Gettings votes in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I haven't done one of these since Friday, 12 state certifications ago. California is down to just 175,000
uncounted ballots. Almost everyone else is all in. The only big cache left of votes is in New York, where 800,000 to 1 million votes, most in New York City, remain to be counted.
The current tally is Barack Obama 50.94, Mitt Romney 47.32. Those NYC ballots will almost assuredly push Obama past the 51 percent mark—the first president to manage that feat twice since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Obama's popular vote margin is 4.6 million. Hopefully NYC pushes it past five million, just because it's always fun to have yet one more reason to celebrate. Remember this?
Ahh, good times.
Turnout is down from 2008, but not by much—131.3 million to 128.3, or 2.3 percent. That margin will shrink further when NYC reports, but regardless, turnout will lag by a sliver, and even more so if you account for population growth. Romney has almost 800,000 more votes than John McCain got in 2008, while Obama is lagging his 2008 self by about 4 million votes.
Head below the fold if you want to see final vote totals for the newly certified states.
Kansas becomes 22nd state to certify its results: @MittRomney 692,634 @BarackObama 440,726. Obama -3.5% vs. '08:
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— @Redistrict via web
Indiana becomes 23rd state to certify its totals: @MittRomney 1,420,543 @BarackObama 1,152,887:
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— @Redistrict via web
From Blue Obama 2008 state to, well, rote Red.
Massachusetts becomes 24th state to certify its final results: @BarackObama 1,921,290, @MittRomney 1,188,314:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Remember when Romney was governor of this state, then he wasn't during the GOP primaries, and he still wasn't at the GOP convention, but then he was again during the first debate? That was weird.
Obama gained 14,971 votes from the Election Night totals, while Romney gained 9,804.
Nevada becomes 25th state to certify its election results: @BarackObama 531,373 @MittRomney 463,567:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Nevada saw one of the biggest turnout gains in the country, at 4.86 percent. Obama had about 2,300 fewer votes than in 2008, while Romney got roughly 50,000 more votes than McCain. Lots of Mormons in Nevada.
Utah becomes 26th state to certify its results: @MittRomney 740,600 @BarackObama 251,813. Raw votes up 6.83% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
UT: Finally, good news for @MittRomney, +8,185 votes in final canvass, @BarackObama +1,652. Romney up to 47.34%:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Romney should run for president of Utah ... yet he forsakes them to live in hated California instead.
Montana becomes 27th state to certify its results: @MittRomney 267,928, @BarackObama 201,839. Obama -5.9% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Obama lost Montana by just two points in 2008, but lost it by almost 14 points this time. Can't blame it on the Mormons.
Obama lost 30,000 votes compared to his 2008 self, while Romney earned 25,000 more votes than McCain. On the other hand, Democrats won both the Senate and governor's races, as well as started clawing back state legislative losses from the 2010 blowout.
Illinois becomes 28th state to certify results: @BarackObama 3,019,512 @MittRomney 2,135,216. Obama -4.16% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Illinois turnout was down 5 percent. With no statewide elections on the ballot, and only a handful of competitive House races, there was little reason for most voters to turn out.
Iowa becomes 29th state to certify results: @BarackObama 822,544 @MittRomney 730,617. Obama -1.89% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
On the other hand, Iowa turnout was up three percent. Being a contested battleground state has its privileges.
Still, Obama lost over 6,000 votes compared to 2008 (828.9K vs 822.5K), while Romney got almost 50,000 more votes than McCain. Fat good it did him.
Overlooked? Upon certification, final Davis (R) margin over Gill (D) in #IL13 race was just 1,002 votes:
http://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in a night with few of them. Gill would've been incredible. Hopefully he's back for a second chance, though the GOP's tiny margin of victory will encourage more Democrats to run.
Alabama 30th state to certify its results: @MittRomney 1,255,925 @BarackObama 795,696. Many wrote in "Nick Saban"
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Fun fact -- Obama won just 15 percent of the white vote in Alabama. On second thought, I change my mind. That's not so fun.
But before you think it's all about Obama's race -- John Kerry only won 19 percent of the white vote in the state in 2004. Oh, it's still about race -- Democrats are the party of black people. But a white Democrats would likely get the same pitiful percentage as Obama did.
Arizona becomes 31st state to certify its results: @MittRomney 1,233,654 @BarackObama 1,025,232. Obama -0.3% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Given early-cycle hopes of making Arizona a battleground, this one kind of sucks. I'll be digging into the Arizona numbers soon to try and tease out what went wrong.
Mississippi 32nd state to certify its results: @MittRomney 710,746 @BarackObama 562,949. Obama +0.84% vs. '08
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
Alabama is a bastion of enlightenment compared to Mississippi, where Obama got just 10 percent of the white vote. (Kerry got 14 percent in 2004.)
Minnesota becomes 33rd state to certify results: @BarackObama 1,546,167 @MittRomney 1,320,225. Obama -1.29% vs. '08:
https://t.co/...
— @Redistrict via web
That's a nearly 8-point margin in a state Republicans pretended was competitive in the end. Heck, Romney didn't even hit 45 percent.