Projection: Jeff Merkley defeats Gordon Smith in Oregon's U.S. Senate race

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

Source: The Oregonian

Democrat Jeff Merkley has ousted Republican Gordon Smith from his U.S. Senate seat, The Oregonian projects.

Merkley, a five-term state lawmaker and former Habitat for Humanity director, took advantage of a surge of Democratic support to win a close, bitterly fought battle with Smith, who has served 12 years in Washington.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/jeff_merkley_defeats_gordon_sm.html

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Yippee!!

[stevedeshazer]

1. I'm ecstatic

We worked hard to win this race.

[Kaleko]

3. Fantastic news. You really deserve this, Oregonians!

[WheelWalker]

5. Agreed. It was hardly "in the bag," ever.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Congratulations, Oregonians!

Senate's getting bluer all the time!

[Cha]

4. Congratulations Senator

Merkley!

[hadrons]

6. Two big thumbs up .....

Great news ... the one semi-bummer of last night was that there was a lot of Republican trash still in Congress (there a lot of Democratic trash, but getting rid of the Republican trash is first on the list) and kicking Smith out is a good step

[Poll_Blind]

7. Finally- that fuck-nut Smith is taking the political dirt nap!

PB

[cascadiance]

8. Hot damn! Now I'll still have two Dem senators...

... before I move up to Portland next week, and it sounds like these two will be better than at least one of them here in California (Feinstein)!

[cliss]

9. Some comments ~

1. This was the most hard-fought battle. It was a street fight. It was also the most expensive battle, around $50 million (?) was spent. Both parties poured money into the campaign.

2. The Repugs obviously were desperate to save Gordon Smith. After listening to Smith, I can see why.

3. Gordon Smith - is there something wrong with him? He seems sedated. His voice is gravelly, this is fairly recent. He sounds & looks like Frankenstein. Also he doesn't seem very intelligent.

[Hulk]

10. WooooooHoooooooo!!!! Yeah!

Being an Oregonian most of my life, I was so ashamed to have gordon smith as our senator for these past years.

THANK GOD he is gone!! What a worthless, spineless greaseball. Back to the canery with his illegal immigrant work force again. Don't care if I NEVER hear his name again.

Good luck Senator Merkley!!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. A very close race won by the Dem...

...and with paper ballots.

What close races have Dems prevailed in over the last eight years where electronic voting was used?

What's wrong with the way Oregon does elections, btw? Sounds pretty smart to me:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/200682_oregonvote23.html

[Pastiche423]

12. I have been waiting for this moment for six years

And what a glorious moment it is!

Congrats, Senator Merkley!

No more Gordo! YEA!

[kpete]

13. Jeff Merkley will defeat Gordon Smith in Oregon's U.S. Senate race

Source: The Oregonian

Democrat Jeff Merkley has ousted Republican Gordon Smith from his U.S. Senate seat, The Oregonian projects.

Merkley, a five-term state lawmaker and former Habitat for Humanity director, took advantage of a surge of Democratic support to win a close, bitterly fought battle with Smith, who has served 12 years in Washington.

Neither candidate, however was willing to rule the race over until more votes are tallied.

"More good news," said Matt Canter, spokesman for Merkley, "but we'll just continue to watch the ballots come in and wait to claim victory."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/jeff_merkley_defeats_gordon_sm.html

[KamaAina]

14. Why is this taking so long?

Oregon's vaunted vote-by-mail system doesn't appear to be working all that well.

And why would Multnomah be slowest to report? I'd think mail would be slower coming from the rural areas.

[Nostradammit]

17. It's working just fine, thank you.

It is probably a very accurate reflection of the will of the people of the state of Oregon and if we have to wait a day, so be it.

Most of the ballots get dropped off at county election locations instead of actually being mailed.

If it arrives past the official close of the election it is not counted.

[neverforget]

18. We had a big ballot with a lot of ballot measures. Sorry it's taking so

long for you but the vote by mail is working just fine thank you.

[KamaAina]

23. An Apology To Oregon

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3586141&mesg_id=3587249

I have now apologized to both FL and OR this week. Any other states want in on the action? :-)

[Nostradammit]

15. YESSSSSSSSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over the moon here in Springfield!!!


Pinch me!


:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Laelth]

16. k&r for the people of Oregon! n/t

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[bkkyosemite]

19. Fantastic!!! While helping with pack up of the Medford Oregon Obama campaign office we pondered that

very issue of whether Merkley was going to win as we did not know yet. And where do I find the answer right here at DU...Thank you....

[DeepModem Mom]

20. K&R

[Jack Rabbit]

21. That's 57

Joe the Neocon gets to join the GOP.

[brentspeak]

22. Cautiously optimistic

Likely Smith might request a recount himself.