Looks Like We Might be Heading into Overtime

As election day looms over us, I stumbled across an article on Politico that looks at the close races and spells out the four most likely scenarios that will play out tomorrow night.

1. Republicans Win Out

Republicans turn out in a wave and wrap up the elections before bedtime. "With almost-certain pickups in Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota, the party can lock up the Senate with wins in six of the eight competitive states that don’t have runoffs: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire and North Carolina."

2. Kept Waiting for Alaska

Because of the massive rural populations in Alaska it could be days or weeks before all of their votes are in and counted. “In Alaska, in rural parts of the state, the reality is the ballots won’t be cast for four or five days...” 

3. Going for the Long Haul

With tight races in bot Lousiana and Georgia, if neither candidate reaches a majority then they would be forced to a runoff.  This runoff would mean, "Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy would continue battling until Dec. 6." This runoff is brought even closer to reality since parties are already preparing for overtime. 

Georgia is in the same boat. ...If neither Democrat Michelle Nunn nor Republican David Perdue gets to 50 percent plus one, they would keep campaigning into 2015, with a runoff slated for Jan. 6 — three days after the start of the 114th Congress."

4. Recount

"Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is running for a second term on Tuesday, even though he didn’t serve a full first term. Franken wasn’t sworn in until July 7, 2009 because of a protracted recount with then-GOP Sen. Norm Coleman. (Franken prevailed by 312 votes.)" Although Franken is projectyed to win, as is with any tight race, a recount is not out of the playbook.


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