Arizona's vote count is over, and (news flash) Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio still beat Democrat Paul Penzone by 6.02 points, or 80,639 votes.
ARPAIO 679,967 50.7 PENZONE 599,328 44.68 STAUFFER 61,973 4.62
That's Joe's closest election in recent memory. The entire anti-Joe vote together equals 49.3 percent of those who voted in the race, leaving Arpaio with a 1.4 percent margin of victory, a mere 18,666 votes.
See also: -Joe Arpaio at 50.74 Percent; Maricopa County Has 34,450 Votes Left -After Election Day, AZ's Far Right Now Has a Fight on Its Hands
That's not the 13 point landslide Arpaio achieved in 2008 over Democrat Dan Saban.
Arpaio had to shell out big bucks to eke out this win: more than $7.1 million, or about $10.55 for every vote he scored.
Proving, once again, as Randy Newman once sang, "It's money that matters, in the U.S.A...."
I think Penzone could have beaten Arpaio in a mano-a-mano match-up.
Not easily, mind you. But as I pointed out in my post-election wrap, if Arpaio-stooge Mike "Olivia Cortes" Stauffer had not been in the race, and fired Goodyear flack John Rowan had not given Penzone a primary, Penzone would have been able to raise more money, garner more earned media, and punch back at Arpaio's deceptive TV ads.
So next time you see Rowan or stooge-Stauffer on the street, restrain the urge to spit a giant loogie in their pissant faces, and tell them Joe says, "Thanks, dudes."
Watch this, progressives, over and over again, till your brain hurts
The unofficial final tally in the race for Republican Jon Kyl's U.S. Senate seat has Senator-elect Jeff Flake over Democrat Rich Carmona by a 3.02 percent, or 67,915 votes.
CARMONA 1,036,542 46.16 FLAKE 1,104,457 49.18
Close, but no potato, Portnoy. Hispanics voted for Carmona in overwhelming numbers, and many, including myself, were hoping that the "brown wave" would carry Carmona over the hump.
But we're just not there yet, registration-wise, GOTV-wise.
Which is why Dems, the unions, Latinos, and progressives need to chuck the conspiracy theories and get to work now on 2014, registering more voters and building a stronger network to get out the vote, and stomp the Republicans, for a change.
