By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com
Welcome to the official election blog post!
During the night, I'll update results primarily from Wyandotte County's elections, but will jump in with national coverage when it merits - i.e., if Ohio, Virginia and/or Florida are called earlier than expected.
Polls in Kansas are not closed as of yet - they close at 7 p.m.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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7:25 p.m. - No results are available for any of the Wyandotte County races yet. Here's the link to the Secretary of State's Website. As expected, Mitt Romney is doing well in Kansas early on.
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7:51 p.m. - Sorry for the lack of updates, but no results are in.
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8:00 p.m. - Our first results for a Wyandotte County race come courtesy of Johnson County voters. Democratic challenger Pat Pettey has opened up a 59-41 percent lead on Republican Chris Steineger, the current senator from Kansas District 6. This would be a pick-up for the Democratic Party in Kansas if the results hold. In real numbers, Pettey leads by a count of 611-425.
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8:22 p.m. - There have been no results reported for the Wyandotte County races in the past 20 minutes or so.
However, the presidential election is tightening quite a bit. President Obama is the projected winner in both Pennsylvania and Michigan, meaning former Gov. Romney very likely needs to win Ohio, Florida and Virginia to win the Electoral College. All three states are "too close to call" right now.
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8:35 p.m. - No additional results yet for the local races. The State of Kansas has been called for Romney. Obama, meanwhile, has won Wisconsin, according to multiple media outlets.
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9:18 p.m. - Finally, some hard results. First, the senate races, which brings mixed news for both parties.
- David Haley has a strong lead on Joe Ward: 2,715 votes to 1,205.
- Kelly Kultala will have to make a big comeback to win. She's currently down over 1,000 votes to Republican challenger Steve Fitzgerald.
- Pettey continues to expand her lead. She leads among voters in both Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
In the House races, there's only considerably results in one race. Kathy Wolfe Moore leads Republican challenger Shawn Shipp by a 1,821-932 margin. Moore, a Democrat, looks to keep that seat in the Democratic column.
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9:36 p.m. - Here are some updated results in Wyandotte County. These are just Wyandotte County votes.
David Haley 6197 71.10%
Joe Ward 2498 28.66%
Steve Fitzgerald 1138 50.35%
Kelly Kultala 1121 49.60%
Pat Pettey DEM 2021 60.40%
Chris Steineger REP 1309 39.12%
Fitzgerald has a large lead in Leavenworth County, but he's also winning Wyandotte County - which could be the upset of the night in terms of local elections.
There's no voters outside of Wyandotte County in the Haley-Ward race, so Haley looks in good shape there.
Both Kultala and Steineger are in danger of losing their Senate seats, however.
