2014 Election Night Live Blog

RAPID REACTIONS FROM ANOTHER “DAY OF DECISION”

By FITSNEWS || At long last – it’s over. The seemingly interminable assault on your mailbox, your television, your email address … your sensibility and sanity … has concluded. Well … at least until the 2016 “First in the South” presidential primaries crank up. Which is going to be (checking our watches) …. yeah, any minute now.

So … expect the political bombardment to begin again at any moment.

Yet before the 2016 circus starts pitching its tents, the 2014 cycle is passing from current event to historical event.  Right now.  Before our eyes.  It’s no longer something to be speculated upon or participated in … it’s something to be dissected, starting first with “who won” (and where), and then moving on to the more important questions: Why?  And what does it all mean?

We’ve already laid out some thoughts on those questions … but now that you’re here you can settle in for an entire evening of rapid-fire news, insight and analysis from election night 2014.  And in case you’re new to this site and curious as to our political/ ideological leanings, we’re hard core pro-free market, pro-liberty … and no friend to either the Democratic or “Republican” parties.

Wanna get in on the action?

Submit your results, observations, images, links, videos, snark, questions, comments, criticisms, etc. via any of the avenues below …

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11:36 p.m. – All seven U.S. Representatives from South Carolina – Jim Clyburn, Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney, Tom Rice, Mark Sanford and Joe Wilson – handily won reelection this evening.

11:32 p.m. – “Republicans” win control of the U.S. Senate.

10:53 p.m. – Counting ballots at Richland County Election Commission … FITS has received reports of “damaged absentee ballots” in race between S.C. Rep. Kirkman Finlay and Democratic challenger Joe McCulloch.

9:40 p.m. – With 50 percent of ballots counted, Nikki Haley‘s landslide victory over Democrat Vincent Sheheen is holding. Haley is up 60-38 percent. Just … wow.  Everybody knew she was going to win, but that’s just a thrashing.

9:39 p.m. – In the hotly contested race for S.C. House District 75, incumbent Rep. Kirkman Finlay leads Democratic challenger Joe McCulloch by 630 votes … with absentee ballots yet to be counted.

9:06 p.m. – Nikki Haley beat Vincent Sheheen in 2010 by less than five percent of the vote. With thirty percent of the 2014 vote in, she’s leading Sheheen by a 60-38 percent margin.

8:57 p.m. – Kathryn Dennis – girlfriend of independent U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel – just posted this to her Instagram page:

8:56 p.m. – Independent U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel is currently receiving 4 percent of the vote – with 20 percent of precincts reporting.

8:36 p.m. – Again, we apologize … the cyberattack just keeps coming.

8:19 p.m. – Via Politico … exit polling shows 58 percent of midterm voters “dissatisfied or angry at the White House.”

8:18 p.m. – The U.S. Senate count is currently 40-34 “Republican.” The GOP is eleven seats away from taking control of this chamber for the first time since 2006. Again … for whatever that’s worth.

8:17 p.m. – Cyberattacks just keep coming … brutal.

8:04 p.m. – Re: Election night cyberattack against FITS …

@fitsnews Shouldn’t have called Michelle out on the fried chicken. Wait…IRS agent’s at my door. Gotta go.

— Walt Overbay (@waltoverbay) November 5, 2014

Ha! Yeah figured that post was a bad idea … 7:44 p.m. – Neat story on Facebook’s “I Voted” experiment … (CSM)

7:43 p.m. – They’re getting ready to party down at Nikki Haley’s election headquarters (Sheraton conference room, downtown Columbia, S.C.) … 7:42 p.m. – Interesting story out of Delaware. “Shaming” people into voting … 7:40 p.m. – Mitch McConnell – widely believed to be the next Senate Majority Leader – has won his reelection in Kentucky. For whatever that’s worth … 7:37 p.m. – “Republicans” are currently +1 in the race for control of the U.S. Senate … with the current score 34-34. Fifty-one out of the chamber’s 100 seats are needed for control … although check our math because we did go to South Carolina public schools for ten years. 7:36 p.m. – Question of the night. What is a DDOS attack (a.k.a. the type of cyberattack that hit FITS this evening around 6:00 p.m.). Answer via Wikipedia …

In computing, a denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, the motives for, and targets of a DoS attack vary, it generally consists of efforts to temporarily or indefinitely interrupt or suspend services of a host connected to the Internet.

