AMERICA DIVIDES: The Multi-Party US Election of 2016

[Walpurgisnacht]

"The Clinton?" A photo of the top half of Bill Clinton above a photo of the bottom half of Bill Clinton, pixellated.

You are an evil, evil man.

 

[Alex Richards]

I think the National top-up seats are going to be the oddest mix in the end.

 

[Yokai Man]

As a man with no socialist life who lived his entire youth watching everything on TV,I should point out that the characters of Doug all live in the state of Washington and that it’s now a Disney owned show,not a Nickelodeon one.

Also,Clarissa Explains It All is set in a suburb of Chicago,Aaaahh!!! Real Monsters is set in New York City and Jimmy Neutron is a Texan. Only Danny Phantom is canonically from Minnesota.

Also also odd but not that odd that you didn’t take the Triple H reference further since I don’t think you know that much about wrestling.

 

[Steve Brinson]

although Texas is strictly all in Central Time

This isn’t quite correct - El Paso uses Mountain Time.

"Another one from Texas. The fourteenth district is along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, around Galveston. Now this geographic area was once represented by Ron Paul, who is basically like the anthropomorphic personification of all those 'we buy gold' adverts, except with more weed and racism. Mr Paul stood for the Libertarians back in the 80s and was definitely on the Libertarian wing of the Republicans, but that hasn't translated to any success for the Alliance Party. Instead, the Liberals are actually on top, though the other two seats are going to the Constitution Party and the Nationals."

This, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense. This district does contain Ron Paul’s home, but it also contains Jack Brooks’ longtime base in Jefferson County, which combines a highly unionized industrial base in its refineries and port facilities with the highest Black population percentage of any county in Texas. Though the district has mostly been pretty conservative in modern times, a district that’s pretty much the same elected a Democratic representative as recently as 2006, albeit largely due to idiosyncratic local factors, and conservaDems who would’ve completely switched parties in any other county in the state kept splitting their tickets well into this period. Makes a lot of sense that the Liberal voteshare would hold up here.

 

[Fleetlord]

although Texas is strictly all in Central Time.

:: Upset Beto O'Rourke Noises ::

 

[Thande]

As a man with no socialist life who lived his entire youth watching everything on TV,I should point out that the characters of Doug all live in the state of Washington and that it’s now a Disney owned show,not a Nickelodeon one.

Also,Clarissa Explains It All is set in a suburb of Chicago,Aaaahh!!! Real Monsters is set in New York City and Jimmy Neutron is a Texan. Only Danny Phantom is canonically from Minnesota.

Also also odd but not that odd that you didn’t take the Triple H reference further since I don’t think you know that much about wrestling.

Er, the joke is that the Mall of America is now home to Nickelodeon Universe, they're meant to be the locals who work at the attraction, not the actual characters...

Also the Triple H bit was meant to be a pun on Hubert Humphrey vs the fact that they later elected Jesse Ventura, but I admit that was probably a tad obscure.

This isn’t quite correct - El Paso uses Mountain Time.


This, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense. This district does contain Ron Paul’s home, but it also contains Jack Brooks’ longtime base in Jefferson County, which combines a highly unionized industrial base in its refineries and port facilities with the highest Black population percentage of any county in Texas. Though the district has mostly been pretty conservative in modern times, a district that’s pretty much the same elected a Democratic representative as recently as 2006, albeit largely due to idiosyncratic local factors, and conservaDems who would’ve completely switched parties in any other county in the state kept splitting their tickets well into this period. Makes a lot of sense that the Liberal voteshare would hold up here.

:: Upset Beto O'Rourke Noises ::

This is quite appropriate, as I always forget to colour in El Paso when I do Texas House election maps - it's right at the western edge off the edge of the screen and I forget that isn't just more desert.

 

[Thande]

	TX-09		
	Lib          	122,663   	64.2%
	Prog          	28,896    	15.1%
	Cst          	14,583    	7.6%
	Con          	10,514    	5.5%
	Nat          	9,350     	4.9%
	All          	5,036     	2.6%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	191,042
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Lib

"Texas' ninth district, a very urbanised one taking in the southwest of the Houston area...this is a BAME majority district by, er, the American definition of BAME-"

"Is there an American definition of BAME?"

"I mean it's home to about equal numbers of Hispanic and African-American people and they make up more than three-quarters of the population. And the Liberals have captured all three seats."

"Another Republican-created gerrymandering backfire under this new system, it seems."

	CO-04		
	Cst          	153,963   	38.3%
	Prog          	83,752    	20.8%
	Lib          	54,032    	13.4%
	Nat          	51,321    	12.8%
	All          	33,472    	8.3%
	Con          	25,661    	6.4%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	402,201
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Prog
			Cst

"Yet another new state now reporting...the mountain state of Colorado. It's very high up - visitors may find it difficult to breathe - and they also have legalised cannabis, so that John Denver song, 'Rocky Mountain High', really now has a double-"

"Yes, yes, all right, do The Joke."

"Colorado has very mixed politics, tending to have both traditional centre-left progressive voters and right-libertarians. This is the eastern part of the state, a large and rural distric east of the capital of Denver - which, er, is not named after John Denver. i think."

"Not a bad score for the Alliance Party here by their standards elsewhere, outpolling the Conservatives, but it's the Constitution Party who've secured the right-wing representation here."

"Does that make sense? The Constitution Party is socially conservative, hardly libertarian - Katty?"

"There's often more crossover than you'd think - some might say that right-libertarian voters only care about government interference in their own bedrooms, not anyone else's. And the old Constitution Party, the one that's part of the Alliance, nearly won the gubernatorial election here a few years ago - albeit more because a sore-loser Republican used it as a vehicle of convenience. But that name brand recognition might have helped Mr Cruz's party."

"Otherwise, we can also see the progressive tendency we mentioned getting representation here, by, well, the Progressives."

	MN-04		
	Prog          	131,231   	36.1%
	Lib          	92,572    	25.5%
	Con          	60,547    	16.6%
	Cst          	29,660    	8.2%
	All          	28,684    	7.9%
	Nat          	20,956    	5.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	363,650
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Lib
			Prog

"Speaking of the Progressives, they have also secured two seats out of three in our final Minnesota district."

"This one takes in the city of St Paul, which if you'll remember, is part of the 'Twin Cities' with Minneapolis. We are starting to see more and more cases of the Progressives not merely picking up the second or third seat in an urban district, but actually challenging the Liberals for first place."

"Very interesting. And as we have all the results now, we can give the statewide ones too..."

