What Went Down On Election Night 2017

With 45 percent of precincts in the special U.S. House election in Utah’s 3rd District in, Republican John Curtis leads 59 percent to 25 percent over Democrat Kathie Allen. As I wrote before, it’s unclear how exactly to read that result in the context of the national environment. It’s a district that was very heavily in favor of Romney in 2012 but where Trump underperformed. What I can say is that Curtis will be the next representative from that district.

If I had to put a bet on it, I’d bet Democrats will ultimately win control of Virginia’s House of Delegates. They’ve captured 47 seats, and they’re ahead in four more races, pending absentee and provisional ballots. So far, absentee ballots have broken more Democratic than the Election Day vote, so that’s no comfort to Republicans. But the bottom line is, we probably won’t be able to call control tonight.

I’ve been watching the Syracuse mayoral race with some interest. There were a lot of candidates on the ballot. With 18 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Juanita Perez Williams leads independent Ben Walsh 47 percent to 45 percent.