I was just analyzing some election numbers, which I love to do, and picked up on a couple of interesting tidbits:

1. So much for that "more conservative" Congressional District 25. After his district got realigned for the third time this decade, we noticed that Lloyd Doggett would be facing a somewhat more conservative electorate than ever before. Not enough to seriously threaten his re-election chances, since the district is still anchored in Travis County, but it looked like he might actually have trouble cracking 60%, as opposed to the blowouts he'd enjoyed in the past.

And so it turns out the the most divisive figure of the campaign season is none other than Austin actress Johanna Goldsmith. Appearing in the Republican National Committee's smear ad against Tennessee Senate candidate (and African-American) Harold Ford Jr., her sign off at the end – "Harold! Call me!" – was widely decried as needling Whitey's racist fears of black sexual prowess.


On her role as the 2006 Willie Horton (with boobs and a melanin deficiency, natch), Goldsmith told the Statesman "I didn't see anything provocative about it... I've dated every nationality under the sun, so why would there be a problem?"

We hope this quote from her agent is accurate: "She's not a bimbo, but she plays one on TV."

I guess election season makes everyone crazy. First Rick Green (allegedly) throws a sucker punch at Patrick Rose on the steps of their Dripping Springs polling place. Now the Houston Chronicle is reporting that Dem Reps Tracy King (Batesville) and Pete Gallego (Alpine) mixed it up in a closed-door strategy session.

Sez the Chron, "King apparently was upset that Gallego and others threatened to recruit a primary opponent against him if he supported (House Speaker Tom) Craddick's re-election."

We'll say...

Don't miss our election autopsy in today's print edition. Specifically, let me point you to Jordan Smith's recap of Kinky Friedman's election night "party," where he sulked off like a neutered dog from his rescue ranch. (It's the third article down.)

I think a lot of people were genuinely excited and energized by Friedman's announcement to run – at first. I was. Who didn't want to shake up the Republican lockstep rule? But as time went on, Friedman's disdain and disinterest for policy, for ideas, for leadership – for anything – began to grate. To paraphrase the ad from his campaign's waning days, "A cowboy doesn't know about education; he teaches." (Or some such similar nonsense.) Well, the Governor's Mansion has been controlled for a might-long time by people that "don't know about education," and look where's that's gotten us. To just barely allowable under the law.

Some are tempted to paint the Kinkster as a spoiler for the Bell campaign. But as Michael King points out today, aside from his stance on drugs, biodiesel and slots-for-tots, his platform (what there was of it, seemingly hammered together piecemeal as he needed it) was decidedly conservative. This post from a former Kinky Kool-Aid swiller was winding its way through the Texas blogosphere in the weeks before the election. It makes many good points about Friedman's campaign, especially following his debate meltdown. But its main thrust – that the only way Friedman could have been a change agent was to shift his support to Bell – we'll never know.

It's almost surprising that the Kinkster took it so hard on election night – he sure didn't seem to sweat anything during the run up to it.

AP has called the Virginia Senate race for Jim Webb. Combined with John Tester's win in Montana, the Democrats now have a 51 seat majority in the Senate, and control of both chambers of Congress.

This is huge.

Quorum Report has Dem challenger Juan Garcia creaming Gene Seaman by 200 votes in Corpus Christi.

Declaring victory, the Garcia camp issued this statement: "Ten months ago I vowed to reach across the partisan divide to bring new leadership to the Coastal Bend. With the support of thousands of supporters across four counties, we will deliver on that promise: New leadership begins today," said Garcia.

UPDATE: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports that those final boxes in San Patricio County put Garcia up by 602 votes, with 328 ballots still uncounted.

As QR notes, the Garcia win brings Dem House gains to six this cycle, cutting the GOP majority to 81 – possibly low enough for a challenge to Speaker Tom Craddick to emerge.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett – no doubt enjoying the greater notice his press releases will get now that he's in the majority – said the following today in reaction to the announcement that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld would step down:

"When it comes to Iraq, President Bush just cannot seem to speak the truth. After proclaiming one week ago Rumsfeld and Cheney forever, President Bush explains today's abrupt reversal by claiming he had no choice but to once again mislead. We don't need just a change of slogans, a swap of secretaries or a slight adjustment. Americans are demanding a fundamental change in policy that begins with candor that is still sadly lacking."

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times is reporting that the "final count of three San Patricio County voting precincts won’t be complete until at least 3pm." As of last count, incumbent Republican Rep. Gene Seaman was up by a scant 24 votes over Democratic challenger Juan Garcia.

While Bush blathered, CNN and AP both called the contested Senate seat for the Dem.

A Webb victory in Virginia will give the Senate – and both chambers – to the Democratic Party.