By — Domenico Montanaro Domenico Montanaro By — Rachel Wellford Rachel Wellford Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/control-senate-might-decided-election-night Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Why control of the Senate might not be decided on Election Night Politics Oct 8, 2014 9:15 AM EDT Today in the Morning Line: Louisiana plus Kansas plus Georgia plus Alaska could equal Election Night chaos Louisiana’s probably headed to a runoff The independent’s ahead in upset bid of Kansas Republican What if Georgia goes to a runoff too, with an election held after the new Congress is sworn in? Louisiana and Kansas … : We’ve written previously about the “Louisiana Limbo,” the scenario in which Republicans net five seats on Election Night, and no one gets 50 percent that day in the Louisiana Senate race, forcing a Dec. 6 runoff (and lots of reporters to jubilantly book hotels in New Orleans.) No one on either side expects either Democrat Mary Landrieu or Republican Bill Cassidy to reach 50 percent, because it’s functionally a primary. There are several candidates, and Sarah Palin-backed conservative Republican Rob Maness is getting a significant enough percentage to pull from Cassidy. Democrats think it’s POSSIBLE Landrieu gets to 50 on Election Day, but it’s not likely. We’ve also written about the possibility that Independent Greg Orman upsets longtime Republican Pat Roberts in Kansas, something that’s looking increasingly likely with a recent NBC/Marist poll showing Roberts down 10. …Plus, the Georgia Wildcard: Consider THIS other possibility – that Georgia isn’t decided on Election Night, either. Georgia, like Louisiana, has a 50 percent threshold on Election Night. If no one gets 50 percent, the election would be decided Jan. 6, which is three days after the new Congress is scheduled to be sworn in. Imagine that. And, as Nate Silver wrote recently, this scenario is actually becoming more and more plausible. The race between Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn is tight enough that a third-party candidate could upset the balance and pull the biggest vote-getter under 50. And currently Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford has been averaging 5 percent in the polls. “It’s impossible for Perdue to beat Nunn by 3 percentage points in November and get over 50 percent if Swafford earns 4 percent of the vote,” Silver writes. “In other words, if Nunn and Perdue are close, and Swafford does decently, Georgia is headed for a runoff.” All that is on top of another contest we won’t have a result for until AT LEAST the day after Election Day — Alaska, with its 1 am ET poll-closing time. Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1869, President Franklin Pierce died. What war did Pierce fight in before becoming president? Be the first to tweet us the correct answer using #PoliticsTrivia and you’ll get a Morning Line shout-out. Congratulations to EmGusk (@EmGusk) for guessing Tuesday’s trivia: What was the military intervention in Somalia in response to? The answer was: The Battle of Mogadishu (also known as Black Hawk Down). LINE ITEMS A federal appeals court struck down same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho on Tuesday, in a ruling that could cause bans in Alaska, Arizona and Montana (states that are also under the appeals court’s jurisdiction) to fall. And in Colorado, the state attorney general ordered officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Tuesday. But not all states were ready to concede. Political leaders in North Carolina, South Carolina’s attorney general and officials in Kansas are vowing to make sure their states’ constitutional bans on same-sex marriage stay in place. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah were two of the only Republicans to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision to not rule on the gay marriage cases Monday. Virginia’s congressional map was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Tuesday. The map will remain in place through this year’s election, but the judge ordered the General Assembly to redraw the 3rd Congressional District by April. It was a night of debate Tuesday between Senate candidates in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado and West Virginia. This is never a good headline for a candidate: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Perdue ‘proud’ of outsourcing past, blames Washington for jobs lost.” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is calling for President Obama and Secretary Kerry to restrict “unnecessary travel” to African countries that are experiencing an Ebola outbreak. The Supreme Court heard the case Tuesday of an incarcerated convict in Arkansas who is challenging regulations prohibiting facial hair on the grounds of religious observance. Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal joined NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff to talk about the case. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $25 million to back candidates in this year’s midterm elections. The twist? He’s supporting both Democrats and Republicans. With just under one month until the polls open on election day, confusion abounds for voters in Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina, after last minute court decisions have changed voting procedures. In a few states, the gubernatorial contest could end up making a huge difference for Congressional candidates. Crossroads GPS is out with a new ad Wednesday using North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan’s own words against her. NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff sat down with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to talk about her book “Off the Sidelines” and the fight to stop sexual assault in the military, among other issues. The Federal Elections Commission has released a list of political action committees’ acronyms, and some of them are pretty bad. Keep an eye on the Rundown blog for breaking news throughout the day, our home page for show segments, and follow @NewsHour for the latest. TOP TWEETS Lawmakers pick iPhones over Droids — @jmhattem has details http://t.co/GyhS1xDsJZ pic.twitter.com/IbZQOdeCQY — The Hill (@thehill) October 8, 2014 The Top Ten “Worst Places to Live” – based on the amount of irrelevant campaign ads http://t.co/AGrPDafP5K pic.twitter.com/KF04YTDX4V — Zac Moffatt (@ZacMoffatt) October 7, 2014 A drought in California produces tastier wine grapes http://t.co/e5ayoPoEzt pic.twitter.com/uRzDNXQ8y8 — Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 8, 2014 For more political coverage, visit our politics page. Sign up here to receive the Morning Line in your inbox every morning. Questions or comments? Email Domenico Montanaro at dmontanaro-at-newshour-dot-org or Rachel Wellford at rwellford-at-newshour-dot-org. Follow the politics team on Twitter: Follow @DomenicoPBS Follow @elizsummers Follow @rachelwellford Follow @sfpathe We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Domenico Montanaro Domenico Montanaro By — Rachel Wellford Rachel Wellford Rachel Wellford is a general assignment producer for PBS NewsHour. @rachelwellford
