http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=96B32D45-E024-47FF-B8D9-196A0D79F52D Leftovers: A roundup of uncalled races
By: Kevin Robillard
November 6, 2014 02:28 PM EST
More than 36 hours after the last polls closed, two statewide races in Alaska, the Virginia Senate race and a slew of West Coast House races have yet to be called.
Here’s how things stand:
THE HOUSE
AZ-2: Highly touted Republican recruit Martha McSally leads Democratic Rep. Ron Barber by just under 1,300 votes. The Arizona Republic reports that only a few thousand votes remain uncounted in Cochise County, while 47,000 votes still need to be counted in Democrat-friendly Pima County.
CA-7: Former GOP Rep. Doug Ose has a 3,000-vote lead over freshman Democrat Ami Bera, but even Ose’s campaign admits there are more than 60,000 uncounted ballots in the district. The Republican’s team said it expects the result of the race to be known by Saturday.
CA-9: Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney, who was expected to cruise to victory, is clinging to a roughly 2,500-vote lead over GOP-er Tony Amador, a former police officer and U.S. marshal, in the Stockton-based district.
CA-16: Republican Johnny Tacherra, a dairy farmer who had only one paid staffer on his campaign, appears on the verge of upsetting four-term Democratic Rep. Jim Costa. Tacherra leads by fewer than 800 votes. But Costa was also down on election night 2010 before mail and provisional ballots gave him a 3,000-vote victory.
CA-17: Democratic Rep. Mike Honda has a 4,000-vote lead over intraparty challenger Ro Khanna. Khanna’s campaign says there are more than 40,000 votes still to be counted. According to the San Jose Mercury-News, Honda increased his lead Wednesday night when Santa Clara County — home to the majority of the district’s voters — updated its numbers. The other counties are set to update their figures Thursday night.
CA-26: Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley leads the GOP’s Jeff Gorell by exactly 600 votes. In a statement, Gorell’s campaign said there are “more than 50,000 absentee and provisional votes left to be counted.” Ventura County is expected to update its vote count on Friday.
CA-31: Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, the Democrat in the race, has an approximately 1,750-vote lead over Republican Paul Chabot. Aguilar has declared victory, but Chabot said more than 60,000 votes remain uncounted from San Bernardino County.
CA-52: Republican Carl DeMaio has a razor-thin lead of just 750 votes over freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Peters. Approximately 46,000 ballots still need to be counted. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the earliest that new results could be released was 5 p.m. Thursday.
MD-6: Republican Dan Bongino is trailing freshman Democratic Rep. John Delaney by 2,200 votes. Delaney, who poured $800,000 into his campaign account in the waning days of the race to stave off an upset, has declared victory. The Baltimore Sun reported officials would begin counting 6,900 absentee ballots on Thursday.
NY-25: Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter had a less-than-600-vote lead over Republican Mark Assini in the Rochester-based district on election night, but the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported Slaughter’s lead began to grow slightly as absentee ballots were counted. Elections officials said between 1,200 and 1,300 absentee ballots can’t be counted until next week. Slaughter, who has been in the House since 1987, has declared victory.
WA-4: Dan Newhouse, a former state agriculture director, leads former NFL tight end Clint Didier by just under 2,200 votes. Only 64 percent of precincts are reporting, according to The Associated Press.
GOVERNORS
Alaska: Independent Bill Walker has a 3,100-vote lead over incumbent Republican Sean Parnell. Alaska’s elections board says about there are about 20,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted and more could arrive before a Nov. 19 deadline.
Vermont: Neither Democratic incumbent Peter Shumlin nor Republican Scott Milne cracked the 50 percent mark needed to win the governorship outright, so the state legislature will make the final decision. Milne said Thursday morning that he may request a recount after Shumlin topped him by only 2,100 votes, according to the Burlington Free Press. Democrats dominate the Vermont legislature.
SENATE
Alaska: Democratic Sen. Mark Begich is trailing Republican Dan Sullivan by 8,000 votes, but he’s hoping those same 20,000 uncounted absentee ballots could help him claw back.
Virginia: Incumbent Democrat Mark Warner has a lead of nearly 17,000 votes, a much-closer-than-expected tally so far in his race against Republican Ed Gillespie. Counties in Virginia are canvassing the votes. State Democrats, including Attorney General Mark Herring and Rep. Gerry Connolly, held onto their leads after recounts in similarly close races in recent years.
