Will Jews Have More Voices in Congress?
MULTIPLE UPDATES
So far it looks like the number of Jews in Congress may grow by one to three seats.
We’ll update these results on Wednesday
In New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, Democrat John Adler has been projected the winner over Republican Chris Myers in a squeeker. With 93 percent of precincts reported, Adler trailed 142,477 votes to 144,218 but was projected the winner.
Update Here’s the report from the Newark Star-Ledger.
Democrat Jared Polis leads Republican Scott Starin 59 percent to 36 percent with 39 percent of precincts in Colorado’s 2nd District reporting.
Nathan Berkowitz trails Republican incumbent Don Young 51.6 percent to 44.1 with 45 percent of precincts reporting for Alaska’s Congressional seat.
Update Young won 51.7 percent to 44 percent, according to unofficial results. The Minnesota Senate contest between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Al Franken remains close with Coleman narrowly leading 1,138,466 votes to 1,137,254 votes and both candidates at 42 percent with 94 percent of precincts reporting. The outcome may remain in limbo if a close race triggers an automatic recount.
Update The Associated Press is reporting Coleman the winner this morning. The latest numbers are Coleman with 1,210,790 votes to 1,210,028 for Franken.
Another Update AP has now uncalled the race. This one may take a while to sort out.
Franken is not conceding.
His campaign just issued the following statement:
“The Secretary of State’s office reports that all but nine of Minnesota’s 4,130 precincts have reported in. And this race is too close to call, with a margin of just about 1100 votes out of 2.9 million cast. That’s four one-hundredths of one percent of the vote. And we expect that when those final nine precincts are counted this morning, that 1100-vote margin will shrink into the hundreds.”
“Under Minnesota state law, we will now enter into an automatic statewide canvass and recount. It will be the first one since 1962, when I was 11 years old. I remember that year very clearly for two reasons. The recount between Elmer L. Anderson and Karl Rolvaag. And the Gophers were in the Rose Bowl that year.”
“And we have twice as many ballots to count this time.”
“Let me be clear: Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted.”
“The process, dictated by our laws, will be orderly, fair, and will take place within a matter of days. We won’t know for a little while who won this race, but at the end of the day, we will know that the voice of the electorate was clearly heard.”
“There is reason to believe that the recount could change the vote tallies significantly.”
“Our office and the Obama campaign have received reports of irregularities at various precincts around the state. For instance, some polling places in Minneapolis ran out of registration materials. Our team has been working on those issues for several hours already, and they will continue to do so this morning as the recount process begins.”
“Let me be clear: This race is too close to call, and we do not yet know who won. We are lucky enough to live in a state with built-in protections to ensure that in close elections like these, the will of the people is accurately reflected in the outcome.”
“This has been a long campaign, and it’s going to be a little longer before we have a winner. Senator Coleman, Senator Barkley, and I have done a lot of talking. Minnesotans have waited a long time to have THEIR say. And thanks to our state’s laws, we will eventually understand precisely what they have said.”
Keep reading for other Jewish results of interest:
Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg easily defeated Republican challenger Dick Zimmer 55.5 percent to 42.5 percent.
Blind rabbi Dennis Shulman lost 42.1 percent to 56.2 percent to Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J.
Republican Mike Rogers soundly defeated Democrat Josh Segall 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in Alabama’s 3rd District.
In Florida’s 18th District, Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen defeated Annette Taddeo 57.7 percent to 42.3 percent.
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz easily defeated Republican Marina Kats, 62.8 percent to 34.5 percent in Pennsylvania’s 13th District.
In Colorado, Hank Eng lost his bid to be the first Chinese Jew elected to Congress as Republican Mike Coffman won 60.4 percent to 39.6 percent.
In Virginia, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolfe defeated Democrat Judy Feder, 61 percent to 36.8 percent with 85 percent of precincts reporting.
In Arizona, Republican John Shadegg won an eighth term by defeating Democrat Bob Lord 53.8 percent to 42.4 percent.
In Wyoming, State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis defeated Democrat Gary Trauner 52.7 percent to 42.8 percent.
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