It appears that Bill Owens has won his election in NY-23. Fun facts: the Republicans haven't won a Democratic seat in a special election since 2001. And they have gone 1 for 12 for the past two years. Well, 1 for 13, including Owens's election.
The extent to which these elections had a "message" is debatable. The Republicans turned out to have better candidates than the Democrats in the governor's races tonight. But those candidates also ran issue-oriented campaigns that avoided La Palin and the pitchforks. A Republican Party that debated and campaigned like Bob McDonnell might well be one that can win elections. Perhaps today's results could lead to some rethinking on the right. We'll see.
