Posted on 11/03/2010 12:20:37 AM PDT by Qbert
Long-serving Democrat Rep. Jim Oberstar is narrowly trailing Republican Chip Cravaack as he tries to hold on to his Northeastern Minnesota congressional seat.
With 49 percent of precincts counted early today, the former Navy pilot Cravaack took a lead of about 1,200 votes out of more than 135,000 cast.
Oberstar has never gotten less than 59 percent of the vote in the heavily DFL district. But Cravaack built momentum by portraying Oberstar as out of touch with the district and complicit in federal overspending.
On Tuesday, Oberstar walked into his election night party in Duluth predicting “ a good night, a good victory.”
But in Oberstar’s 36 years in Congress, it has been one of the Democrat’s toughest races.
“There was a national wave this year, a national resistance,” he said. “I knew it would be a difficult election.”
It was difficult because it was a transformative year, as the country emerged from the biggest recession since the Great Depression.
“It’s not that the opponent was tough, it’s that these organizations were tough,” he said of special interest groups that opposed him.
Meanwhile, about 200 Cravaack supporters gathered at Tobies Restaurant in Hinckley. Cravaack arrived just after 9 p.m. with his family. He had spent most of the day with his family, driving his two boys to school, according to his communications director Kyler Nerison.
But Cravaack soon took his family back to a Hinckley-area hotel as more precinct results showed him trailing by 10 points. He said he was going to watch returns come in private before addressing the Tobies crowd again.
Supporters remained, greeting the ups and downs of precinct-by-precinct results with a mix of delight, quiet study or a smattering of wild cheers. Minutes before the polls closed, supporters watched a “Top 10” of clips from the contentious Oct. 19 debate in Duluth between the candidates in which Cravaack supporters heckled Oberstar.
Jerry Kortesmaki of Duluth vowed to stay until the last vote was counted.
He had jumped on the Cravaack bandwagon in January after having trouble getting his message through to Oberstar.
“I made up my mind it’s time to change my congressman,” he said. “All I kept hearing from people is that this was not a race, this was not a race. It is a race. I’m in this for the long haul. There’s no backing down.”
Oberstar faced constituents angered about federal bailouts, stimulus spending and health care reform, which he supported and was forced to defend during the campaign. He routinely pointed to road, bridge and other big Northland projects made possible by stimulus dollars and the long-term advantages of health care reform.
“I know people are angry and disappointed,” said Julie Jeatran of Duluth’s Lincoln Park. “They want things to happen, and they want them to happen right away. They want the war to be over, and they want more jobs. But these things take time. The Republicans drove us into this ditch, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride on the way out. I just don’t think it makes sense to hire the same people who drove us into the ditch to get us out.”
But never before has Oberstar gotten less than 59 percent of the vote.
Cravaack’s call for fiscal responsibility in Washington and for financial restraint struck a cord with frustrated independents and the Tea Party as well as Republicans. Cravaack, 51, of Lindstrom, is a former Navy captain and a retired Northwest Airlines pilot.
“I felt we needed a change,” said Astrid Shykes of Duluth who voted for Cravaack at Woodland Community Center in Duluth. “It’s the state of the whole country. Our country is in a bad way. It’s no time to be spending.”
Moments later, Mary Lyons canceled out Shykes’ vote by casting hers for Oberstar at the same polling site.
“I think he’s done a good job regardless of what they say,” Lyons said. “The mines are still in business and that’s a big plus.”
Cravaack’s pro-business stance, however, turned off some voters.
“I voted for Oberstar, because Cravaack’s idea was to give businesses tax breaks so they could create more jobs,” said David Wood of Duluth’s Lincoln Park. “It’s been proven in the past, that doesn’t work. Oberstar has probably done more for Northeast Minnesota than any other representative ever has.”
His biggest reservation about Oberstar was his role in running up the national debt.
In his debates and forums with Cravaack, Oberstar faced constituents, frustrated with the slow economic recovery.
Jeatran disagreed with those who thought Oberstar had been in office too long.
“People talk about him being in office so long like it was a bad thing,” she said. “The reason he’s been a member of Congress for 35 years is because he’s done a great job.”
U.S. House District 8
419 of 804 precincts - 52 percent
Chip Cravaack, GOP 74,074 - 48 percent
James Oberstar, Dem (i) 72,322 - 47 percent
Timothy Olson, Inp 6,523 - 4 percent
George Burton, CST 1,450 - 1 percent
Associated Press writer Patrick Condon contributed to this report.
Cravaack 48% Oberstar 47%
http://elections.cbslocal.com/cbs/wcco/20101102/race8.shtml
Another upset... Dems dropping like flies! Its really a bloodbath.
Heh
WOOO HOOOO! Some good news for the end of the evening!!!! I hope this holds - that is a huge upset in the iron range if he can keep the lead.
As for the rest of MN (excluding Michelle Bachmann) they are hopeless - electing Dayton for Gov - WTH?
Holding in there- 91% in:
Chip Cravaack (R). 124,360 48%
James Oberstar (D)* 121,891 47%
Not so bad really - governor race still a toss-up and both chamber (R) for the first time in decades!
Not so bad really - governor race still a toss-up and both chambers (R) for the first time in decades!
Not so bad really - governor race still a toss-up and both chambers (R) for the first time in decades!
Really? That is great - I am sorry I spoke to soon!
Emer could be the surprise this morning... every one wrote him off.
The GOP tide has flowed everywhere.
93% in.
Cravaack with a 3300 vote lead.
I hope so for you guys in MINNY. Do you ever listen to the Chris Baker show? I am up in the cities once a week and love to listen to him when there -
Oberstar is gone. We’ve seen a lot of big name Democrats gone down. Their leadership has been practically obliterated!
Not for long, if Cap and Tax passes.
"I voted for Oberstar, because Cravaack’s idea was to give businesses tax breaks so they could create more jobs,” said David Wood of Duluth’s Lincoln Park. “It’s been proven in the past, that doesn’t work."
Facepalm....
Yup. Fantastic night for the Republicans. 60 in the house, 6-8 in the senate, +11 governorships and a bunch of state houses.
The only slightly disappointing part is that of all the toss up senate seats, we lost all of them except Illinois.
But that’s like complaining about the QB throwing an INT in a 30 point blowout victory.
it’s wonderful to see a slew of big-shot Demagogues going down in flames
sad that the Senate was not the TEAnami hoped for, but the House has been rocked to its foundations, close to +60 and the Senate will be +6 pickup or so
plus all the pick-ups in Gov. and state/local races
overall a great evening — wished for more, but so much better than 2006 or 2008!!!
The Blue State seats were a tough nut to crack. But now Dingy Harry has his hands full keeping nervous Red State Democrats in line over the next two years. How many of them are going to vote for the Obama agenda now? Not many and he’ll find his control of the upper chamber is more theoretical than real.
The most disappointed man in the senate tonight was Dick Durbin?
Durbin won’t be majority leader now. But like I said, Dingy Harry needs to keep Red State Democrats from bolting. They’ve read the handwriting on the wall. Tester, Manchin, Webb, Kaine and the Nelsons know exactly what the message is and they’re not inclined to do Reid or Barry much in the way of any assistance.
I agree. The senate is going to be much more conservative even with a Democratic majority.
This one is all but over.
Cravaack up 48.2 to 46.7 with 97% reporting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.