	Minnesota at-large		
	Prog          	836,834   	28.7%
	Con          	569,222   	19.5%
	Lib          	530,882   	18.2%
	Cst          	432,079   	14.8%
	Nat          	321,651   	11%
	All          	226,883   	7.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	2,917,550
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Prog

"A fairly decisive win for the Progressives there, in terms of margin at least - interestingly, the Conservatives made it into second here, in what was usually considered a reliable Democratic state."

"Only on the presidential level, though - they routinely elected Republicans on other levels of government. It's still surprising that I think, outside of Ohio, this is the Conservatives' best performance we've seen so far in terms of placement, though...I think they were second in Kentucky, but just barely. By contrast, there are many states usually thought of as more right-wing where they're languishing in third or farther behind."

"Certainly, this night has been a surprise on many levels. And we now have our final map for Iowa and Minnesota."



"Another variegated map - plenty of success for the Progressives in this part of the United States, and some for the Constitution Party too."

	TX-24		
	Lib          	77,817    	28.2%
	Con          	52,509    	19%
	Cst          	51,371    	18.6%
	Prog          	45,055    	16.3%
	Nat          	36,248    	13.1%
	All          	13,137    	4.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	276,137
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Con
			Cst

"We'll be getting a barrage of a lot more Texan districts I suspect as the results come in..."

"The twenty-fourth district...well, we heard about Minnesota's Twin Cities, Texas kind of has them too, in the shape of Dallas and Fort Worth. This district slots into the suburbs right between them. The Liberals are in first, but, well, we were just talking about the Conservatives' placement - here they have actually beaten the Constitution Party into second."

"Although we should put this in perspective, because from the polls before tonight we expected them to be the leading right-wing party almost everywhere. Anyway, we shouldn't forget that although Texas is the home state of Constitution Party leader Ted Cruz, it is also home to the Bush dynasty...today, at least, although Jeb Bush became Governor of Florida. Did the endorsement of the two former Presidents Bush help the Conservative Party here?"

"We can actually go back to former President Bush - please get that pixellation censorship ready in case he's painting again, Malcolm - and ask him."

The screen flickered, now displaying a wild-eyed George W. Bush crouched beneath what looked like a hospital trolley, clad in paint-stained overalls. Next to him was a slightly damaged canvas showing a party scene reminiscent in style of the Californian Raisins, but Bush had instead drawn anthropomorphised lemons. "Uh....not got a lot of time right now guys," he said through clenched teeth. In the background, the lights dimmed and screams could be heard.

"President Bush? What's going on?"

Bush grinned nervously. "Well, you see, they wanted to try this experimental treatment on my brother Jeb, but it uses embryonic stem cells, which I'm morally opposed to. So instead I replaced the syringe with one full of guacamole." He winced as there was a loud, metallic crashing sound and more screams. "How was I to know the guac had been sat in the X-ray ward since last Superbowl and was now radioactive?"

"That does seem a tad irresponsible, Mr President," Neil pointed out.

"Hey, I tested it on myself first and didn't see any side effects," Bush protested. He glanced aside and nodded at some empty space. "Ain't that right, Harvey?"

"Ah..."

"But I only used an itty-bitty drop," Bush admitted. "Whereas it seems to have transformed my brother Jeb into..." Another loud crash, as of a locked door being broken out of its frame. "Let's just say, a weapon of mass destruction. And this one is very much real-"

With a final loud explosion, both Bush and the camera view turned to a blur of motion as the camera crew moved to escape with the former president. A few vertigo-inducing blurred shots of hospital corridors later, the feed cut out.

"Well, I'm afraid we've lost George W. Bush there, but we'll get him back as soon as we can. In the meantime, um, look up someone else we can speak to...Fort Worth...maybe find someone who knows about the military and how they voted?"

"OK."

	NM-02		
	Nat          	94,166    	40.2%
	Lib          	50,073    	21.4%
	Prog          	43,290    	18.5%
	All          	23,521    	10%
	Fus          	23,046    	9.8%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	234,096
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Lib
			Nat

"Another new state is now reporting, even as the Texas results continue to come in...now New Mexico is a place of potential interest for a number of reasons. It has the largest Native American population in the country by percentage, unless you count Alaska. It also has a very large Hispanic population, in fact it is one of very few places where they are a plurality. It is the state where Gary Johnson was Governor, as a Republican, and where he has tried to appeal most in his new incarnation as a Libertarian and part of the Alliance Party. And finally, it is on the border with Mexico, this southern district in particular is, and is one of the places where Donald Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric has been most directed. What are we seeing here?"

"Well...the Alliance Party has just about broken ten percent, but they are still way off getting a seat. They have just beat the Fusionists, but that says more about the Conservative and Constitution collapse here than anything. The Progressives have almost as many votes as the Alliance and Fusionists put together, and this wasn't considered especially good territory for them. With the anti-immigration rhetoric you mentioned, we might have expected the Nationals to have success here...but the scale of it is astonishing. Almost twice as many votes as the Liberals, who've inherited most of the old Democratic coalition here."

"And New Mexico was considered an increasingly safe Democratic state. The last time it voted for a Republican president was 2004 - George W. Bush, in fact, whom we just saw running for his life from the mutated abomination that was once his brother. It is a huge surprise to see the Liberals trailing the Nationals here by so much."

"One of many surprises tonight..."

	TX-11		
	Cst          	88,558    	35.6%
	Nat          	53,530    	21.5%
	Con          	51,532    	20.7%
	Lib          	29,549    	11.9%
	Prog          	17,919    	7.2%
	All          	7,772     	3.1%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	248,860
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Nat
			Con

"Another Texan district and a very right-wing one, with all three seats going to the right-wing parties. This one takes in a large and sparsely populated part of the middle of the state, stretching from the border with New Mexico all the way over to Fort Worth."

	OK-01		
	Cst          	68,766    	22.1%
	Con          	66,021    	21.2%
	Nat          	56,555    	18.2%
	Prog          	52,566    	16.9%
	Lib          	49,191    	15.8%
	All          	18,406    	5.9%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	311,506
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Con
			Nat

"Speaking of right-wing districts, a rather similar result in Texas' neighbouring state of Oklahoma. Now this district is the most urban in the state and is focused on the city of Tulsa-"

"What, as in '24 hours from...'?"

"Yes, all these places mentioned in songs do actually exist, you know."

"Gosh."

"Anyway, this has to be one of the most right-wing cities we've seen in the US - although Oklahoma has sharply trended away from the old Democrats in recent years, it's still remarkable to see neither Progressives nor Liberals get a seat."

