Erik Iverson is proud of his work, as he leaves the Montana Republican Party chair position for some undefined job with Tom Siebel:

Iverson, elected state party chairman in June 2007, said Montana Republicans have made "significant headway" the past 18 months, and he was proud to have been a part of these positive changes.
"Montana Republicans consistently buck national trends, and this year was no exception," Iverson said. "The past election was tough for Republicans all over the country, so it was no small feat to retain our 50 seats in the Montana House and win a majority in the Montana Senate."

Other than losing all five seats on the Land Board (a historic and crushing defeat), being utterly humiliated in the gubernatorial race, running a Socialist as the party’s standard bearer in a Senate race, conducting an incredibly unpopular, undemocratic, and pointless caucus for the Presidential nomination, running a nationally embarrassing disenfranchisement scheme, and watching Montana become a competitive Democratic state in Presidential elections, I’d say Iverson did one heck of a job. In fact, I hate to see him go. He’s done nice work for us.

The Montana Democratic Party has led a huge turnaround in the state in recent years, but they couldn’t have done it without the work of Montana’s Republican Party.

Thanks, guys!

Minesota Public Radio has some great images of challenged ballots in the Senate recount, during which Al Franken has already gained 43 votes. Despite the Coleman campaign’s non-stop working of the refs before the game began, crying about fraud, it seems apparent that they intend to steal as many votes as they can. Consider these two votes that the Coleman campaign claims express a clear intent for Coleman:

Coleman knows the recount gives Franken a decent, if not better than 50-50 chance of winning the election. That explains his behavior in the days since the election and the behavior of his campaign during this process. If these ballots are any indication, this is going to be one long process, with Coleman desperate to hold on to his Senate gig and subsidized housing.

Roy Brown thinks he lost the election because he didn’t have enough money:

Republican Roy Brown says he lost by a 2-1 margin to Gov. Brian Schweitzer because the Democrats had more money to spend and used it on false attacks.

His own campaign’s money was primarily used for television spots that built his own image.

I must have missed those ads. Instead, Brown seemed to spend most of his time claiming that Montana’s economy, energy development, and future were much worse than reality. Hard to imagine that message didn’t catch on better.

…sums it up

It looks positive for Al Franken, who has a 1,400 vote lead with over 98% of the precincts reporting. If he ends up winning the amazing thing will be that he will have won on the strength of young voters, the only demographic that went his way (51-34), according to exit polling.

Alaska? Really? Ted Stevens leads by 2%, with 81% of the vote in. Unreal. Look out for Sarah Palin to appoint herself or the Todd  to the seat if this race doesn’t turn around in the last quarter of the precincts.

Oregon is a lot close than predicted. Gordon Smith has a 3,000 vote lead with 70% of the votes in.

We could sure use these three seats.

‘Night.

Montana, Montana,
Glory of the West
Of all the states from coast to coast,
You’re easily the best.
Montana, Montana,
Where skies are always blue

M-O-N-T-A-N-A,
Montana, I love you.

I think it’s time to start painting Montana a different color on national maps. Anyone who thinks this is a red state just isn’t paying attention. With 91% of the precincts in, it looks like Democrats are going to have won the races for governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, and Auditor. While we didn’t choose Barack Obama, there was an enormous swing to the Democratic candidate.

Governor Schweitzer likes to say that Montana is on the move. It’s not just our economy. It’s our politics as well. We are moving  back to our political heritage, a state that elects strong, progressive  leaders who put the interests of working Montana families first:

• Governor Schweitzer will win tonight with well over 60% of the vote. A landslide.
• Both of our U.S. Senators are Democrats, one a progressive champion.
• Our attorney general, our state auditor, our Superintendent of Public Instruction? All Democrats, all exceptional leaders.
• We supported children’s healthcare and the university system overwhelmingly.

Look out, Representative Rehberg. You’re next.

(12:58) Damn you,  Minnesota.  I need to sleep. With 96% of the precincts in, Al Franken has pulled ahead by just over 1,000 votes.

(12:57) Did John Driscoll really almost out-poll Roy Brown tonight? That bully.

(12:48) The Secretary of State race is getting closer with each posting. Currently, McCulloch leads by just under 1,000 votes with 84% of precincts in. Still no votes from Beaverhead, Judith Basin, or Meagher, so look for this to get tighter as the night goes on, or more likely, as the morning rolls around.

(12:39) Is there a reason that the good people in Meagher County don’t count ballots on election night?

(12:30) With 94% of the vote in, Norm Coleman has a less than 100 vote lead in Minnesota. Go Al, Go!

