Liveblogging Primary Night

It's primary night, and we'll be keeping an eye on the GOP Senate primary, the GOP 2nd District congressional primary, the Democratic 3rd and 4th District congressional primaries and the presidential primaries in South Dakota and Montana. John Deeth will have results from the state legislative races after they're all over.

South Dakota primary (94 percent of precincts)

Clinton – 56 percent
Obama – 44 percent

Montana primary (26 percent of precincts)

Clinton – 39 percent
Obama – 59 percent

3rd District Democrats (98 percent of precincts)

Leonard Boswell -  60 percent
Ed Fallon – 39  percent

4th District Democrats (97 percent of precincts)

Becky Greenwald -  51 percent
Kurt Meyer -  27 percent
William Meyers – 12 percent
Kevin Miskell -  8 percent

2nd District Republicans (100 percent of precincts)

Lee Harder -  13 percent
Mariannette Miller-Meeks – 43 percent
Peter Teahen -  42 percent

Senate Republicans (98 percent of precincts)

George Eichhorn -  34 percent
Steve Rathje -  30 percent
Christopher Reed – 35 percent 

11:40 p.m. — Let's take a look at tonight.

On the Democrat side there really weren't a lot of surprises.  Boswell was supposed to win and he did…by a lot. Fallon needed to carry Polk County (in fact, he probably needed to win it big) and he didn't, so that pretty much did him in.

The 4th District was a little more tricky, but Greenwald clearly had the momentum. The only other candidate who seemed to have a legitimate shot was Meyer, and he was practically called a carpetbagger by the "Paper Iowa Depends On."

On the Republican side….well, it's too late in the evening for me to weigh in too much (expect more depth tomorrow). But I did find it interesting that Teahen was written off by many conservatives (not to mention the blogosphere) and he nearly pulled it off. And who knows, we could easily see a recount in that race since it was so close.

The Senate race is still up for grabs, so I will just leave that alone for the moment. 

 
11:31 p.m. — The Des Moines Register has officially called the 2nd District race for Mariannette Miller-Meeks. She garnered 109 more votes than Peter Teahen.

The race for Senate remains too close to call.

11:21 p.m. — Kurt Meyer has officially called Becky Greenwald and conceeded the race. 

As for the Republicans….well, no one is conceeding anything just yet. 

 11:07 p.m. — The Iowa Independent's own John Deeth comments that "Miller-Meeks vs. Teahen is looking really close… Teahen won 2-1 in his Linn County base but MMM is winning most of the rest."

Right now, Miller-Meeks holds an 81 vote lead over Teahen with 98 percent of precincts reporting. 

In the Senate primary, Reed hold just a 152 vote lead with 93 percent of precincts reporting.  

10:55 p.m. — Could be a long night if the Republicans have anything to say about it.

10:30 p.m. — Boswell ended up winning Polk County 55-44. That pretty much sealed Fallon's fate right there. In Dallas County, Greenwald won 80 percent of the vote, which is not a huge shock since she serves as the party's county chair. She also won 56 percent of the vote in Boone County. Story County, the districts biggest, has not yet reported its votes.

10:20 p.m. — It may have a long history of coming in a distant, distant third in the ratings, but WOI-TV (or ABC5, as they would rather be known) actually pulled off the best coverage of the 3rd District race. Believe it or not, they actually were able to spare TWO reporters, doing standups at both campaign-night parties. It wasn't the smoothest transitions or the best writing (which is probably why the station is always last in ratings), but it certainly was more effort and more depth than either of their competitors. 

And Republicans just can't seem to make up their minds tonight, as both Republican primaries are still too close to call. 

10:13 p.m. — KCCI-TV in Des Moines briefly carried Fallon's "concession" speech before cutting away. Right before Emily Price pitched it back to Kevin Cooney, Fallon could be heard saying "We're not going away." 

The station's political analyst and Drake political science professor Dennis Goldford said the low turnout districtwide help Boswell because he is the incumbent. So, KCCI says low turnout, WHO says high turnout. Either way, everyone is now calling the race for Boswell.

Little to no discussion on either station of any other race. 

10:05 p.m. — WHO-TV in Des Moines didn't "officially" declare Boswell the winner in the 3rd District, but reporter Dave Price alluded to the fact that the race is all but over and it is just a formality for Boswell to declare victory. Price also pointed out that turnout was high in Polk County and that Fallon did not do as well as he needed to do in the precincts that leaned his way, specifically the Sherman Hill area of Des Moines. 

The Des Moines Register has also all but called the race in Boswell's favor.

9:56 p.m. — Nightly news is almost ready to begin. It will be interesting to see if they only focus on the 3rd District or if they manage to spread the wealth around to the various races.

The Senate Republican race has opened up a bit, with Reed now 3 points ahead of Eichorn. And Teahen, a man the blogosphere had prounounced dead, continues a huge lead in the 2nd District.  

9:46 p.m. — The Senate Republican race continues to get closer, with Eichorn and Reed in a virtual tie and Rahtje right behind. Boswell continues to open up a lead on Fallon in the 3rd, and Greenwald and Teahen seem to be pulling away in their respective districts. No races have been called yet.

9:37p.m. — Results are looking good for Boswell supporters, as one would assume Polk County precincts would report earliest. Fallon needed to win big in Polk in order to carry the day (Polk County voters make up roughly 60 percent of the district). If these numbers are any indicator, it could be a rough night for Ed Fallon.

The race for the Senate in the Republican primary is getting close, with all three candidates within striking distace of each other, but Eichhorn continues to lead, and most importantly, continues to garner at least 35 percent of the vote. 

 9:32 p.m. — For whatever reason, only ABC broke into regularly scheduled programing to carry Obama's speech live. It was also the only network to carry exerpts of Clinton's speech. NBC and CBS continued with episodes of "Without a Trace" and "Law and Order." Everyone has their own priorities, I guess.

9:25 p.m. — The local races have shaken up, with Reed and Eichorn neck and neck in the Senate Republican primary, Teahen jumping way out in front in the 2nd District and Greenwald holding on to her lead in th 4th.

 Boswell continues to lead Fallon in the 3rd District, with nearly half the precints reporting. 

 Obama has officially declared himself his party's nominee with a victory speech in Minneapolis. Obama called tonight the "end of one historic journey and the beginning of another." 

He went on to praise Sen. Clinton for her long history of service to the country. Obviously, the work to bring the party back together has begun in earnest.

Clinton, for her part, left most peopl
e guessing about what her intentions are now that Obama has the delegate count needed to call himself the nominee. 

Obama "has inspired so many Americans to care about politics and empowered so many more to get involved," Clinton said. "And our party and our democracy is stronger and more vibrant as a result." "I am committed to uniting our party so we move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House in November." 

She did not, however, officially end her campaign, so we certainly haven't heard the last of the Clintons. 

9:15 p.m. — Results are starting to come in, and it looks like the favorites are out front in each of the districts. 

9 p.m. — Polls are finally closed around the state, and results should start rolling in soon. In South Dakota, the Associated Press has projected Sen. Hillary Clinton as the winner, with 40 percent of the precincts reporting.