	TX-18		
	Lib          	112,708   	54.8%
	Prog          	44,409    	21.6%
	Cst          	17,497    	8.5%
	Con          	13,401    	6.5%
	Nat          	10,113    	4.9%
	All          	7,386     	3.6%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	205,514
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Prog

"Yet another Texas district, but this is a gerrymandered, packed Democratic one - or it was - in Houston, which on the map looks rather like the dismembered and decaying corpse of Pac-Man."

"Video games really are violent, aren't they?"

"However, unlike some other similar districts, the Progressives have managed to take the third seat, so it doesn't go all the Liberals' way."

	KS-03		
	Prog          	100,219   	29.3%
	Cst          	63,852    	18.7%
	Lib          	61,260    	17.9%
	Con          	59,122    	17.3%
	Nat          	34,330    	10%
	All          	23,184    	6.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	341,967
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Cst
			Lib

"Another result from Kansas. And once again, a bit of a surprise. This one takes in the Kansas part of Kansas City - no, I'm not going to explain -so is probably the most left-wing part of a very right-wing state, but it's still a surprise to see the Progressives so far ahead and the Liberals getting a seat as well."

"The one right-wing seat going to the Constitution Party. Katty?"

"Some have predicted that Kansas might eventually see a backlash against the extreme right record of Governor Brownback-"

"Alright, you probably shouldn't use pejorative names for him like that, this is the BBC."

"No, that's his actual name."

"Oh...to be fair, I'm not sure exactly why that would be pejorative, but it just sounds like-"

	ID-02		
	Cst          	84,108    	25.4%
	Prog          	77,569    	23.5%
	All          	52,092    	15.8%
	Con          	50,829    	15.4%
	Nat          	45,084    	13.6%
	Lib          	20,912    	6.3%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	330,594
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Prog
			All

"Wait, stop the presses! Is that - can it be?"

"It is! The Alliance Party have won their first seat!"

"Not from Gary Johnson in New Mexico, but from Idaho, of all places. Katty?"

"This probably represents the appeal of Evan McMullin, who we saw earlier, who has campaigned among his fellow Mormons to support the Alliance Party in protest against Donald Trump. This part of Idaho also has plenty of Mormon voters. But it's still a great surprise, and perhaps hints at what we might see in Utah."

"It is. We shall have to talk to him later. And Idaho only has two districts, so we can now also give the statewide seats..."

	Idaho		
	Cst          	192,050   	27.8%
	Prog          	149,204   	21.6%
	Nat          	122,981   	17.8%
	Con          	94,024    	13.6%
	All          	91,435    	13.2%
	Lib          	40,561    	5.9%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	690,255
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst

"There is a stark contrast between east and west Idaho, isn't there, if you look at how the placement of the Alliance Party has been affected - though still far ahead of the Liberals."

"Yes - the Constitution Party is comfortably in the lead, but who would have predicted that the Progressives would beat out the Nationals and Conservatives in a state with such a right-wing reputation?"

"Indeed. We can also give a completed Great Plains - sigh, alright, 'and northeastern part of the Rocky Mountains', happy - map too. Watch out, it's a biggie."



"A stark geographic contrast between the Constitution and National Party strongholds there. And more to do with how individual Republican state party organisations came to support one or the other, you think?"

"Certainly - there isn't that much difference between these states, other than a few factors like the Mormons in eastern Idaho I mentioned."

	TX-32		
	Lib          	87,517    	31.5%
	Con          	55,900    	20.1%
	Prog          	47,378    	17%
	Cst          	43,189    	15.5%
	Nat          	30,612    	11%
	All          	13,484    	4.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	278,080
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Con
			Prog

"Another Texas district, northeastern Dallas-"

"What, you mean, like, J.R. and Sue Ellen and all - that's a real place too?"

"...yes. Two seats for the two left-wing parties and another relative success for the Conservatives. Many expected the Conservatives to get the minority of right-wing votes in more built-up areas with a left-wing majority, but this is the exception to the rule."

	KS-04		
	Cst          	102,794   	37.4%
	Prog          	63,166    	23%
	Nat          	38,755    	14.1%
	Lib          	27,375    	10%
	Con          	23,717    	8.6%
	All          	18,740    	6.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	274,547
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Prog
			Cst

"Kansas' fourth district, in the south of the state, where Wichita is - YES LIKE THE GLENN CAMPBELL SONG - usually considered a very right-wing district, and yet, though the Constitution Party easily win, there's a Progressive seat even here."

"Really, this new voting system has exposed a formerly unseen strange of Kansas progressivism, along with many other hidden trends beneath the winner-take-all surface of the old American politics we thought we knew."

 

[Thande]

	CO-01		
	Prog          	152,985   	38%
	Lib          	124,805   	31%
	Cst          	72,919    	18.1%
	All          	31,177    	7.7%
	Con          	20,567    	5.1%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	402,453
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Lib
			Prog

"Quite different to the last Colorado district we saw. The first district takes in a substantial chunk of the large city of Denver, and we can see that Colorado progressivism represented here, with the Progressives beating out the Liberals."

"Let's have a map..."



"Hmm, Colorado clearly has a lot more people than New Mexico, doesn't it?"

"...yes Andrew."

	NE-02		
	Nat          	89,923    	31.5%
	Prog          	71,841    	25.2%
	Lib          	59,261    	20.8%
	Fus          	47,583    	16.7%
	All          	16,604    	5.8%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	285,211
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Prog
			Lib

"We haven't heard from Nebraska in a bit. This is the most urban and left-wing, relatively, of its districts, based on the city of Omaha - yes like the beach, I think we already said that."

"Relatively is the word, though. A seat each go to the Progressives and Liberals, but the Nationals are firmly in the lead."

"As we saw in the Plains states, quite a stark geographic contrast with neighbouring Kansas, which is a very similar state-"

"A city along the eastern border, lots of corn in the rest, not much else?"

"-yes - but they're voting totally differently tonight. Again, the collapse of the local Republican Party organisations towards one of the new right-wing parties or another is having a huge effect. Some may also have reacted negatively to the Con-Con Fusion deal. It remains to be seen whether it'll continue at the next election, or if things will become less locally polarised across these states."

"Some of the parties might have changed altogether by the next election..."

	OK-02		
	Cst          	74,982    	27.6%
	Nat          	71,161    	26.2%
	Con          	52,012    	19.1%
	Prog          	36,450    	13.4%
	Lib          	25,572    	9.4%
	All          	11,667    	4.3%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	271,844
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Nat
			Con

"Oklahoma again, and yet another very right-wing district...this is in the east, which actually used to be the most Democratic part of the state before a recent alignment after 2008, but you'd never guess it now."