(12: 24) I was right about Indiana. The AP is calling it for Obama. It looks like North Carolina will go for Obama, and Missouri and Montana (sigh) for McCain.

(12:06) If the Gazette is reporting the same precincts as the Secretary of State, I feel good about the statewide races. It looks like the missing votes are from strong Republican and Democratic counties. With 75% of the votes in:

• McCulloch 50, Johnson 48
• Bullock 53, Fox 47I
• Juneau 52, Herman 43
• Lindeen 54, Grimes 46
• Schweitzer 66, Brown 32 (How amazing is it that we haven’t even had to worry about this?)

(11:47) The statewide races are tightening up. With 68% in, McCulloch is up by 2%, Bullock by 6%, Lindeen by 8%, and Juneau by 9%.

(11:46) If Roy Brown wasn’t gloomy before, he will be tonight.

(11:40) I’m finally getting a chance to take a look at some of the Montana legislative races, and I’m happy to see that Krayton Kerns is losing. It’ll certainly hurt my blogging, but help the state if he loses.

(11:35) How in the world is Ted Stevens ahead? Senator Sarah Palin? Save my country.

(11:30) Keep it up, conservatives.

From John Derybshire again:

Just watched Wonder Boy’s speech. Hmph. "Callused hands"? When did he ever have callused hands?

All right, I’m sour. The most liberal member of the U.S. Senate! And that shakedown-artist of a wife, with the permanent frown! And Joe Biden!

From Kathryn Lopez:

The important thing to remember is we are the last best hope and if we all stand for what we believe in and work hard, we won’t become a European satellite.

The bubble must be getting a little close.

(11:08) 61% in. Obama 132,224. McCain 131,726. No votes from Gallatin yet.

(10:47) Quick Montana update, with 51% of the precincts in: McCulloch 51, Johnson 46; Bullock 55, Fox 45; Juneau 53, Herman 42; Lindeen 56, Grimes 44.

(10:33) The Minneapolis Star Tribune has Al Franken winning the Minnesota Senate race by 1 vote. 1.

(10:20) The Montana races are tightening up a little bit: McCulloch 54-44, Bullock 58-42, Juneau 56-39, Lindeen 58-42. The Children’s Health Initiative is doing very well, though, up 71-29.

(10:17) We face an enormous set of challenges, but it is hard not to be inspired tonight. It’s not just that we have elected someone who embodies what the American Dream has always been about, but that we have chosen a leader who believes that America can live up to its best aspirations, not live down to its worst fears.  It’s time for us all to do what we can to make that a reality.

(7:53) Christopher Shays has conceded in Connecticut. Another big Democratic pickup in the House.

(7:48) Obama has pulled slightly ahead in Florida, with a lead of almost 30,000 votes.

(7:41) Virginia creeps closer. With 71% in, McCain’s lead is down to less than 3,000 votes.

(7:36) Obama flips New Mexico back to the Democratic column, according to ABC.

(7:35) Fred Barnes is drinking the hard stuff on Fox. Somehow, this landslide election demonstrates that the United States is a center-right country. Strange, after, according to Fox, we just elected a Marxist.

(7:34) Obama is within 7,000 votes in Virginia, with 70% in. We’re going to win it.

(7:28) CBS and FOX FREAKING News follow, and call Ohio for the next President of the United States, Barack Obama! On Fox News, a McCain advisor is trying to tell Carl Cameron with a straight face that Sarah Palin was an asset for the ticket. I can’t wait for the post-mortem on this campaign. It’s not going to be pretty.

(7:25) Pete Williams from NBC is already asking if Sarah Palin will be running for President in 2012.

(7:23) MSNBC is calling Ohio for Obama!

(7:21) I’m back to obsessive Virginia watching. With 64% in, McCain’s lead is under 1%.

(7:19) So close, but CNN is calling KY-Sen for Mitch McConnell. Lunsford ran a close race, but it looks like he will come up just a little short.

(7:13) Governor Patterson of New York just suggested that, like Henry V, Barrack Obama would grow into the role of a leader once elected, despite the immense challenges. Look for Fox News to soon declare that the Democrats want to put a monarchy in place.

(7:08) Tom Udall picks up New Mexico.

(7:07) North Carolina is looking promising. We really need to flip a state.

(7:05) Getting much closer in Virginia. With 56% in, Obama has cut the McCain lead to just over 2%, 50.7-48.1.

(7:03) I’m glad to see that 16,000 people came out in Florida (with only 50%) in to vote for Ralph Nader.

(7:01) Good signs in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. Not even close apparently, as the networks are calling them early for Obama. Earlier than Arizona, for example.

(7:00) This is a big hour. Some strong potential flip states for Obama this hour.