by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

SD-09: Finally, some returns are coming in.  I'm seeing Loni Hancock up 56-44 with 31% in.

SD-15: Haven't heard any updates on Dennis Morris.  It's going to take a while to figure this one out.

[UPDATE by Robert] not including Monterey and Santa Clara counties, which have not yet reported their write-in votes, 2,645 write-in votes have been recored in SD-15. Not clear yet how many are for Morris and how many are for Maldonado, and we likely won't know for a few days. But it's quite doable.

SD-19: With 63%, Hannah-Beth Jackson now has 1,300 more votes in her race than Tony Strickland does in his.  I can't wait to win this one in November.

SD-23: 19% in now.  Fran Pavley leads 63-37.  Since this kind of result was likely anyway, why did she have to go negative?

SD-25: This is unnerving.  Rod Wright has now taken a 336-vote lead over Mervyn Dymally with 40% of the vote in.  Wright is too moderate for this seat.  Not over yet, obviously.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

And Monterey and Santa Clara Counties have yet to report at all.  There's a half-decent chance he's going to make it.  And that would be just an incredible story.  A guy gets his ballot, sees no Democrat on it, decides to do something about it, and makes it on the ballot as a write-in?  To quote Joe Biden, "That's a storybook, man."

...as long as we're doing Central Valley Senate races, I should mention that the Denham recall failed.  And Denham was all gloat-y about it.  Congratulations, you beat an unfunded recall.  What a big man you are.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Sheri Divers [courtesy of Blog for America]

Instant Runoff Voting (S.108) has passed out of Senate Government Operations and is scheduled for a floor vote next week. The House is also working on their IRV bill. More than a third of the legislature has sponsored the legislation.

The bill provides implementation of IRV for U.S. Representative and Senate races. Among those testifying in favor of the bill this year are Senator Bernie Sanders, Congressman Peter Welch, Howard Dean, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, VPIRG, and the Grange.

Here is a recent USA Today Editorial on the issue.

Please call or e-mail your State Representatives and Senators and ask them to support Instant Runoff Voting. You can access their contact information at :

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/legdir2.htm

-Sheri Divers