Final count: Merkley by 3.1%
Kari Chisholm
The initial "election night" ballot count is complete in all 36 counties, including final results from Multnomah, Clackamas and Lane counties. In the end, Jeff Merkley won by over 50,000 votes, a solid 3.1% margin -- not the "squeaker" that some of our local media were suggesting in early coverage.
Here are the final unofficial results in the Senate race:
| 48.8% | 812,859 | Jeff Merkley |
| 45.7% | 761,383 | Gordon Smith |
| 5.2% | 86,931 | David Brownlow |
What's left? There will be several thousand ballots left to count - mostly ballots that wound up in the wrong county office. (The deadline is 8 p.m. election night, but any elections office can accept them. Most of these misdirected ballots are metro-area commuters who live and work in different counties.) There are also some ballots that need hand-processing due to tears, stains, and other problems.
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6:41 p.m.
Nov 6, '08
What? Not figured out to two decimal places like Jeff Mapes insisted on for his Way West of the Beltway election contest?
My entry in Mapes' contest was based purely on gut instinct and W.A.G. And of course even a broken clock is right twice a day... Still, my guess was damn near perfect:
Merkley - 48.75% Smith - 46% Brownlow - 5.25%
Unfortunately, my tie-breaker guess on the Obama/Biden victory margin in Oregon (55.50%) was too conservative. I just hope it won't be needed.
Nov 6, '08
On the other hand, Brownlow did one of the best spoiler showings in recent years.
6:51 p.m.
Nov 6, '08
I disagree that Brownlow was a spoiler. Those were people who were not going to vote for Smith. The majority of them would have sat the race out. Those that would have voted for Smith wouldn't have been enough to help Smith win.
Not everyone who votes for a third party candidate is going to vote for the D or the R in the race. Sometimes they completely disagree with the Dem and Repub Parties, and agree with one of the other parties. Sometimes they dislike one of the major parties, but are completely unhappy with their party's choice. If it's just between the two candidates, they sit the race out. If they have a third-party candidate that is close to their position, they'll vote for that candidate.
In all likelihood, we'd have seen another 80,000 people undervoting on this race if Brownlow hadn't been in it.
Nov 6, '08
First, congratulations to Jeff! Well done, Senator. Have to admit some of us were sweating it out Tuesday night before we knew what counties had the bulk of the ballots still outstanding.
Also,just saw Jeff on the Jim Lehrer News Hour before, and I have to compliment him on his performance. He was relaxed, cogent and made some knowledgeable points. I have to say that was much better than he came off in the KGW debate, where he seemed a bit nervous and hurried. He always had the smarts and substance, we know that. Look forward to him being a great senator for years to come.
9:13 p.m.
Nov 6, '08
It's noteworthy that the various anti-Merkley TV ads invariably relied on a shot of him from the KGW debate to put him in his worst light.
What few seem to know even now is that Jeff was very sick with a nasty stomach flu at the time. I spoke to him briefly about half an hour before the KGW debate and he joked about maybe having to duck out during commercial breaks if the nausea got too bad. Add to that the stress of needing to perform well in a televised debate - which wasn't exactly familiar territory for him - and I think he performed masterfully. It certainly showcased his grit and determination.
Nov 6, '08
Hmmm, didn't know that about Jeff being ill at the KGW debate. Put's in a totally different light.
12:36 a.m.
Nov 7, '08
How are you pronouncing "tears"?
Nov 7, '08