Republicans take 67 of the 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates

Despite the Democrats winning the governorship (thanks to a Libertarian who was large financed by wealthy Democrats), Republicans keep their solid lock on the Virginia House of Delegates, winning just more than 2/3rds of the seats.  Republicans also just barely kept the Attorney General post, though they lost the governorship and the Lieutenant Governor offices.

McAuliffe won by slightly less than 1.9 percentage points, but the Libertarian spoiler took 6.6%.

Here is something pretty obvious:

With the vote looking closer than several opinion polls had predicted, some Republicans were expressing frustration that several surveys leading up to the race had suggested that Terry McAuliffe would coast to victory, perhaps hindering Cuccinelli’s fund-raising efforts and chilling his side’s turnout. . . .

Is the stock market an even better predictor than Intrade of who will win elections?

Is there enough money being bet in Intrade for it to be very accurate? Usually Intrade's last traded prices are used to make predictions when the question should be how accurate are the trades one month or two months in advance. From CNBC:

One analysis concludes that last week's sharp three-day market surge can only mean that Wall Street is banking on a victory from Republican Mitt Romney.

That's the logical interpretation one can draw from a rally amid conditions that otherwise would demand a selloff, Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Adam S. Parker said in an analysis that asserts there is no other reason now to like stocks than a Romney win. . . .

Most absentee ballots from Republicans in NY 20 Special election

Politico has this update.

So far, at least 6,780 absentee ballots remain to be counted, according to the New York Board of Elections special election count. Of those, 3,107 are from registered Republicans, 2,383 are from registered Democrats and 973 are from unaffiliated voters. . . .

According to the New York Board of Elections site, Tedisco has emerged with a 97-vote lead over Murphy . . . . .

No one shows up to vote in Tamarac, Florida election

If only one person had voted, they would have determined the outcome:

Every vote counts. But what happens when there are no votes at all? That's the situation city officials in Tamarac are facing. No voters showed up Wednesday night to cast a ballot in an annexation referendum for an unincorporated Broward County community.

There are 68 registered voters in the 200-person Prospect Bend neighborhood. Tamarac officials have proposed annexing the neighborhood.

Details were mailed to registered voters. If just one voter had shown up, that one vote would have decided the neighborhood's fate.

The cost of keeping a polling site open for 12 hours with no voters: $2,500. . . .

In Canada: Conservatives vote for issues, Liberals vote by habit

This makes it somewhat hard for the Conservatives to win elections:

The average Conservative supporter is driven by policies, hordes of Liberals vote by rote and tradition, and leadership is barely a factor in the current popularity of any of the federal parties. Sounds preposterous? You bet it does.

But those are among the results of a stunning new Nanos Research-Sun Media public opinion poll that turns conventional wisdom on its head, and is guaranteed to cause more than a little shock and awe among the chattering classes.

This is no rogue survey. Pollster Nik Nanos is arguably the most respected in the country, having accurately predicted the outcomes of the last two federal elections within a decimal point. . . .

Conservative suspicion that masses of Canadians don't care about Dion's disastrous leadership; they would vote for the Liberal party led by a fencepost. . . .

Al Franken slightly leads Senator Norm Coleman in Minnesota

I recently got to meet Senator Coleman and I was quite impressed. He struck me as a very bright guy. This poll was disappointing news, but the election is still a long ways away:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found Al Franken slightly ahead of incumbent Senator Norm Coleman in what is likely to be a closely contested campaign. Franken, a former comedian and political commentator, leads Coleman 49% to 46%. If the Democrats nominate trial attorney Mike Ciresi, the poll shows Coleman attracting 47% of the vote while Ciresi earns 45%. . . .