Polls have just closed in northern Louisiana's 5th Congressional District and what better way to celebrate Daily Kos Elections/ Swing State Project's
10th anniversary than with a liveblog? Unless there's a massive shock and one candidate wins this seat outright with over 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the November 16 general election. This being Louisiana, all candidates run on one ballot rather than in separate partisan primaries, and the top two vote-getters could very well hail from the same party.
Results: AP (summary) | AP (by parish) | SoS (summary) | SoS (by parish)
6:07 PM PT: With fourteen candidates in this race, it can be hard to keep track of who is who. To help, here's our candidate list we published after filing closed in August, with some slight updates:
Republicans
- Clyde Holloway (R): Ex-congressman from Louisiana's long-defunct 8th District (1987-1993) and current Public Service Commissioner
- Vance McAllister (R): Businessman
- Jay Morris (R): State Representative and tea-flavored Bobby Jindal foe
- Neil Riser (R): State Senator and presumed front-runner
- Blake Weatherly (R): Some Dude
Democrats
- Marcus Hunter (D): State Representative
- Robert Johnson (D): State Representative
- Jamie Mayo (D): Mayor of Monroe
- Weldon Russell (D): Former State Representative (served 1984-1988)
Miscellaneous
- Eliot Barron (Green): Some Green Dude
- Tom Gibbs (Other): Some Dude
- Henry Herford Jr. (Libertarian): Paulist disciple and former Republican, best known for being physically confronted by police during the 2012 state Republican convention
- Peter Williams (Other): Tree Farmer
- Samir Zaitoon (Libertarian): Baton Rouge resident, who filed without realizing that he lived outside the district
6:09 PM PT: We have some (presumably early) votes. Neil Riser is in first with 55 percent (1061 votes), followed by Clyde Holloway at 13 percent (250 votes).
6:14 PM PT: A few more votes in. Riser at 58 percent with 1403 votes, Holloway far behind at 12 percent and 284 votes. If Riser wins over 50 percent tonight he'll win the seat outright, but it's still very early.
6:17 PM PT: More probable early votes in and Riser is kicking ass so far. he leads the field with 56 percent. We don't know where these votes are coming from, but his opponents must be hoping they aren't representative of the rest of the district.
6:21 PM PT: More votes in and Riser has been knocked down to 44 percent, below the runoff line. In the race for second, Dem Jamie Mayo leads GOPer Clyde Holloway 13.59% to 12.38%.
6:27 PM PT: Finally some election day votes are in. Riser continues to lead with 44%, with Mayo edging Holloway for second 12.98 to 12.56. Interestingly none of Ouachita (which includes Monroe) is in; could be a good sign for Mayo that he's doing well without his home parish so far.
6:29 PM PT: Holloway has slipped to fourth place. Mayo leads Vince McAllister by about 2 percent, 13.48 to 11.50 percent.
6:31 PM PT: 8 precincts out of 449 (not including the many early votes) and Mayo has a slight lead over McAllister for second, 12.26 to 11.17; Holloway within striking distance at 9.97%. Riser comfortably in first but far below 50%.
6:35 PM PT: 17 precincts reporting and Mayo continues to hold a narrow lead for second, 12.24 to McAllister's 11.22 percent; Holloway at 9.93%.
6:37 PM PT: Besides Mayo, the person most hoping for a Mayo second place win is Riser. Mayo has raised very little money and faces long odds in a general election in this very conservative district (Romney won 61% here).
6:39 PM PT: 42 precincts in and it remains a tight battle for second. Mayo 12.63, McAllister 11.69, Holloway 10.10, Johnson (a Democrat) at 9.36%.
6:40 PM PT: They're counting fast. 73 precincts in and Mayo has a more firm lead for second: Mayo 15.17, McAllister 12.16, Holloway 9.82, Johnson 8.62.
6:43 PM PT: 81 precincts in and Mayo continues to lead for second at 15.39. McAllister and Holloway are both just north of 11.5%.
6:45 PM PT: The fast counting continues and I ain't complaining. 113 precincts in and Mayo continues to put in some distance; 16.37 for him, McAllister at 12.03. Riser will easily get first at 34.05.
6:48 PM PT: 188 out of 981 precincts in, and Mayo with 17.48 to McAllister's 12.24. Even better for Mayo: not much of his home parish of Ouachita is in yet.
6:51 PM PT: 221 precincts in and things have tightened a lot; Mayo at 16.21, McAllister at 15.08.
6:52 PM PT: Now 290 precincts in and Mayo leads McAllister only 16.42 to 15.46 for second. No one else coming close.
6:54 PM PT: Not having a good night: former Rep. Holloway. But he should be used to it by now; this is his fourth attempt to return to the House since he lost his seat in 1992.
6:57 PM PT: 387 out of 981 in; Mayo narrowly clinging to second over McAllister, 16.81 to 16.70. Way back in fourth is Johnson at 8.71.
6:58 PM PT: Geez they count fast. 479 in (SoS far faster than AP) and McAllister now in second, 17.05 to Mayo's 15.97.
7:00 PM PT: Close to half of precincts in and McAllister leads Mayo 16.98 to 15.99 for second. Riser sitting pretty at 33.
7:03 PM PT: 53% of precincts in and McAllister leads Mayo 17.23 to 16.23.
7:04 PM PT: 56% in and McAllister putting slightly more distance in. Leading Mayo 17.11 to 16.06.
7:07 PM PT: Almost 60% in and McAllister has slightly more breathing room, leading Mayo 17.60 to 15.48.
7:08 PM PT: 64% in and the more things change, the more they stay the same. McAllister leading Mayo 17.60 to 15.37.
7:10 PM PT: Another on of the night's losers: Tea partying state Rep. Jay Morris. Despite spending a good chunk of money (much his own) and trying to channel anger at the establishment-backer Riser, Morris is going down in flames with less than 7%.
7:11 PM PT: Almost 70% in and McAllister has to be feeling good. He leads Mayo 17.33 to 14.80.
7:12 PM PT: No surprise: The AP projects Riser to make the runoff.
7:13 PM PT: 72% in; McAllister 17.96%, Mayo 14.77%.
7:15 PM PT: Interestingly McAllister doesn't seem to have bothered to file any campaign expense forms. He may want to work on that if he gets to the runoff.
7:17 PM PT: 77% in and McAllister's lead is growing: 18.03 for him, 14.73% for Mayo. Looks like we can expect to see another month of Riser and McAllister duking it out.
7:18 PM PT: 83% in; McAllister's lead slightly narrower at 18.27 to 15.01. Writing looking like it's on the wall.
7:22 PM PT: 84% in; McAllister 18.28, Mayo 14.96. First place finisher Riser at 32.71.
7:28 PM PT: A look at what's left: Lincoln has 36 precincts out, and McAllister has a small lead over Mayo there. 30 left in Rapides (Alexandra), where McAllister's third place is still far ahead of Mayo. 23 left in St. Landry where Mayo is leading McAllister but neither getting many votes out of it (447 combined). Washington has 15 left but a similar story. Looking very good for McAllister now.
7:29 PM PT: 90% in; McAllister 18.05, Mayo 14.64. Looking all but over.
7:32 PM PT: And with that, the AP calls the second runoff spot for McAllister. The general election will be Nov. 16. Riser starts out the clear favorite but if McAllister can spend his own money enough things could get interesting.
7:35 PM PT: With tonight's race settled we're calling it a night. Thanks for reading and we'll see you back November 5 for 2013's biggest election night!