The Democrats may have survived a disaster — and could still clinch something resembling victory

Good Lord! Cazart! Wahoo! Have the Democrats saved themselves from utter disaster? Have they even managed a performance that looks a bit like a victory? At midnight on the US east coast, it is starting to look at least possible. 

In New Hampshire, an early victory by incumbent Democrat Maggie Hassan in the Senate, seeing off upstart challenger Don Bolduc, was a cheering moment. That was followed by the defeat of Lee Zeldin, for governor of New York — a big boost. And then came the easy defeat of election-denier Doug Mastriano in the Pennsylvania governor’s race.

There was further cheer when it looked as if grungeista cool mayor John Fetterman was cruising to an easy win over hero-surgeon/Oprah quack Dr Mehmet Oz. But this has now narrowed to a 1% lead, and will run for days. In Washington state, Patty Murray appears to have easily seen off Trumpista mama bear Tiffany Smiley. 

This was offset by two disappointments: the easy win by author/Trumpista JD Vance against Tim Ryan for the Senate in Ohio, taking it 53% to 46%; and the narrow lead by allegedly menacing abortion bully Herschel Walker over incumbent Raphael Warnock in Georgia — a race that will go to a runoff. 

In the House, Democrats were encouraged when the much-talked-of Republican tsunami failed to materialise, at least in the early hours. The Democrats have held seats in Rhode Island and Virginia (really, Washington suburbs), whose loss would have suggested a very bad night. They’ve also picked up, it would seem, Michigan’s third congressional district, where the Republicans dropped in a crazed Trumper instead of a Republican moderate.

But now the Republican gains are starting to come — in Virginia, in Florida, in New Jersey — and the party is starting to pull ahead. And now, on the midnight hour, MSNBC has projected that the Republicans will get a narrow majority of 219-216 — but with a 13-seat error margin either way. So nothing will be known for days here either. 

Finally, in the special measures, the Kentucky anti-abortion amendment appears to have gone down, by about 52-48%, and the California pro-abortion amendment appears to have been voted up. No word, however, on whether Eastern Washington has succeeded in its bid to secede to Idaho, or whether the California municipality of San Bernardino has succeeded in becoming a state in its own right. 

So, unless things go really screwy in the ensuing hours, the Democrats have averted a disaster. Whether they have got anything resembling a win will not be known for days. Good lord, cazart, wahoo, etc…