12:30 am Democrats sat quietly and watched a somber Ashwin Madia conceded victory to Republican Erik Paulsen who will elevate from the State House to the U.S. House after an ugly and bruising campaign. Bachmann also wins. No pick ups for the Dems in the congressional races.
9:30 Republican John Kline won big and was the first winner to work the crowd at Republican headquarters.
9:15 GOP headquarters, congressional candidate Erik Paulsen is the first candidate on the scene talking to reporters. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann follows suit. It's not very common to see candidates do media before their race is called. Bachmann says she's confident she'll win, other Republicans weren't so sure. At DFL headquarters, Congresswoman Betty McCollum is the first victor to address the crowd.
By 8:30 the DFL party is packed and rocking. As Ohio goes for Obama they chant "O-hi-o" over and over followed by "O-ba-ma." The excitement is already crazy. There is barely room to move and the night is still early. I haven't seen DFLers this excited before.
At 8:00 the party just started here at DFL headquarters. Minnesota was called for Obama seconds after the polls closed and the crowd roared. That got the mood started with an exciting and energetic tone. The crowd is good for this early in the night. Dems are excited.
Republican headquarters seems to be a bit slower out of the shoot. Perhaps not as exciting early returns to celebrate. One GOP party insider predicted that Erik Paulsen will win against Ashwin Madia and Michele Bachmann will lose to El Tinklenberg. No one is making many predictions on the Senate race. We expect it will be late.
Republicans are excited about Sarah Palin though, here's the "Minnesota's Wild About Sarah!" hockey pucks celebrating the hockey mom.