"In part due to the Native American vote, which we already mentioned in the Dakotas usually tends to skew Democratic in modern times - though local factors are also important."

"Speaking of the Dakotas - no, never mind."

	NE-03		
	Nat          	136,503   	51.1%
	Fus          	63,324    	23.7%
	Prog          	29,800    	11.2%
	Lib          	23,562    	8.8%
	All          	13,730    	5.1%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	266,918
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Nat
			Fus

"And that's Nebraska's third and final district - the large rural one in the west. This was considered one of the most right-wing places in America, with Democrats often not even standing a candidate, and, well, that's born out here - two seats to the Nationals and one to the Fusionists."

"Presumably the Nationals have therefore taken the statewide top-up seats for Nebraska..."

	Nebraska at-large		
	Nat          	321,501   	38.8%
	Fus          	174,460   	21.1%
	Prog          	161,574   	19.5%
	Lib          	122,920   	14.8%
	All          	47,721    	5.8%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	828,176
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Nat

"Quite a decisive win for the Nationals, indeed - with the Fusionists in second, no less."

"One parallel to Kansas is that there is still a substantial Progressive vote, taking two seats out of the eleven on offer, but it's certainly down the table."

"Let's see that on a map..."



"Yes, definitely a contrast between Kansas and Nebraska there. The Constitution Party appeal in Oklahoma and Nebraska might match up with what we're seeing in Texas - perhaps Texas' status as Mr Cruz's home state is not as crucial as we thought."

	TX-05		
	Cst          	65,777    	28.3%
	Lib          	57,512    	24.7%
	Nat          	43,134    	18.5%
	Con          	36,930    	15.9%
	Prog          	22,247    	9.6%
	All          	7,135     	3.1%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	232,735
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Lib
			Nat

"Speaking of Texas, here we are again with the fifth district, which stretches eastwards from Dallas. This was considered sufficiently safe Republican under the old system that the Democrats sometimes didn't even contest it - but here we can see there was always a substantial hidden vote on the left, here represented by the Liberals."

	NM-01		
	Nat          	74,852    	26.2%
	Prog          	74,652    	26.2%
	Lib          	72,598    	25.5%
	All          	37,788    	13.3%
	Fus          	25,280    	8.9%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	285,170
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Prog
			Lib

"New Mexico's first district takes in the city of Albuquerque-"

"Oh, is THAT how you spell Albakirky in the song? I've always wondered."

"...yes...and, although two seats are going to Progressives and Liberals here, the Nationals again take the lead - albeit only by two hundred votes. Clearly the anti-immigration sentiment has connected here. The local Luján dynasty, who have gone over from the Democrats to the Liberals, may be alarmed by this series of events."

"Speaking of Dynasty-"

	OK-03		
	Cst          	84,210    	28.7%
	Nat          	68,569    	23.4%
	Con          	63,299    	21.6%
	Prog          	35,733    	12.2%
	Lib          	25,446    	8.7%
	All          	16,160    	5.5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	293,417
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Nat
			Con

"Another very right-wing blowout result from Oklahoma, this time in the western 'panhandle', which historically was the most Republican part of the state, at least until now when it appears to all be Republican... or their successors."

	TX-30		
	Lib          	138,730   	62.9%
	Prog          	35,798    	16.2%
	Cst          	16,737    	7.6%
	Con          	13,502    	6.1%
	Nat          	10,094    	4.6%
	All          	5,850     	2.7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	220,711
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Lib

"And this district in the south of Dallas, which was gerrymandered to pack in Hispanic and African-American voters...again, it's backfired, with all three seats going to the Liberals, while most of Texas' more right-wing districts are still having one seat go to the Liberals too."

	CO-05		
	Cst          	212,558   	57.2%
	Prog          	75,907    	20.4%
	Lib          	47,630    	12.8%
	All          	35,734    	9.6%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	371,829
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst
			Prog

"That's...what's happened there?"

"Well, this is Colorado's fifth district, around the city of Colorado Springs, which interestingly has one of the largest British communities in the modern US-"

"I more meant the lack of any votes for the Nationals and Conservatives."

"Oh, well, apparently, both parties severely...mucked up their nomination papers in most of the state of Colorado. Clearly the Constitution Party has benefited."

"British people, voting for Ted Cruz's party? This is seriously going to dent our sense of smug moral superiority."

	TX-10		
	Lib          	85,825    	27.2%
	Cst          	76,595    	24.3%
	Prog          	50,159    	15.9%
	Con          	45,542    	14.5%
	Nat          	42,775    	13.6%
	All          	14,237    	4.5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	315,133
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Cst
			Prog

"Er, anway, Texas' tenth district...fills in a gap in between Austin and Houston, phew, that's hard to pronounce. This was considered a fairly reliable Republican district, but here two out of three seats have gone to the left-wing parties. Certainly, nobody expected the Progressives to do this well in Texas of all places."

	KS-01		
	Cst          	89,994    	34%
	Con          	47,321    	17.9%
	Nat          	46,134    	17.4%
	Prog          	44,409    	16.8%
	Lib          	19,981    	7.5%
	All          	16,926    	6.4%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	264,764
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Con
			Nat

"And that's our last result from Kansas. The first district, the most conservative, the big one in the west, just like Nebraska...but very different results, with the Nationals being the lowest of the three right-wing parties. But they all win seats."

"We can therefore assign the top-up seats for Kansas..."

	Kansas		
	Cst          	333,259   	28.3%
	Prog          	286,942   	24.4%
	Con          	177,315   	15.1%
	Nat          	160,444   	13.6%
	Lib          	140,063   	11.9%
	All          	78,912    	6.7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	1,176,935
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst
			0

"No surprises there - both seats go to the Constitution Party."

"But the Progressives weren't far off! Again, Kansas is full of surprises tonight."

"Speaking of surprises - tenuous link - you asked me to find someone from the US military to talk to, well, shortly we can go live to General Wesley Clark..."

 

[Thande]

"Well, that's something to look forward to, I'm sure. In the meantime..."

	CO-07		
	Prog          	120,327   	32.1%
	Con          	82,681    	22.1%
	Lib          	72,310    	19.3%
	Cst          	64,964    	17.3%
	All          	34,289    	9.2%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	FALSE          	0         	0%
			
		Total	374,571
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Con
			Lib

"At least the Conservatives didn't...muck it up in Colorado's seventh district, although the Nationals did. This is the northwestern part of greater Denver. Again, support for the Progressives, but the Conservatives manage to beat the Liberals, in a fairly urban area no less."

