I’m not overly surprised that Nancy Johnson, who has been in Congress for almost as long as I’ve been alive, lost… but 56% to 44%? Really?! Likewise, I’m certainly not surprised that Rick Santorum lost… but 59% to 41? Wow.

Here are some pictures by Chris McLemore from tonight’s Donnelly victory party:

A campaign staffer reacts with glee as results come in.

Congressman-elect Donnelly works the crowd.

Donnelly talks to the media.

Thanks, Chris! Great photos!

And, from Connecticut, here is a photo of campaigners at Newington’s Elizabeth Green School polling place, taken by my mom:

My dad never posted the E. Green precinct results, as he was having technical difficulties, and then they became quickly obsolete. But here they are now:

Lieberman 664 (49.2%)
Lamont 559 (41.4%)
Schlesinger 116 (8.6%)
Ferrucci 6 (0.4%)
Knibbs 5 (0.4%)

That’s compared to the August primary results in the same precinct, when Lieberman beat Lamont 52.8% to 47.2%.

Townwide, Lamont actually won Newington:

Lamont 4,961 (45.4%)
Lieberman 4,721 (43.2%)
Schlesinger 1,128 (10.3%)
Ferrucci 71 (0.6%)
Knibbs 56 (0.5%)

That’s a bit strange, considering Lieberman won Newington back in August, when Lamont won statewide. This time, Lieberman won statewide, and Lamont won Newington! I guess Newingtonians are just contrarian. :)

UPDATE: Actually, Lamont didn’t win Newington. It was a clerical error — Joe’s total is 875 votes too low. Once the mistake is correct, Lieberman won my hometown handily, 47.4% to 42.0%. Woohoo!

National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez is “hearing…that the [Montana] Senate race will be called in the next 1/2 hr.” Presumably for Tester, who is leading.

Or so it would seem.

UPDATE: Yup. McCaskill wins.

So, it’s down to Montana and Virginia. The Dems need both. And it’s unlikely we’ll know the final result of either for a while. Montana will take at least a few more hours. Virginia will atke days, maybe weeks.

The Dems have gained at least 23 House seats, could gain as many as 35, according to Fox News.

After the jump, a look at who is still alive in the BrendanLoy.com House contest, assuming those numbers are right.

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At least, that’s what they’re implying. Expect a call soon.

You think Virginia is close? Check out Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District:

Courtney (D) 117,287
Simmons (R) 117,048

That’s a 239-vote margin with 97% of the precincts reporting.

The 2nd District has a history of this sort of thing. In 1994, Republican candidate Ed Munster (no relation to Chris “Count” Chocola) trailed then-incumbent Sam Gejdenson by 2 votes at the end of the initial vote count. After the recount, Gejdenson’s final margin increased to 21 votes.

UPDATE: BrendanLoy.com is projecting that Chris Shays will survive in District 4. BrendanLoy.com also projects that Lamont supporters will unfairly blame Lieberman for this. Now, whether Connecticut’s congressional delegation is 3-2 Dems or 4-1 Dems depends on a squeaky-close District 2 race.

It’s too early to really look at the House contest, but in terms of the Senate contest, there are finite number of scenarios remaining…

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Well, in retrospect, there are a couple of important life lessons to take from the elections of tonight for those on both (or any of multiple) sides of the political fence.

So, as my personal favorite Neal Boortz says, it’s “time to stir the puddin”

I remember an old quote from Rush Limbaugh, when people would suggest that his show would go in the tank after Bill Clinton left office. I think Rush is pretty instructive here with this nugget of wisdom:

“my success is not determined by who wins elections”

This is really true, or should be, for all of us. As I’ve noted before, this nation is great not because of its leaders, but because of its PEOPLE. Average ordinary Americans, doing extraordinary things, thinking of incredible ideas, and achieving great milestones is what the country is about.

All the winners of elections can do is make decisions that are supposed to represent these people on matters over which we have ceded some control based on the Constitution. In reality, all those elected officials can do is fetter or unfetter the public, as their votes may lean.

Americans can, should, and will thrive despite (definitely never BECAUSE of) who we elect as our national and state leaders. To think that every success in the economy, every failure in the economy, and any other random thing that happens is because of the House, Senate, and/or President is to attribute too much to them.

So, as one of my other favorite talk radio guys, Glenn Beck says, “Get out your duct tape, and wrap your head, because this will make your head explode.” Let the rhetoric and other miscellaneous nonsense commence with a fury.

Thanks again to Brendan for letting me horn in on your show.

“I’d like to say that I appreciate what Senator Allen said, that we have to respect the democratic process: we fight, we argue, then we vote, and we count the votes. But I’d also like to say that the votes are in and we won.”

Former UT QB (and massive NFL flop) Heath Shuler has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from North Carolina’s 11th district in the western part of the state.

My favorite quote from the article above shows some down-home folksy wisdom:

‘If Heath Shuler wins, Tennessee has themselves another congressman,’ said Madison County resident Robert Reeves, a retired farmer and a supporter of Taylor for all of his 16 years in Congress.”

I’m not so sure that most of us over here really care, Mr. Reeves, but thanks.

With Tennessee going to Corker, that leaves Missouri, Montana and Virginia. It all comes down to those states. The Dems need to win all three. Hey, didn’t I say that three hours ago? :)

Looking at which areas are still outstanding, Fox thinks the Dems will capture Missouri and Montana. So it all probably comes down to squeaky-close Virginia:

Precincts Reporting: 2425 of 2443 (99.26%)

J H Webb Jr - Democrat - 1,148,750 (49.44%)
G F Allen - Republican - 1,146,952 (49.36%)
G G Parker - Independent Green - 25,719 (1.11%)
Write Ins - 2,294 (0.10%)

Shepard Smith said, “Virginia is changing from ‘Virginia is for lovers’ to ‘Virginia is for lawyers.’”

The AP is calling the Senate race in Tennessee for Republican Bob Corker. Corker is apparently close to taking the podium at his election party in Chattanooga.

I see that 90%+ of the vote has been counted, but am having trouble verifying what’s still outstanding. Corker’s lead is pretty solid, but I don’t know that I’m 100% convinced yet that it’s completely over.

I personally am going to wait to believe it until I actually see it.

Webb (D) 1,141,052
Allen (R) 1,138,676

99% of the precincts reporting.

Really close. Not quite Florida-close, but damn close.

UPDATE: Uncharacteristically, the results from the Virginia government are more up-to-date than the CNN results.

Regardless, this race is clearly headed for a recount.

The media called Maryland for Democrat Ben Cardin based on exit polls, and Cardin declared victory, but Steele has refused to concede, and the actual results have continued to be close — indeed, for a long time, Steele was ahead. The Washington Post has withdrawn its call for Cardin. Could this be a repeat of Florida 2000, when the exit polls got it wrong?

CNN doesn’t think so. They’re standing by their call, because the outstanding votes are in heavily Democratic areas (Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County).