Home > Political Ranting > Media Calls New Jersey for Kerry; All Other Projections As Expected

Media Calls New Jersey for Kerry; All Other Projections As Expected

November 3rd, 2004

OK, the hour has turned and now a large number of states (and D.C.) have fallen into Kerry’s column: Maine, Illinois, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Bush, meanwhile, picks up Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Most of these are still deep red or blue states, but a few races are telling: New Jersey, which had been even in the polls, has been projected for Kerry even before any official numbers are reported. Meanwhile, South Carolina, considered a heavily pro-Bush state, is not being called for Bush, indicating the possibility of weak support for the president in his heartland. Exit polls in New Jersey say that a majority of voters worried about terrorism are voting for Kerry!

At the current tally, Kerry has 77 electoral votes to Bush’s 66.

Polls are closing throughout the East, but remember that anyone in line by the time the polls close can still vote, so the numbers will still be coming in well past closing time for some of the polling places with longer lines.

Zogby is calling the election for Kerry, 311 to 213, with 14 (Colorado and Nevada) too close to call. As you may recall, my own projection is for 308 to 230.

One thing to remember: some states will probably not be reporting final numbers for some time. Florida will not report on all the absentee ballots until Thursday, and Pennsylvania may not have final numbers for a week. If neither candidate wins by a reasonable margin in those states, we could be some time waiting for the results; if the electoral count is too close to call without those states, we may not know who wins the election for several days at least–and that’s without legal challenges.

By the way, my vote for best running-tally electoral map is from ABC, located here.

Categories: Political Ranting Tags: by
Comments are closed.