	OK-05		
	Con          	58,376    	20.8%
	Lib          	56,473    	20.1%
	Prog          	55,296    	19.7%
	Cst          	50,097    	17.8%
	Nat          	40,927    	14.6%
	All          	19,593    	7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	280,761
			
	MCs elected:		
			Con
			Lib
			Prog

"And speaking of the Conservatives, they've managed to top the polls in Oklahoma's fifth district, around Oklahoma City - MAKE AN EFFORT - and what has been a targeted growth area for the left, the old Democrats. Though the Conservatives are on top, it does appear to be the case, with the other two seats going to the left."

"But with all the votes from Oklahoma now in, it seems certain that it won't be the left-wing parties that benefit from the top-up seats..."

	Oklahoma		
	Cst          	355,977   	24.5%
	Nat          	296,645   	20.4%
	Con          	296,514   	20.4%
	Prog          	230,362   	15.9%
	Lib          	190,013   	13.1%
	All          	83,481    	5.7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	1,452,992
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst

"Yes, like Idaho and Kansas, another two seats for the Constitution Party. And our final map for those three states..."



"Besides the contrast between the orange and purple we noted before, that splash of Progressive green in Kansas certainly stands out..."

	TX-16		
	Lib          	88,555    	46%
	Prog          	42,229    	21.9%
	Cst          	19,782    	10.3%
	Con          	19,218    	10%
	Nat          	13,335    	6.9%
	All          	9,574     	5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	192,692
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Prog

"Ah, now, back to Texas again, but this seat is quite different. It's right on the western edge of Texas, being closer to New Mexico than the rest of the state, and it's basically the city of El Paso-"

"What, as in those packets of rice with peppers in you buy from Sainsbury's?"

"Maybe you buy them from Sainsbury's, some of us have got more self-respect." (coughs) "Anyway, this district was represented by Beto O'Rourke-"

"Did you stutter then?"

"-and he's back in as one of the Liberals, but the Progressives also get a seat. And I should say that we've been inundated by tweets reminding us that this part of Texas is not, in fact, in Central Time."

	NM-03		
	Nat          	77,424    	27.7%
	Lib          	75,794    	27.2%
	Prog          	68,827    	24.7%
	All          	32,109    	11.5%
	Fus          	24,900    	8.9%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	279,053
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Lib
			Prog

"That's the third and last New Mexico district, taking in the northern part of the state...and yet another win for the Nationals, who have topped the polls in all three districts of this formerly Democratic-leaning state."

"Quite surprising, and some might say, troubling. What about the top-up seats, I assume they have them as well?"

"Mathematically they must have..."

	New Mexico at-large		
	Nat          	246,442   	30.9%
	Lib          	198,464   	24.9%
	Prog          	186,770   	23.4%
	All          	93,418    	11.7%
	Fus          	73,225    	9.2%
	Cst          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
			
		Total	798,319
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Nat

"Yes, it's not even close - the Nationals have the top-up seats too. That means in New Mexico, out of eleven seats on offer, the Nationals have six, the Liberals have three and the Progressives have two. Quite a shock for the Liberals, just like Pennsylvania earlier tonight."

"Yes, we'll have to speak to someone from the Liberals about that, but in the meantime, I understand we can now speak to General Wesley Clark about the military vote."

The screen flickered on to show a harassed-looking Clark in full military uniform. Behind him in the dark room was a complex set of radar displays and men in shirtsleeves staring earnestly at scrolling text on computer monitors. "Yes? I'm sorry, but I can't spare much time right now."

"General Clark, I..." Neil trailed off. "I thought you were retired?"

"That's just what they wanted you to think," Clark said with a wink. "It was all cover for me taking up this post here at NORAD under Cheyenne Mountain. We're monitoring an imminent threat to the nation, so if you don't mind-"

"What threat?"

Clark hesitated, then shook his head. "Why the hell not. OK, so you remember when Congress deregulated the position of Santa Claus - yeah yeah, we all expected that one councilman dude from Alaska to get the gig - turns out there was a foreign buyout and nobody thought to block this on national security grounds," he added angrily, gritting his teeth. "So now the franchise is run by..." He glanced at his notes. "The Raymond Briggs Father Christmas, whatever the hell that means, based in your country," he jabbed a finger at Neil.

"I...what are you talking about?"

"Well, apparently," Clark said sardonically, "this version of Santa or Father Christmas or what the hell else he's called, he reads the Guardian, whatever that is, and he called us and said 'blooming' a lot, and sent this." He wordlessly raised a huge pile of dot-matrix printout, the strips of paper with the sprocket-wheel holes still attached. "Apparently America has collectively been put on the Naughty List for...well it starts with Guantánamo Bay and Diego Garcia, I won't bore you with the details."

"General Clark, I-"

"So now we have to keep watch on the North Pole in case Santa launches an ICBM at us," Clark added sourly. "This isn't what I put on this uniform to do, let me tell you-"

"GENERAL CLARK," Neil said loudly. "I know you have been critical of realism in a foreign policy sense, but perhaps you might need to refresh your memory on the distinction between fiction and r-"

Neil was cut off when loud klaxons sounded behind Clark on the screen, accompanied by rotating ref lights. "Oh, shit," Clark muttered. "As if we didn't have enough crap on our plate at the moment..."

Clark walked across the room, the cameras following, to look out of a large, armoured window that looked down into a disused missile silo bay. Loud, rhythmic metallic sounds and hisses could be heard from the other side of the glass. "Unauthorised offworld activation!" proclaimed a small, balding sergeant, whose uniform bore the patch of the United States Air Force Space Command with its delta logo, which was already a thing for years and was not made up by Trump in imitation of Star Trek you morons. "We don't have an IDC!"

"I gathered that," Clark growled. "Close the iris!"

The cameraman was now close enough to discern the large metallic ring that sat amid the steaming support struts in the room, a ramp leading up to it. Chevrons around the ring periodically lighting up reddish-orange. Now, an inner metallic iris emerged and began to rotate to a closed position, but ground to a halt halfway, twitching in place with fully half of the middle part of the ring still open.

"Dammit," Clark cursed. "I forgot Congress outsourced the iris maintenance as well!"

The last chevron lit up red-orange and a water-looking stream of energy burst out of the ring, then reverted to a flat, fluctuating vertical pool, in between the twitching, malfunctioning iris. Camouflage-clad soldiers took up positions, their P-60s trained on the gap.

"Er, General Clark..." Neil said, still gamely ploughing on.

