11:17 PM: Over the last couple weeks I’ve noted many times that we would not only have political winners and losers tonight but also pollster winners and losers. And well, we have ’em. The mainstream pollsters’ numbers look pretty solid. The numbers from GOP pollsters like Trafalgar, Insider Advantage, Rasmussen, etc. are taking it on the chin pretty hard. But it goes beyond differences of methodology. There was always a strong assumption from a lot of knowledgable people that those outfits had shoddy verging on bogus polling practices. So you take the mainstream number, tack on 5 points and that’s your poll. If there’s a major polling error for most pollsters you look pretty smart. But it’s sort of like a broken clock being right twice a day. Like I said, many thought this. But they’d gotten closer to the mark in 2016 and 2020. So it was hard to make the argument too confidently.
11:09 PM: Earlier in the evening I mentioned those three Virginia House seat bellwethers. We now have results in each. Luria, the most vulnerable, has conceded defeat. The other two held their seats. In advance this result seemed to presage Republicans winning the House but by a slender margin. And that’s where we seem to be.
10:57 PM: A huge bummer but not unexpected. NBC calls Ohio for JD Vance.
10:48 PM: Don’t want to assume anything else. But Lauren Boebert seems to have a race on her hands.
10:39 PM: I’ve been cautious about this. But The New York Times’ Nate Cohn has been looking at county totals in Pennsylvania and Fetterman is beating Biden’s 2020 numbers basically everywhere. This looks like a pretty strong signal in the noise. We need to see a lot more. But that’s pretty telling.
10:34 PM: NBC calls Virginia’s 7th district for Abigail Spanberger. [10:43 PM: Now AP too. This one’s done.]
10:28 PM: I think we can say with some confidence now that this is not a GOP wave election. But it’s still true that the GOP did not need a wave to win the House or even the Senate. We know a lot more about the outlines of this than we knew a few hours ago.
10:13 PM: To make the point more directly, I’m literally not looking at statewide totals in really any race. Or barely any. Sort of impossible for me to have any idea what they mean. Almost entirely looking at completed or near completed counties. And to be clear, look at what analysts I trust say about them. That’s when you can make comparisons.
10:08 PM: Possibly some encouraging signs for Fetterman in Pennsylvania. Will need to see more. Very early.
10:00 PM: Looking increasingly likely that Rep. Abigail Spanberger will hold on for reelection in Virginia 7. Not a shocker by any means but definitely a bellwether.
9:46 PM: Veteran Dem Rep Marcy Kaptur was supposed to be in some danger. Not likely to lose but in danger in a red wave. Ryan Brune now thinks she’ll win by double digits. It’s not a huge thing that Kaptur is reelected. But if she’s reelected comfortably that’s another result that puts some real bounds on the scale of Republican victories.
