Merkley ahead, could win by 35,000
It's taken all day, but the worm has clearly turned in the Merkley-Smith U.S. Senate race. Statewide, Merkley's now ahead, 705,961 to 701,236. There are still apparently around 125,000 votes to count in Multnomah County, and around 210,000 in the rest of the state. Merkley should win the remaining Multnomah votes by around 49,000, and Smith should win the rest by about 15,000.
The Dems won't get their filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate, but they will very likely get Jeff Merkley joining the Senate ranks.
| Posted at 7:48 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
Surely they can get Joe Lieberman to vote with them.
Posted by Allan L. | November 5, 2008 8:21 PM
So the Dems will soon control the executive and legislative branches of government in Washington D.C., just as they have monopolized the levers of power in Portland, MultCo, and the State of Oregon for some time.
Four years from now, if the Sellwood Bridge is falling down and Wapato Jail is still closed, if children lack access to health care or adequate food and shelter, and businesses are relocating jobs to other states and countries, all while we pay the highest property/income taxes and water rates on the West Coast...Can we still blame the Republicans?
If Al Qaeda or North Korea launch a missile at the continental U.S. eight years from now, will you still blame George Bush?
I wish Merkley and Obama all the best. That said, I hope they understand the franchise risk inherent in underestimating our enemies, or overestimating the power of government to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves.
Posted by Mister Tee | November 5, 2008 10:19 PM
will you still blame George Bush?
The way you blamed everything on Clinton? Probably not.
Posted by Jack Bog | November 5, 2008 10:27 PM
Perfect answer, Jack.
Posted by Kevin | November 5, 2008 11:15 PM
Merkley is creepy. At least Smith worked well with Wyden.
He is far from perfect, but I did vote for Smith. Merkley will be a nobody in the Senate.
Posted by realdon | November 5, 2008 11:21 PM
Gordon Smith ought to take Brownlow behind the woodshed for siphoning off all those votes.
Posted by Mike (the other one) | November 6, 2008 5:23 PM