Election Results, Part One

7:30 p.m. - First thoughts:

1) Rep. Governor results so far are predictable... Hulshof is carrying early precincts in the bootheel as well as in the Jeff City area. Steelman is pulling early precincts in Texas, Hickory, and Pulaski counties.

2) The tightest race of the night may be for the Democratic race for Attorney General. Koster and Harris are very close right now in the early returns with Donnelly not too far behind.

7:55 p.m. - * Steelman is going to have pick up her advantage in SW Missouri by quite a bit if she wants to win tonight. She trails Hulshof by 450 votes with 1.5% of the vote counted.

* Sam Page is leading the Democratic candidates for Lt. Governor right now. He sits at 33% while four other contenders sit in the teens. One will have to break out to challenge him.

* Jay Nixon is struggling to carry 80% of the vote in what was supposed to be a landslide. While it is, does he have a weakness that the Republican winner can exploit to their advantage to get some Democratic voters in November?

8:05 p.m. - * The first St. Louis County results are in and Hulshof leads Steelman by about 23% points. While some of the other counties that Hulshof are winning are by huger percentage margins, they don't have overwhelming numbers of voters. Hulshof needs to extend that advtange in St. Louis County.

8:25 p.m. - * Greene County results are coming in. While Steelman is winning the county, she doesn't have a huge lead (about 13 points). She needs to extend that advantage with the last few precincts. With 9% of the vote counted, Hulshof leads Steelman 48% - 46%.

* Unless something catastrophic happens, Sam Page (Dem) and Peter Kinder (Rep) are your nominees for the Lt. Governor race.

8:45 p.m. - * Roseanne Bentley looks to hold off Lincoln Hough with 88% percent of the votes counted in Republican Greene County Commissioner Race. Jim Arnott will likely be the Republican Sheriff nominee for the county as well.

* It may be about time to call in the life raft for Sarah Steelman. With about 20% of the vote counted she is down by over 7,000 votes. While it isn't over for her, it isn't looking good. The Hulshof campaign should be happy about its numbers in places like Vernon and St. Clair counties.