But Clark ignored him, for a figure suddenly emerged from the ring, diving through the reduced-size portal as though it was part of an assault course. Bullets flashed all around him, but all seemed to miss. One by one, he took out each of the soldiers with hand-to-hand combat, his shirt being torn away in the process. With the soldiers at his feet and groaning, he glared up at Clark through the window.

Clark swore. "Alert the White House," he snapped. "We have a Foothold situation."

"Is it the Aschen this time?" the sergeant asked worriedly. "Or the Replicators?"

"No," Clark said, meeting the newcomer's glare. "It's James Blunt, back for revenge."

Mercifully, the signal cut out.

"Err...well, that was certainly a very interesting conversation with General Wesley Clark, former attempted Democratic presidential nominee in 2004," Neil said, his face suddenly very set. "Shall...shall we go on?"

	TX-26		
	Cst          	81,624    	25.6%
	Con          	62,925    	19.7%
	Lib          	55,973    	17.6%
	Prog          	53,563    	16.8%
	Nat          	49,484    	15.5%
	All          	15,285    	4.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	318,854
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Con
			Lib

"Back to Texas, this district is north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and seats for both the Constitution and Conservative parties, with the third seat going to the Liberals."

	UT-03		
	Cst          	98,590    	34%
	All          	85,680    	29.6%
	Prog          	53,491    	18.5%
	Con          	22,182    	7.7%
	Nat          	16,010    	5.5%
	Lib          	13,970    	4.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	289,923
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			All
			Prog

"Well. That's definitely the most surprising thing we've just seen in the last five minutes. Utah is now reporting - we'll probably hear from Evan McMullin at some point - and his campaign has paid dividends here, too, it seems."

"Yes, the Constitution Party are in first but the Alliance are not far behind - an extraordinary event considering their lack of success in most of the nation. That's their second seat for tonight."

"And also, as we saw in Kansas - Utah is usually considered a very right-wing state, but here we can see a hidden Progressive vote revealed. And not even in a very urbanised part of the state, as this district is in the southeast. Who knows what happens when we get to Salt Lake City itself, district 4 - well, most of it - which was genuinely close even under the old system?"

	TX-25		
	Cst          	69,596    	22.2%
	Lib          	64,543    	20.6%
	Prog          	61,406    	19.6%
	Con          	53,892    	17.2%
	Nat          	48,988    	15.6%
	All          	14,686    	4.7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	313,111
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Lib
			Prog

"Yet another Texas district. This is one of those wiggly leftover bits in the middle of the state that stretches all the way from Fort Worth to Austin. And some very divided results, too - it was a very close fight for that third seat."

"Let's have a map update."

"Alright, even though there'll probably be another Texas declaration in a minute..."



"Texas definitely looks to be a fight between the Constitution Party and the Liberals for the most part, though there's some seats picked up by the Conservative Party and even the Progressives...relatively few from the Nationals, though."

"A clearer geographic picture might emerge in time..."

	TX-13		
	Cst          	92,159    	38.6%
	Nat          	50,958    	21.3%
	Con          	47,721    	20%
	Lib          	22,866    	9.6%
	Prog          	17,387    	7.3%
	All          	7,755     	3.2%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	238,846
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Nat
			Con

"See, what did I tell you?"

"Fine...anyway, this is another right-wing-dominated district, with the Conservatives, the lowest of the right-wing parties, still getting more than double the vote of the highest left-wing party, the Liberals. This takes in most of the north of the state, including that bit that sticks up-"

"I think that's the Panhandle."

"Surely the Panhandle would be the bit that sticks off to the side? Why are Americans all handling pans vertically?"

"I don't know. Probably something to do with the metric system."

	CO-03		
	Cst          	195,966   	52%
	Prog          	92,214    	24.4%
	Lib          	58,843    	15.6%
	All          	30,153    	8%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	Con          	0         	0%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	377,176
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst
			Prog

"Another one of those peculiar Colorado results, with the Constitution Party benefiting from the lack of right-wing competition. This is the large district in the west of the state."

"However, the Progressives do still pull one seat out of it..."

	UT-01		
	Cst          	95,248    	34%
	All          	78,206    	27.9%
	Prog          	50,197    	17.9%
	Con          	25,034    	8.9%
	Nat          	19,221    	6.9%
	Lib          	12,536    	4.5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	280,442
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			All
			Prog

"We're back to Utah for the first district, which is the northern part of the state including the city of Ogden...and that's some more remarkable wins for both the Alliance Party and the Progressives, as we discussed before."

"The Constitution Party still firmly in first, though. And speaking of which, we've got the last two Colorado results, back to back..."

	CO-06		
	Cst          	122,550   	32.2%
	Prog          	99,376    	26.1%
	Lib          	91,723    	24.1%
	Con          	34,565    	9.1%
	All          	32,312    	8.5%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	380,526
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Prog
			Lib

	CO-02		
	Prog          	167,646   	35.6%
	Lib          	97,320    	20.6%
	Con          	92,271    	19.6%
	Cst          	72,498    	15.4%
	All          	41,729    	8.9%
	Nat          	0         	0%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	471,464
			
	MCs elected:		
			Prog
			Lib
			Con

"Well, the Conservative Party at least remembered to contest these two, and even won a seat in the second district where, for once, the Constitution Party isn't in contention. Which is the one in the north-central part of the state, including places like Boulder-"

"Oh, as in the Hollies song 'Boulder to Birmingham'?"

"Yes, that's the one. The other district, the sixth, is in the eastern part of the Denver metropolitan area - although two out of three seats go to left-wing parties, the Constitution Party is more typically on top."

"So I assume it gets the top-up seats too?"

	Colorado		
	Cst          	895,418   	32.2%
	Prog          	792,207   	28.5%
	Lib          	546,663   	19.7%
	Con          	255,745   	9.2%
	All          	238,866   	8.6%
	Nat          	51,321    	1.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	2,780,220
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Cst

"Indeed. Not really what we might expect for a state like Colorado, but when the Conservatives and Nationals were so disorganised, the Constitution Party has clearly benefited from being the only right-wing party on the ballot in most of the state. The Progressives weren't far behind, though."

"And here's the final map..."



"Two states that voted Democratic in the final two US presidential elections, yet here, right-wing parties seem to have taken the top spot. Is this a worry for the Liberals, or have their breakthroughs in the South more than made up for this? Stay tuned to find out..."

 

[Thande]

Please note that, as I want to finish this before the midterms (hence the 3 updates in a row) I may start doing midweek updates as well - watch this space.

Just hit about 75% of seats declared, so will probably do another seat update in the next post.

