JURIST - Paper Chase: Republicans gain in House and Senate

[JURIST Election Special] 2:00 AM ET - AP is reporting that Republicans have picked up at least 3 Senate seats, including the one held by Daschle of South Dakota. AP is also projecting a possible total of 232 for Republicans in the House.

2:15 AM ET - Kerry camp announces that it will not concede as long as ballots remain to be counted. They point to the races in OH, IA and WI as being too close to concede tonight.

2:18 AM ET - JURIST commentator Professor William Ross of Alabama's Cumberland Law School, Samford University William Ross writes: "Here's why Bush is almost certain to win Ohio: With only 200,000 votes uncounted, Bush leads by 120,000, which means that Kerry would need to win 80 percent of the remaining votes (160,000 to 40,000) in order to pull ahead. Since nearly all the precincts from heavily Cuyahoga County have now reported and the uncounted votes are mostly in Hamilton County, where the vote is divided, this is unlikely."

2:20 AM ET - Current projected electoral college totals: Bush 269 (including OH), Kerry 221. Remaining uncalled states (ECV): Michigan (17), Wisconsin (10), Iowa (7), New Mexico (5), Nevada (5), Hawaii (4).

2:27 AM ET - Edwards speaking to supporters in Boston: "We've waited four years...we can wait one more night...". He said the campaign would insist that "every vote count, and every vote be counted".

2:29 AM ET - JURIST commentator William Ross writes: "New Mexico almost surely will fall to Bush because Bush has a lead of 30,000 with only 35,000 votes uncounted. Kerry would therefore need to win at least 85 percent of the remaining votes there. Bush is likely to carry Iowa because he leads there by 11,000, with 60,000 uncounted. Kerry would therefore need to win 60 percent of the remaining votes."

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