Today in the Morning Line: Louisiana plus Kansas plus Georgia plus Alaska could equal Election Night chaos Louisiana’s probably headed to a runoff The independent’s ahead in upset bid of Kansas Republican What if Georgia goes to a runoff too, with an election held after the new Congress is sworn in? Louisiana and Kansas … : We’ve written previously about the “Louisiana Limbo,” the scenario in which Republicans net five seats on Election Night, and no one gets 50 percent that day in the Louisiana Senate race, forcing a Dec. 6 runoff (and lots of reporters to jubilantly book hotels in New Orleans.) No one on either side expects either Democrat Mary Landrieu or Republican Bill Cassidy to reach 50 percent, because it’s functionally a primary. There are several candidates, and Sarah Palin-backed conservative Republican Rob Maness is getting a significant enough percentage to pull from Cassidy. Democrats think it’s POSSIBLE Landrieu gets to 50 on Election Day, but it’s not likely. We’ve also written about the possibility that Independent Greg Orman upsets longtime Republican Pat Roberts in Kansas, something that’s looking increasingly likely with a recent NBC/Marist poll showing Roberts down 10. …Plus, the Georgia Wildcard: Consider THIS other possibility – that Georgia isn’t decided on Election Night, either. Georgia, like Louisiana, has a 50 percent threshold on Election Night. If no one gets 50 percent, the election would be decided Jan. 6, which is three days after the new Congress is scheduled to be sworn in. Imagine that. And, as Nate Silver wrote recently, this scenario is actually becoming more and more plausible. The race between Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn is tight enough that a third-party candidate could upset the balance and pull the biggest vote-getter under 50. And currently Libertarian candidate Amanda Swafford has been averaging 5 percent in the polls. “It’s impossible for Perdue to beat Nunn by 3 percentage points in November and get over 50 percent if Swafford earns 4 percent of the vote,” Silver writes. “In other words, if Nunn and Perdue are close, and Swafford does decently, Georgia is headed for a runoff.” All that is on top of another contest we won’t have a result for until AT LEAST the day after Election Day — Alaska, with its 1 am ET poll-closing time. Daily Presidential Trivia: On this day in 1869, President Franklin Pierce died. What war did Pierce fight in before becoming president? Be the first to tweet us the correct answer using #PoliticsTrivia and you’ll get a Morning Line shout-out. Congratulations to EmGusk (@EmGusk) for guessing Tuesday’s trivia: What was the military intervention in Somalia in response to? The answer was: The Battle of Mogadishu (also known as Black Hawk Down). LINE ITEMS A federal appeals court struck down same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho on Tuesday, in a ruling that could cause bans in Alaska, Arizona and Montana (states that are also under the appeals court’s jurisdiction) to fall. And in Colorado, the state attorney general ordered officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Tuesday. But not all states were ready to concede. Political leaders in North Carolina, South Carolina’s attorney general and officials in Kansas are vowing to make sure their states’ constitutional bans on same-sex marriage stay in place. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah were two of the only Republicans to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision to not rule on the gay marriage cases Monday. Virginia’s congressional map was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Tuesday. The map will remain in place through this year’s election, but the judge ordered the General Assembly to redraw the 3rd Congressional District by April. It was a night of debate Tuesday between Senate candidates in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Colorado and West Virginia. This is never a good headline for a candidate: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Perdue ‘proud’ of outsourcing past, blames Washington for jobs lost.” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is calling for President Obama and Secretary Kerry to restrict “unnecessary travel” to African countries that are experiencing an Ebola outbreak. The Supreme Court heard the case Tuesday of an incarcerated convict in Arkansas who is challenging regulations prohibiting facial hair on the grounds of religious observance. Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal joined NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff to talk about the case. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $25 million to back candidates in this year’s midterm elections. The twist? He’s supporting both Democrats and Republicans. With just under one month until the polls open on election day, confusion abounds for voters in Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina, after last minute court decisions have changed voting procedures. In a few states, the gubernatorial contest could end up making a huge difference for Congressional candidates. Crossroads GPS is out with a new ad Wednesday using North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan’s own words against her. NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff sat down with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to talk about her book “Off the Sidelines” and the fight to stop sexual assault in the military, among other issues. The Federal Elections Commission has released a list of political action committees’ acronyms, and some of them are pretty bad. Keep an eye on the Rundown blog for breaking news throughout the day, our home page for show segments, and follow @NewsHour for the latest. TOP TWEETS Lawmakers pick iPhones over Droids — @jmhattem has details http://t.co/GyhS1xDsJZ pic.twitter.com/IbZQOdeCQY — The Hill (@thehill) October 8, 2014 The Top Ten “Worst Places to Live” – based on the amount of irrelevant campaign ads http://t.co/AGrPDafP5K pic.twitter.com/KF04YTDX4V — Zac Moffatt (@ZacMoffatt) October 7, 2014 A drought in California produces tastier wine grapes http://t.co/e5ayoPoEzt pic.twitter.com/uRzDNXQ8y8 — Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 8, 2014 For more political coverage, visit our politics page. Sign up here to receive the Morning Line in your inbox every morning. Questions or comments? Email Domenico Montanaro at dmontanaro-at-newshour-dot-org or Rachel Wellford at rwellford-at-newshour-dot-org. Follow the politics team on Twitter: Follow @DomenicoPBS Follow @elizsummers Follow @rachelwellford Follow @sfpathe We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now