It's our first election night of 2014 and we're starting out with a bang. The main event is the special election in Virginia's 6th Senate district, one of two seats that will decide control of the state Senate.
Republicans currently hold a 20-18 majority in the chamber with two Democratic seats vacant. If Democratic nominee Delegate Lynwood Lewis defeats Republican shipping executive Wayne Coleman tonight in this Hampton Roads district and Democrats hold Northern Virginia's SD-33 on January 21, the Senate will be tied 20-20. This would allow Lt. Gov Ralph Northam to break the tie and hand Democrats control of the chamber. A loss tonight or in SD-33 two weeks from now will give the GOP an outright majority. SD-06 leans Democratic, with Obama carrying it 57-42 in 2012. However, special election turnout makes things unpredictable.
We also have several other special general elections around the country. Johnny Longtorso brings us up to speed:
Iowa HD-25: This is an open Republican seat in the Des Moines suburbs; the previous occupant was elected to the state Senate back in November. The candidates are Democrat Pam Deichmann, a nurse and the president of the Iowa Public Health Association, and Republican Stan Gustafson, a retired attorney. The district went 54-44 Romney in 2012.
Massachusetts House, 9th Norfolk: This is an open Republican seat consisting of the towns of Norfolk, Plainville, and Wrentham, and parts of Medfield, Millis, and Walpole. The candidates are Democrat Ed McCormick, an attorney who ran against then-Rep. Barney Frank in 1992 as a Republican (losing 68-26); Republican Shawn Dooley, the Norfolk school committee chairman and town clerk; and independent Chris Timson, a Walpole selectman. This is one of the most Republican districts in the state, going 53-45 for Romney, 66-34 for Scott Brown in 2012, and 63-37 for Gabriel Gomez in the 2013 Senate special election. In fact, this is the very same House seat that Brown himself used to hold.
Virginia HD-11: This is an open Democratic seat in Roanoke. The candidates are Democrat Sam Rasoul, who lost 62-37 to Rep. Bob Goodlatte in 2008, and Republican Octavia Johnson, a former sheriff of Roanoke. This seat went 64-34 for Obama in 2012, and last November it went 58-33 McAuliffe, 66-34 Northam, and 59-41 Herring.
Finally, we have two all party primaries in Georgia's HD-02 and HD-12, with all the candidates being Republicans.
For information about the candidates, closing times, and future elections, see our calendar here.
4:01 PM PT: Polls have just closed in Virginia and we'll be live-blogging the SD-06 race. Results will be coming in here.
4:15 PM PT: Here is a breakdown of how each county/ city in SD-06 voted in 2012. To hold SD-06, Lewis will need a good result in Norfolk, the largest portion of the district. Mathews is very red and Accomack and the small bit of Virginia Beach also went for Romney, but they cast relatively few votes. Northampton is also blue but small. The county results will be posted here.
4:36 PM PT: Via Minnesota Mike, local news gives us some results in Virginia's HD-11. With 25 percent reporting, Dem Sam Rasoul leads Republican Octavia Johnson 74-26. Unfortunately, the GOP will keep their veto-proof majority in the House no matter how this turns out.
4:43 PM PT: The state Board of Elections has Rasoul up 73-27 with 18 out of 28 precincts in in HD-11. This one looks over.
4:45 PM PT: Via Johnny Longtorso, we have long awaited numbers out of SD-06 from the Virginia Public Access Project. With 52 percent in, Democrat Lewis leads 50.22-49.73.
4:50 PM PT: The VBOE has caught up and we have county breakdowns. Lewis is doing what he needs to do in Mathews and even over performing Obama in Accomack. Norfolk is problematic: Lewis leads only 53-47, with half in. Obama won this part of Norfolk 63-35. We're awaiting Northampton, a small but blue county.
4:51 PM PT: VPAP is ahead in SD-06; they have Coleman up 50.30-49.64 with about 70 percent in.
4:54 PM PT: The SBOE is now caught up. The good news is the GOP areas are in. We're awaiting all of Northampton, sever Norfolk precincts, and four Accomack ones. Lewis is only down a little with those areas out and should pull ahead.
5:00 PM PT: VPAP has 44/56 reporting in SD-06, and Coleman maintains a tiny lead at 50.62-49.34.
5:04 PM PT: Of the twelve precincts still out, four are in Norfolk, two are in Accomack, and six are Northampton. Lewis should still pull of a tight win assuming there are no unpleasant surprises.
5:08 PM PT: Over in Roanoke, HD-11 is an easy Dem hold. Rasoul leads 73-27 with 75 percent in. This will leave the Democrats with 33 seats out of 100.
5:11 PM PT: VPAP has 49 out of 56 precincts in and Coleman maintains a very narrow 50.42-49.53 edge. All that's left is all of Northampton and one Accomack precinct. Northampton went for Obama with 58 percent in 2012.
5:18 PM PT: VPAP now has 54/56 precincts in, and Lewis has taken a 50.23-49.73 lead. One Northampton and one Accomack precinct left. Lewis leads in both counties and should eek this out.
5:20 PM PT: SSP labs tells us of the two precincts left, Northampton's is the bluest in the county.
5:25 PM PT: The remaining Accomack precinct unfortunately isn't particularly hospitable though. Hopefully they'll cancel each other out.
5:26 PM PT:
The R precinct cast 1062 votes in 13, the D precinct only cast 661 votes. Coleman could still win
— @kkondik
5:30 PM PT: Northampton is fully in, and Lewis leads 50.67-49.28. Waiting on Accomack's single precinct. It's heavily red, but will it be enough?
5:42 PM PT: At the moment this contest is out of recount range. If when all the counting and re-canvasing is done and the margin is within 1 percent, the trailing candidate may request a recount. If it's within .5 percent the recount is paid for by the state.
5:50 PM PT: Interestingly, Lewis has outperformed Obama in a few areas. Lewis is a bit ahead in the Accomack precincts that reported, and narrowly edged Obama in Northampton. In small conservative Mathews Lewis and Obama did roughly the same.
What's making this so close in Norfolk. Obama carried the SD-06 portion of the city 63-35, while Lewis only won it 52-48. Norfolk is also a smaller proportion of the vote this time. In 2012 it cast 59 percent of votes in the district; right now it's 48 percent.
5:51 PM PT: All precincts are in and Lewis is up 22 votes.
5:54 PM PT: It's pretty safe to say (especially after the tight Virginia Attorney General race) that SD-06 won't be resolved tonight. Here comes the re-canvas and probable recount.
6:03 PM PT: For lovers of Virginia elections don't worry, we'll have another in two weeks. In Northern Virginia's SD-33 Dems are seeking to hold Attorney General-elect Mark Herring's seat. Assuming Lewis won tonight, that seat will determine control of the chamber. The seat leans Democratic, with Obama winning it 59-39, and our preliminary numbers giving McAuliffe a 56-38 victory. As we saw tonight in Hampton Roads though, nothing is certain.
6:07 PM PT: Final margin (for now) is Lewis 50.04-49.93, with the remaining .03 percent (seven votes) write-ins. Can't wait to see Norfolk's version of Lizard People...
6:15 PM PT: In the next few days we should see a re-canvas, where hopefully Lewis will keep his lead. A recount will almost certainly follow in any case. It will be a while before tonight's winner is seated.
We're calling it a night with the liveblog, but if you're looking to discuss the impending developments in SD-06 or any of the other races tonight this open thread is the place. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out Daily Kos Elections in the coming days as we sort out SD-06. And be sure to be back here on January 21 for SD-33!