 

[Alex Richards]

This is an interesting sudden wave for the Constitution party- and nice to see the Alliance actually get on the scoreboard.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

I kind of want an Egg McMuffin now.

around Oklahoma City - MAKE AN EFFORT

Even worse, it's officially called the City of Oklahoma City.

 

[Charles EP M.]

I'm glad the Wesley Clarke section brought some realism back to the story after that bizarre ASB scene where the Alliance Party won something!

 

[Thande]

"Let's recap. At...why are the hands of my watch going backwards...whatever hour it is, the situation in this unique United States election is as follows."

"..."

"Jeremy?"

"Sorry, I was eating this Pot Noodle and neglected to notice it was from Colorado. Ahem. With about three-quarters of all seats now declared, one thousand and sixty-five out of one thousand four hundred and ten, the national picture looks like this..."

357	Lib          	
258	Nat    	
203	Prog        	
108	Cst        	
106	Con          	
30	Fus       	
3	All

"The Liberal Party, the primary centre-left successor to the old Democrats and led by veteran politician and former First Lady, New York Democratic Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is on three hundred and fifty-seven seats. Second, surprising, er, many commentators, is the far...hard-right populist anti-immigration National Party, led by billionaire businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump, on two hundred and fifty-eight seats. In third, another surprise, the uh...farther-left, socialist, Progressive Party led by former Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders, has made it to third place - two hundred and three seats. Below that, well, we've seen a couple of parties just trading places there - it's just like the old charts on Top of the Pops, isn't it, except with fewer paedophiles - uh - the Constitution Party has just overtaken the Conservative Party. That's the Constitution Party, led by former Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, which is a social-conservative group that outright rejects President Obama's constitutional reforms. The Conservative Party was, well, before tonight it was thought of as the main centre-right successor to the Republican Party, as the Liberals are to the Democrats. But we now see a very different picture. The Liberals have more than three times as many seats as the Conservatives, who have slipped to third place in terms of the right-wing parties. The Conservative Party is formally - that's formally we an A, not an ER - led by former Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush. Of course due to Mr Bush injuring himself on the campaign trail and now, we are being told, having been transformed into a mutant abomination by radioactive guacamole and then going on a rampage, the Conservative leadership has been devolved to Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Florida Senator Marco Rubio. In addition to these parties, there are thirty seats won by 'Fusion' candidates endorsed by both the Conservative and Constitution Parties, and finally, last and very much least, the Alliance Party - a coalition of all America's pre-reform third parties calling for further reform - are finally on the scoreboard with their first three seats, won in Utah and Idaho HNNNNNNNNGHHHHH-"

"Alright, alright, Jeremy! Breathe, for crying out loud! You've gone blue in the face!"

"Which would be showing unacceptable favouritism to one party," Katty Kay agreed.

Gasping into a paper bag - maybe even that same fabled one that had dealt near-mortal injuries to Jeb Bush - Jeremy Vine nodded frantically. "Uh...stick up that map our unpaid intern did..." he managed.



"There," Vine managed after a few more breaths. "This map shows the final leading party in each state where they have finished counting the votes, which determines the last two top-up seats in each state. Now note that Texas is so large that there are still quite a few seats left to declare there, so it's not filled in, even though Arizona and Colorado, to the west of it, are. If this was an old-style American election, all we would care about is who came top in each state - as you can see in the bottom map. But if you look at the top map where we've shown the margin, you can see just how narrow a lot of these wins were."

"Yes, under the old system we would be getting a thousand legal challenges and calls for recounts at this point," Kay commented. "Some of them might even have been in the close states."

Neil coughed. "Yes. But what sorts of regional trends can we see here, Jeremy?"

"Well, some are predictable, and others definitely aren't. Those analysts who predicted any success for Mr Sanders' Progressives - and there weren't many - thought that that support would lie in his home region of New England. And they were right; but the Progressives have also secured some impressive results in the farming and old industrial or 'rustbelt' states of the Midwest, which was not predicted at all. If the Liberals have underperformed there, though, they have astonished the commentariat by sweeping almost all of the South, which their precursor Democrats have not achieved since the days of Jimmy Carter in the 1970s."

"And what's the reason for that?"

"A little early to say, but probably that the old Democratic vote in the South - strongly associated with the BAME community - has gone over almost wholesale to the Liberals, whereas the old Republican vote has split three ways between the three new right-wing parties."

"I see. And has the reverse happened anywhere?"

"Probably yes, in Pennsylvania, in New Mexico, and nearly in New Jersey as well. It's interesting to see how, with some exceptions, the states have coalesced into coherent geographical blocs on our bottom map. In particular, note the stripe of Constitution Party support cutting from Oklahoma over to Idaho, which may include Texas as well when it finishes counting. That sudden gain in support we've seen helps explain why the Constitution Party has now overtaken the Conservatives in seats, just about."

"You said seventy-five percent of seats are in, but it looks like we've filled in a lot more than seventy-five percent of the United States - especially as some of Texas has already reported."

"Well, that's partly a testament to how large the United States is, and how many geographically large interior states have very few people. But mostly, it's about California."

"Ah, California..."

"Yes," Vine confirmed as the map zoomed in on the Golden State, which was currently the Grey Not Filled In State. "California is large enough in terms of population and GDP that it would easily be a G7 country in its own right even if it was separate from the rest of the United States. Under this new system it has a whopping 161 seats, more than ten percent of the total Congress."

"Of course, this isn't like an election at home, is it? When seats can declare at any time and they come in in a patchwork across the country?"

"Yes, this is much more geographically driven by the size of the country. Historically, California's had a bit of a bum deal - can I say that? - with American presidential elections, as a lot of its people don't get to vote until most of the rest of the country has already declared their results - so turnout has historically been low, as often the election has already been decided."

"That doesn't seem terribly fair."

"No; and it's also a testament to how the presidency, that one vote for one man, was often seen as the be-all and end-all of politics, ignoring the legislative element where Californian votes did matter. Well, under the new system, the government now has the kind of legislature-central structure we're used to from home, so California's votes will all count..."

"But could Californians, and other people in the west of the country, still be influenced by the results that have already reported?"

"That seems quite possible Andrew, yes. Especially if there's a perception that former Republican voters need to rally around just one of the right-wing parties to beat the Liberals and Progressives. According to Duverger's Law, they may well focus on the right-wing party that's won the most seats, although..."

Vine trailed off. There was a dawning realisation that there was no 'although' to his sentence. It had already become clear from results out east that the mental cordon sanitaire that they and most journalists had placed around Donald Trump's party was the emperor's new clothes, as far as the American electorate was concerned.