Yeah … 7:33 p.m. – The Associated Press called the reelection of U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham the moment the polls closed as well. This website endorsed Scott. We did not endorse Graham. 7:31 p.m. – RE: Tonight’s cyber attack against FITS …

@fitsnews wow does that mean you’ve made it? — Tim Sweeney (@KelticSC) November 5, 2014

Ha! Another notch in the belt, maybe …

7:30 p.m. – The Republican Governors’ Association (RGA) is wasting little time in taking credit for Nikki Haley’s reelection victory …

The Republican Governors Association was a key investor in Governor Haley’s re-election victory, spending $2 million on paid media in the spring. The RGA ran five television ads in South Carolina detailing Democrat Vincent Sheheen’s support for Obamacare and his record as a trial lawyer who got reduced jail time for dangerous criminals.

7:29 p.m. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has just issued a statement on Gov. Nikki Haley’s reelection …

“Governor Nikki Haley has done an extraordinary job for South Carolina; her leadership is making the difference. With Haley at the helm for four more years, South Carolina is sure to experience continued growth and success. No one fights harder for South Carolina than Governor Haley, and because of her, it’s going to be another great four years. The Republican Governors Association is proud to congratulate Governor Haley on her re-election.”

Ummmm … really?

7:28 p.m. – Rrrrawr …

Hahahahahahaahaha glad to be here,@fitsnews

— Taylor Brown (@TaylahhKane) November 5, 2014

7:23 p.m. – The Associated Press called the governor’s mansion for Nikki Haley one minute after the polls closed. Impressive? Not really. We called the race two weeks ago. 7:20 p.m. – (Will Folks) Did I mention how stoked we are to have Taylor Brown writing for us? From her biographic post coming tomorrow …

When signing on to write for the infamous FITSNews, I was told “it would be nice to have a ‘Republican,’” so, now, here I am, the token Conservative Republican, who uses commas like a foreigner. I like to think I was asked to write for my intellectual brilliance and political insight; however, it was probably my Twitter picture (@TaylahhKane) and my snarky Ebola tweets that did it (I’m still ready to use #EbolaInCola).

Glad to have you on board, Taylor …

7:18 p.m. – Here are renowned political scientist Larry Sabato’s projections …

7:14 p.m. – SO … before that malicious cyberattack hit I was about to update everybody on the final pre-election predictions. The Washington Post’s Election lab says there is a 97 percent chance “Republicans” will reclaim the U.S. Senate this evening. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, it’s 76.2 percent.

7:13 p.m. – (Will Folks) My conversation with our tech leader about tonights DDOS attack (yes that’s me in the pink feather boa) …

7:00 p.m. – Wow … so … at the moment our live blog was kicking off, FITS was hit with a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack that took our website down for an hour. The attack was “deliberately malicious” according to our tech advisors. Not to mention well-timed. And effective.

6:00 p.m. – One hour till the polls close in South Carolina. Still wanna vote? Here’s how (pardon the language) …

5:57 p.m. – (Will Folks) Someone voted for me but forgot what office it was …

@fitsnews I forgot what race it was in, but you got a vote from me. I did all wrightin/ skiped except for a few races. None of above is best — Britton Lee (@jbrittonlee) November 4, 2014

Funny … I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I may seize an office one day, but I’ll never run for one.

5:55 p.m. – Wow … an hour before the polls close South Carolina Libertarian gubernatorial nominee Steve French announces his 2018 candidacy for governor …

Proud to announce the start of my 2018 campaign for gov of SC. @fitsnews @postandcourier @ChasCityPaper #SC #SCGOV #libertarian
— Steve French (@french4freedom) November 4, 2014

5:45 p.m. – Is it too early to say S.C. Sen. Vincent Sheheen‘s 2014 gubernatorial campaign was the worst-run general election campaign in South Carolina history?  No … no it is not too early to say that.  And that was before “whore-gate” hit.

5:42 p.m. – Angelina Jolie uses election 2014 coverage to announce that she’s “open” to seeking political office.  Hmmm … President Malificent?

5:40 p.m. – PARTY PLANNING – “Republican” candidates including lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Henry McMaster, superintendent of education nominee Molly Spearman and incumbent attorney general Alan Wilson will be gathering at the Greater Columbia, S.C. Chamber of Commerce (930 Richland Street).

5:37 p.m. – PARTY PLANNING – The S.C. Democratic Party is hosting its election night “festivities” at the Marriott in downtown Columbia (1200 Hampton Street). Something tells us things aren’t going to be especially festive there, though …

5:36 p.m. – (from Will Folks, FITS founding editor) Just got a call on my cell phone from a Washington, D.C. number: 202-769-0477.  A recorded voice said “this is a political survey call, we may call again later.”  Smells like exit polling to me …

5:34 p.m. – Whatever the results wind up being, this was an increasingly mobile election … take a look at Pew Center data HERE.

5:33 p.m. – Welcome …

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