******Official DU Election Predictions Thread*************

[WI_DEM]

I've never done an "official" thread before.

Here are my final predictions:

House: Democrats pick up 23 seats and along with it the House majority for the first time since 1994. Unexpected DEM upsets are ID-01 and NE-03. However, I think that Foley's seat will stay in GOP hands.

Senate: Democrats pick up five seats taking their numbers from 44 to 49 and poising us for regaining the upper chamber in 2008. We will win GOP seats in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island (despite the closing of this race), Virginia and Montana. I think the results in Missouri and Maryland will be tight and could go either way, but right now I'm giving Missouri to the GOP and having Maryland remain Democratic. I think that the GOP will win TN and despite a late surge by Pederson in AZ, I think they will also take AZ.

Governorships: The Dems will gain GOP governorships in: 7-10 seats. We will almost certainly gain New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Colorado, Arkansas, Maryland and Minnesota. But I see strong upset opportunities in Idaho, Alaska and Nevada. I think Dems will take at least one of those three (or maybe even 2) my final prediction: Dems pick up 8 Governorships.

Final:
House +23
Senate +5
Governorships +8

We will take control of House and win a majority of Governorships and be poised to take the Senate in '08.

Now your predictions?

[liberal N proud]

1. If the Democrats lose Ohio Governor, there is something wrong.

Blackwell has only 37%

[WI_DEM]

3. I agree, but am very optimistic about that race

[longship]

2. Dems get the *Wave*

I'm looking at a *wave* here. Also, Eastern time zone results *can* and *will* have an effect on Western races.

Senate: 6-7 seats, maybe 8. We'll get all we can here. If the race is close, Dems will win it. MO, MT, OH, PA, RI, VA are going to be a done deal for us. Maybe TN and doubtful, but maybe AZ.

House: Hard to tell. There are so many competitive seats and I think that the Democrats will take the majority of them. I think mid-thirties is easy to predict, but I think Western races will be influenced by early Eastern Dem gains. Almost all those competitive Western races are going to come in for Democrats as demoralized late Republican voters will begin to stay home. Upwards of fifty is not out of the question. There are going to be many surprises, like for instance, KS-02.

Governor: Seven new Democrats.

Tie-breaker prediction: The Democrats will lose *ZERO* Congressional seats (both Senate and House).

CT prediction: Lieberman wins. Pshaw! Too bad. But he caucuses with the Dems because he'd rather have leadership in majority party than serve in the minority party.

[WI_DEM]

4. I hope you are right!

how do you see CT Senate going?

[cali]

5. My predictions are pretty close to yours.

In the Senate we pick up Ohio, PA, RI, VA. We hold NJ and MD. Repubs retain MO and TN. If I have to pick in MT, I reluctantly give it to that old crook Burns, though I really hope I'm wrong. Dems gain 4 for a Senate with 51 (R) 47 (D) and two Indies who will vote with the dems.

In the House I'm going with 27 net seats for the dems.

I haven't followed the gov races, but I like your prediction of +8 for the dems. (I only wish we could get rid of our repuke guv, Jim Douglas)

[feduppuke]

6. I'm a Little Less Optimistic

Dems +19 in the House
Dems +4 in the Senate (Pubs keep VA and TN)
Dems +7 Governors

Not a *huge* wave, but a certified sweep/landslide!

[WI_DEM]

7. and if your prediction is true we can't let the media say that it's a GOP

"victory". We win the house, we gain four seats in the Senate--which is pretty darn good in any year and win a majority of governorships.

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. How does a thread become the "official" one?

Is there a secret group of mods and admins that meet in a dark internet hallway and declare that this one is the "official" one? Does an undercover CIA operative edit that thread subject to add the "official" imprimatur? Does a secret Diebold backdoor in the DU server get activated? Does any poster have the authority to declare their thread the "official" one? Inquiring minds want to know.

[DUyellow]

9. relax, call somebody and get them to vote ;)

:) GO DEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bdamomma]

15. that is the best advice, let us fight back hard this time.

GO VOTE, IT IS ALL UP TO US. REALLY.

[WI_DEM]

10. the same way every other "official" one does

somebody starts the first one and calls it the "official thread" so that there aren't tons of dupes, but there's nothing to stop anyone else from starting one too.

[hvn_nbr_2]

23. That's what I thought

but I've often wondered if that was really so. With as many duplicate threads as we get, it seems a little surprising that there don't ever seem to be duplicate "official" threads.

[casus belli]

11. Nah. I figured it to be more of an "I call shotgun" type of thing. n/t

[casus belli]

12. In the spirit of Officiality, I dub this the official response thread. n/t

[WilliamPitt]

20. Because the OP said so.

Why do you care?

[Quixote1818]

13. Dems with 237 in house and 51 in Senate. nt

[WI_DEM]

14. I especially like the 106 in the Senate!!

[Quixote1818]

16. Whoops. nt

[5thGenDemocrat]

17. I'm in the Fifth District of Michigan

I predict I'll wake up Wednesday with a Democratic governor (Jennifer Granholm), two Democratic senators (Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow), a Democratic US Representative (Dale Kildee), a Democratic state senator (Carl Williams) and a Democratic state representative (Andy Coulouris).
John
First Precinct, 14th Ward, Saginaw City (MI)
ON EDIT: I nearly forgot to mention that my/our old buddy, Andy the Right Wing Republican, a pipefitter by trade, has a 7 am to midnight double-shift tomorrow and is certain he won't be able to get to the polls. So my vote gets to cancel someone else's vote out for a change.

[gully]

18. My predictions.

House = + 16
Senate = + 4
Gov = + 6

Just a stab at it, no real rationale. ; )

[WilliamPitt]

19. 20 seats in the House, 5 in the Senate, major pickups of Governor's mansions

That's my bet.

[Innocent Smith]

21. Just a gut feeling guess

House: +15
Senate: +3
Gov: + 9

[shadowknows69]

22. I predict

I'll be hopelessly drunk and yelling at a TV whatever the outcome.