After the general thumping they took last night I suspect our Democratic readers could use some good news.
It may not be much of a comfort but based on some number crunching by yours truly I suspect that most of the remaining races will fall to the Democrats.
There are currently five Governors races that most agencies have not called: Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota Oregon and Vermont.
In Vermont it’s just a technicality as the state has a majority vote rule. If nobody gets 50% of the vote the heavily Democratic legislature picks the winner. Most observers assumed that as long as Democrat Shumlin was close, he’d be picked. At this point he’s leading slightly, so he’s all but certain to win.
In Illinois the incumbent Democrat Quinn leads by about 9,000 votes and the remaining votes to be counted are mostly Chicago and suburbs, where he should add about 7,000 to his lead for a win, though there will likely be a recount first.
In Minnesota the Democrat Dayton leads Republican Emmer by about 10,000 votes and most of the outlying vote is in Democratic areas, though as in Illinois there will be a recount. Still expect Dayton to prevail.
In Connecticut the Republican Foley has a narrow lead of 3,000 votes but most of the remaining vote is in heavily Democratic Bridgeport, and I expect Democrat Malloy to end up winning by 10,000-20,000 votes.
In Oregon Republican Dudley leads former Governor Kitzhaber by about 12,000 votes but the remaining votes are in massively Democratic Portland, so expect Kitzhaber by 25,000 or so.
On the Senate side we have two races out in Colorado and Washington (Alaska is up in the air but either Murkowski or Miller will win so that is GOP hold).
In Colorado Bennet leads by 15,000 and most of the outlying vote is in Boulder, a Democratic stronghold. He probably wins by 25,000 or so.
In Washington, Democrat Murray leads by 14,000 and a large chunk of the remaining vote is in Seattle area, another Democratic base. Expect her to win by about 30,000 or more.
As a side note it is interesting that in most cases the urban areas are slower to count. You would think the rural areas being more spread out would take longer.
On the House side about a dozen races are out, they should split about 2-1 for the Democrats.
Of course this still leaves the GOP with 240-245 House seats, a gain of 6 Senate Seats and a majority of Governorships. But it is at least a mild bit of good news for the Democrats