"Well, er...thank you, Jeremy. And in the meantime, I see new results have started appearing on your map."

	AZ-02		
	Lib          	87,436    	27.7%
	Prog          	69,240    	21.9%
	Nat          	65,467    	20.7%
	Cst          	46,624    	14.8%
	Con          	29,105    	9.2%
	All          	17,967    	5.7%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	315,839
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Prog
			Nat

"And we begin with a new state. Arizona, a desert state along the border with Mexico, next to New Mexico in fact. It's home to the largest uh...indigenous reservation, the Navajo people, and the city of Phoenix, which is hotter than Keira Knightley making a vindaloo over an active volcano."

"I...yes. The second district is in the south-east of the state, along the border with Mexico, and we might have expected Mr Trump's National Party's anti-immigration message to resonate here, as it apparently has in New Mexico. However, the Nationals only take the third seat, which is partly because of the votes from the city of Tucson--"

"Oh is that how you spell it?"

"--so the Liberals and Progressives are in the first and second place. Oh, and the incumbent Republican congresswoman under the old system, veteran former fighter pilot Martha McSally, is languishing down in fifth as the Conservative candidate, despite previously giving no impression whatsoever that she might be absolutely hopeless at politics."

"...I see. And then I think we have some more Texas results, back to back."

	TX-21		
	Lib          	82,933    	23.1%
	Cst          	73,472    	20.5%
	Prog          	69,595    	19.4%
	Con          	66,865    	18.6%
	Nat          	47,999    	13.4%
	All          	18,121    	5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	358,985
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Cst
			Prog

	TX-33		
	Lib          	57,948    	44.7%
	Prog          	36,565    	28.2%
	Cst          	13,356    	10.3%
	Nat          	8,857     	6.8%
	Con          	8,574     	6.6%
	All          	4,353     	3.4%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	129,653
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Prog
			Lib

	TX-28		
	Lib          	81,669    	43.3%
	Cst          	31,837    	16.9%
	Prog          	28,354    	15%
	Nat          	21,798    	11.6%
	Con          	18,883    	10%
	All          	6,059     	3.2%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	188,600
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Cst

"Yes, three more Texan districts. The twenty-first, in the middle of the state, taking in part of Austin and and area north of San Antonio. The thirty-third, that 'orrible wiggly lookin' fing taking in parts of Dallas. And the twenty-eighth, which is down in the south along the Rio Grande, the border with Mexico. The Liberal in the last case is Henry Cuelllar, the old Democrat, who's a survival from the old days when Texan Democrats were more conservative, incidentally."

"More support for the Liberals and the Constitution Party, as we've seen elsewhere in Texas, but two more seats for the Progressives too...in Texas!"

"Yes, this new voting system is really revealing voting patterns by smaller groups which previously got swamped by the focus on the overall winner."

	AZ-04		
	Nat          	88,662    	29.7%
	Cst          	58,614    	19.6%
	Con          	54,767    	18.3%
	Lib          	47,238    	15.8%
	Prog          	34,954    	11.7%
	All          	14,248    	4.8%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	298,483
			
	MCs elected:		
			Nat
			Cst
			Con

"Back to Arizona...the fourth district is the large rural one in the west, much more right-wing...all three right-wing parties have won a seat, the Conservatives not losing out in this case. Let's have a map update."



"Nevada, of course, we've not heard from at all yet...but we can see those very unexpected Alliance seats right there in Utah."

	TX-29		
	Lib          	69,324    	51.9%
	Prog          	25,703    	19.2%
	Cst          	17,060    	12.8%
	Con          	8,506     	6.4%
	Nat          	8,446     	6.3%
	All          	4,604     	3.4%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	133,642
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Lib
			Prog

"That's another heavily left-wing urban district in Texas, in the city of Houston. Again, not monolithically for the Liberals as we've seen in some other places, but with the Progressives picking up a seat too. Go on, let's go mad and have another map update."



"Texas looking very much like a fight between the Liberals and the Constitution Party, at least in terms of who's topping the polls in each district."

	AZ-06		
	Lib          	84,841    	25.1%
	Nat          	79,397    	23.5%
	Prog          	58,730    	17.4%
	Con          	51,400    	15.2%
	Cst          	46,535    	13.8%
	All          	17,428    	5.2%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	338,331
			
	MCs elected:		
			Lib
			Nat
			Prog

"This Arizona district is mostly in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is. The Nationals are clearly on top of the right-wing parties, but again, the anti-immigration vote here is perhaps weaker than we might have expected from all the rhetoric from people like that Sheriff Joe Arpeggio or whatever his name was."

	UT-02		
	Cst          	86,519    	30.5%
	Prog          	72,170    	25.4%
	All          	62,488    	22%
	Nat          	23,203    	8.2%
	Con          	20,803    	7.3%
	Lib          	18,516    	6.5%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	283,699
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Prog
			All

"And that's another seat for the Alliance Party! As well as the Constitution Party and Progressives - an unusual combination we're seeing from Utah."

"This is the most left-wing district in Utah as it takes in Salt Lake City, which - despite Utah's reputation - is considered small-l liberal even compared to some other US cities."

	TX-12		
	Cst          	77,297    	27.3%
	Lib          	59,188    	20.9%
	Con          	51,679    	18.3%
	Nat          	48,963    	17.3%
	Prog          	33,361    	11.8%
	All          	12,203    	4.3%
	Fus          	0         	0%
			
		Total	282,691
			
	MCs elected:		
			Cst
			Lib
			Con

"And a very different picture in Texas' twelfth district, covering the west of Fort Worth and areas farther west still, where the Conservatives manage to pick up another seat."

"OK. I understand Utah's final result should be declare soon. I understand Emily will be speaking to Evan McMullin again, who masterminded the Alliance campaign here. Emily, are you out of surgery yet?"

 

[Thande]

With thanks to @Mumby for being the unpaid intern.

 

[Alex Richards]

Might the Alliance actually top the results in that last Utah seat?

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

"Alright, alright, Jeremy! Breathe, for crying out loud! You've gone blue in the face!"

"Which would be showing unacceptable favouritism to one party," Katty Kay agreed.

...and now I've gone blue in the face.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Lib-Prog coalition seems most likely but the growing force of Trump who could still potentially get all-right coalition, aaaaaaaaaaa

 

[Mumby]

its fun how that liberal map looks like something the democrats might have got in like the 1950s

 

[Catalunya]

If the EC were still in place, the Liberals would have 208 seats with California + one more state being all they’d need for a majority.