candidates, the fat b**** feels very vindicated, even though the margins of victory would likely have been much bigger and the gains much sweeter had he allowed voters to actually choose their candidates, like in Mississippi.
3) Chris Christie - Having turned around an expected net loss of governorships to a net gain, even though Christie probably had nothing to do with it, as chairman of the governor's association, he reaps the praise and bolsters his 2016 credentials
4) Scott Walker - The path is essentially now clear for a Walker presidential run, and even if he loses, the winner will have a hard time keeping him off the ticket.
5) Joni Ernst - Mocked and viewed as a longshot by elitist democrats in the beginning, Ernst cruised to a blowout victory running the best campaign of the cycle for the senate seat in Iowa. She is a rising star in the party.
6) Voter ID - Put a stop to fraud across the country where it was implemented. The results bear it out as Democrats struggled to scare together faux ballots and lost spectacularly.
8) Michael Grimm - in spite of being indicted and threatening a reporter live, and being in a moderate district, to win like he did is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Not necessarily good... but jaw-dropping.
7) Mitch McConnell - Got virtually everything he wanted. Now just watch Turtle Soup mess up everything we gave him.
LOSERS -
1) Pollsters - some of the least accurate polling in history was done this cycle and it played havoc with campaign spending
2) Nancy Pelosi - now de-fanged senate leader Harry Reid knew he was going to get thumped tonight. Embattled Pelosi however deserves the loser square far more. She got shellacked when there was little left to shellack in House races across the country. She has zero justification for minority leader status now. Expect a challenge.
3) Abortion - Not only were congressional pro-abortion politicians thrown out in both chambers, babykiller darling Wendy Davis went up in smoke in Texas, and in Tennessee, a constitutional amendment ballot initiative effectively batted aside activist judges who had tried to limit the state's regulations on the industry.
4) Hillary Clinton - No, she is not a winner at all, despite the spin of NYT and Politico. Hillary's one main goal this cycle was to get Crist elected in Florida so she would control the governorships of both FL and VA in 2016. She failed. Rick Scott will be the governor of Florida in 2016.
5) Those predicting Georgia and Texas are turning blue - The Democratic takeover of both these states seems to have been... greatly exaggerated.
6) Unions - officially finished. They failed to defeat both Scott Walker and Rick Snyder, big labor's top targets. Republicans have effectively ended union power in America.
7) Obama - aside from being rebuked across the country, he faced an embarrassing loss in Pat Quinn who he campaigned for hard in Illinois. The toxic president has few fans left.
8) Climatards - Tom Steyer threw away millions of dollars against climate denying candidates. His reward? Jim Inhofe as head of the environmental committee. Justice is SWEET!
(FUN FACT: Sandra Fluke lost laughably in her run for the state senate in California. She joins Charlie Crist and Martha Coakley as losers we never want to hear from again and probably never will)
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THE VERDICT
It was a good night. This was a tropical cyclone of a wave with Republicans gaining in every measure, some by astronomical proportions. In terms of house seats, some are whispering about a 100 year majority. In terms of legislatures, Democrats are at lows not seen since before the Great Depression. We're not without concern. 2016 remains a bad map for senate Republicans and the electoral college does present hurdles for any Republican running. What's worse, the establishment defeated the Tea Party this time around, though not by the epic proportions they claim. A couple of the best senate candidates were Tea Party favorites, and while we saw losses in the house of members who challenged incumbents (Stockman, Broun), we have incoming replacements and then some thatw on open seats this cycle as well as upsetting two incumbents (Brat and Ratcliffe). In spite of the loss we suffered in Mississippi, the voters are angry and the establishment has been exposed there. Do not think you have seen the last of Chris McDaniel. We can also look forward to Allen West's promise to run for something again in 2016. Cannot wait for that!
So what should Republicans do now? Well, here is my recipe for building a solid agenda heading into 2016.
1) Keystone NOW! Popular legislation that will pass both houses with bi-partisan support. Obama will not be able to veto it without cratering further in approval.
2) Deny Obama any appointments, especially to courts.
3) Take control of the narrative. The senate comes with a bully pulpit and Republicans should use it to hammer Obamacare and demand its repeal, presenting a solid alternative that involves freeing up the insurance market across state lines.
4) Fully investigate the scandals. It is time the IRS, DOJ, and others got their comeuppance.
5) Keep the power of the purse. Do not hand it to Obama simply to clear the decks. Without funding, Obama has to capitulate, and without the senate, there will be no confusion over who shuts down the government. Obama will have to actively veto budgets. How will that look?
6) Enact voter ID in EVERY DAMN STATE we have the power to do so. Time to stop Rat voter fraud forever.
7) Flood Virginia with lawyers to make sure that Ed Gillespie didn't actually win. Don't just let them have this one.
8) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MAKE MCINSANE HEAD OF THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE! Seriously, this is the craziest thing you could do. It would be nuclear winter before Christmas.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to add any races you found interesting. I may have forgotten or missed one or two.
Was happy to see TEA Party Candidate Konni Burton (R-Ft Worth) take the vacated seat of Wendy Davis.
Well done.
"Despicable chameleon and now perennial joke, Charlie Crist" is the best description of the poor creature that I've heard. It bears repeating. I don't understand how almost half the state could have voted for Crist.
Most Floridians are looking at each other today saying, "How the heck did Crist get so close?" because the man is just universally reviled for his transparent and pathological political ambition and the attendant lack of core principles which accompany it.
Wow! Best summary I’ve seen.
As of now Ed is not in ‘automatic’ recount range in Virginia, but the official vote count- the one that matters- won’t be determined for about a week. I believe Nov 12 is the deadline for an official count.
#6!!!!
Great Job!
Nov 4 2014 results
Nov 4 2014 results
Thank You! You did a heap of work for this summary (all good). My commendation!
UPDATE: Republicans have also secured the upper chamber of the West Virginia legislature after a Democrat defected in the last few hours.
Very well done! Thanks.
I think the main thing conservatives have to do in 2016 is turnout for primary votes like their lives depend on it
Just to add something on NC judicial races, we elect judges here, and it looks like we've kept a 4-3 Repub edge on the state supreme court, which of course is essential to keeping conservative reforms from getting overturned.
The NC judicial races are nominally non-partisan, but like the US Supreme Court, the candidates themselves are partisan nonetheless.
I actually laughed out loud at this one for a solid three minutes.
Dude, this is a tour de force and one of the best summaries I’ve seen anywhere from our side. I agree with your strategic recommendations.
Thank you for this great summary! Super job.
While not a Pubbie pick-up, Barbara Comstock won VA-10 and I believe she’s a conservative, so another good one for our side.