Looks Like Another Red Senate Seat

It looks like Bunning/R has won in KY, although it’s not yet official (but it seems Mongiardo is prepping for a concession speach).

US Senate Race

Fox News just called Jim Bunning the winner with 51% of the vote. Looking at Kentucky’s State Board of Elections site there are still 13 precincts out but I have noticed that Fox has been a bit ahead of these official “unofficial” results. C-SPAN has also called the race for Bunning.

Close call.

The 4th congressional district race is a pickup for Republicans in the house.

Thanks to the people behind The Command Post for letting me blog the Kentucky election tonight.

I’m off to watch the presidential race!

Congressional Races

U.S. House - District 1: Republican Edward Whitfield wins with 67% of the vote.

U.S. House - District 2: Republican Ron Lewis wins with 68% of the vote.

U.S. House - District 3: Republican Anne Northup wins with 60% of the vote.

U.S. House - District 4: Republican Geoff Davis wins with 54.5% of the vote. I really thought Nick Clooney’s star power and money would have made him more competitive.

U.S. House - District 5: Republican Hal Rogers wins uncontested.

U.S. House - District 6: Democrat Ben Chandler wins easily with 58% of the vote.

13 more precincts remain uncounted but it looks like Republican Jim Bunning pulled out a win in the US Senate race. So far the vote count is Bunning with 870,529 and challenger Mongiardo with 848,628. A close race that shouldn’t have been close at all.

Senate Squeaker in Kentucky

With 50% of results in:

Daniel Mongiardo D 750,153 50.2%
Jim Bunning R 743,272 49.8%

8:00 Update

President Bush declared the winner of Kentucky’s electoral votes with just under 57% of the votes cast. More will roll in as the rural precincts tally their votes.

Two congressional races have been called as well:

U.S. House - District 3: Anne Northup(Republican) easily wins reelection.

U.S. House - District 6: Ben Chandler(Democrat) wins his second term after winning in a special election last year.

Senator Jim Bunning(Republican) is still trailing challenger Dan Mongiardo(Democrat) by 5 points. This race is going down to the wire.

UPDATE A few more precincts and I can call all the Kentucky races in one more grand post.

Updates from Kentucky

Via reader PKC:

As of 7:10 PM - one hour + pass the closing of the Kentucky polls:

There have been record crowds at the polls in Kentucky. In the three or four polling places I passed at different times today, there never seemed to be an empty parking space….and in many cases, there were overflowing cars parked alongside the road. At my own very rural polling site in central Kentucky, the ladies who worked the polls told me they had seen a much higher turnout that usual.

With 20 percent of the polls reporting in, as of 5:59 PM, Bush leads with 53% of the popular vote to Kerry’s 46%.

Republican Incumbant Anne Northup has been declared the winner of the 3rd District House of Representatives for Kentucky by local WHAS 11 TV.

Also, the Kentucky Marriage Amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman has passed in Kentucky WHAS 11 has the story that states: “With 16 percent of precincts reporting, the amendment had 199,771 votes for it, or 64 percent, and 110,435 votes against it, or 36 percent.”

Vote tallies begin to trickle in

With 2 counties reporting Senator Jim Bunning(Republican)leads. Still, it’s early and polls in western Kentucky are in the central time zone.

With 7 counties reporting President Bush has a commanding lead with 60%+ of the vote counted so far.

With 2 counties reporting Congressman Ron Lewis(Republican) has a commanding lead with 64%+ of the vote so far.

With 1 county reporting Nick Clooney(Democrat) has a commanding lead with 60.8% of the vote so far.

I’ll probably wait till after 7 to post an update. By then we should have a clear view of a winner unless there’s a really tight race.

Kentucky election round up

Kentucky is a solid red state but with a couple of tight races.

For the US Senate Jim Bunning(Republican) v. Dan Mangiardo(Democrat). This has been a real mud slinger with Mangiardo and his willing accomplices in the press trying to paint Bunning as a senile and incompetent while Bunnings friends have spread rumors of Mangiardo being a homosexual and as a classic liberal in the tax and spend sense. Bunning also said that Mangiardo looked like one of Saddam Hussein’s sons. Bunning still holds the lead in this race by 6 points but this is down from a double digit lead several months ago. I still feel Bunning will have a strong win.

Another race I’m keeping an eye on is Nick Clooney(Democrat) v. Geoff Davis(Republican) for the 4th congressional distric seat. Nick is the father of actor George Clooney and has brought his son’s star power and money with him:

MILTON, Ky. — It’s not the contributions from Grayson and Shelbyville and Fort Mitchell that catch your eye. It’s the ones from Santa Monica and Los Angeles, the ones attached to such names as Meg Ryan, Paul Newman, Salma Hayek, Warren Beatty, Renee Zellweger, Bette Midler, Danny DeVito and Kevin Costner.

Campaign checks have rolled in, too, from Catherine Zeta-Jones, Steven Spielberg, Red Buttons — and one George Clooney, whose credits include actor, director and, now, candidate’s son.

The press has characterized this race as “neck and neck”, a term familiar to residents where horse racing is king, but I haven’t seen any poll numbers. I’m not going to underestimate the star power of Cloooney and this seat has been democratic for the last 6 years. Republicans had held it for 30 years before that. President Bush carried 60% of the vote in the 4th congressional district in 2000.

The other congressional race I’m watching is Ron Lewis(Republican) v. Adam Smith(Democrat). Ron Lewis was first elected in 1994 when the Republicans wrested control of the congress from Democrats led by Newt Gingrich. Ron Lewis is very popular in the 2nd congressional district. Adam Smith is running as an open liberal championing abortion and against Kentucky’s marriage amendment. This race isn’t really close. Smith has little money to campaign with but it has been fun to follow as Smith, 25, fumbles around the campaign trail.

Which brings me to Kentucky’s latest constitutional amendment on the ballot today. It would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman banning homosexual marriages and civil unions. It will win big, at least 60%.

Kentucky politics is never boring.