Election day aftermath

Besides the fact that the local Congressional candidate that I worked for (Dan Maffei) lost in a very close race, and gay marriage bans passed in at least five more states, the results of the mid-term elections are mostly quite positive. Among the highlights:

• Abortion ban struck down by voters in South Dakota; stem cell initiative approved in Missouri.
• Senate gains include Bob Casey in Penna, Sherrod Brown Ohio and Claire McCaskill in Missouri.
• House gained at least 29 seats, many defeating incumbents (as opposed to just filling open seats, which is much more common).
• In local races, Jeff Brown, a Santorum clone, lost his bid for state Senate, and his open Assembly seat (my district) was won handily by the Democratic candidate, Al Stirpe.
• Cynthia Granholm held onto the Governor's manse in Michigan, despite a strong challenge, and now the majority of Governors are Dems (which is very important during presidential contests).