Electionnightapalooza

So I'll take a cue from Billy and keep a running blog of my election night experiences, too...

7:51 p.m.
After several plates of Chinese food and several meager attempts at hitting on Chelsea with clever pick-up lines, I am getting ready to go to Broadway for the returns.
Clem Welch just called me to tell me that most of the candidates are assembled together down there at the polls. I guess if you are going to do a story on the election, that is the place to be.
R.V. just called with results from early voting. After early voting counts, Lora Wright, Charles Taylor are winning, and, the surprise of the night so far...Earl Barker is leading Linwood Mann by six votes.
I'm off to Broadway. For a running report, you'd probably be best served looking at Billy's blog.

8:59 p.m.
Just got back from Broadway, where I seemed to have just missed the party. No one was to be found at the community center, but when I walked back into my desk, Lynne West Green was calling me. I left a message for her earlier in the day to call me back with contact information for the night. Green, Woody Beale and Clem Welch won seats on the board, and Donald Andrews won the mayoral race.

Sanford races too close to call, though Mike Stone and Charles Taylor seem to be stretching out a lead...

9:53 p.m.
Just interview Charles Taylor since polls have shown that he has won the Ward 2 seat on the Sanford City Council. He seemed pretty excited about joining the board, and said one of his priorities will be repealing the business privilege tax. More from this interview will be in The Herald Wednesday.
I must write now so I am not here until 3 a.m.

11:46 p.m.
Ah, after four stories and seven interviews, it is finally over, and I am at home getting ready for naptime! It was not as exciting as most election nights. R.V. even mailed it in on the newsroom jaunt he normally does.
Of course, what can you expect from a municipal election anyway? It seems to me, though, that Sanford voters sent a clear message tonight that they don't like the direction of the council, with two conservatives winning easily in what had been, up to now, a mostly democratic board, while the one Democrat running barely squeaked by.
Oh, wait. This is a nonpartisan board...
As I have stated before, next year will be a big one, although I'm not sure North Carolina will be as "in-play" for the Democrats as some pundits have projected, since most all the tax increases on the ballot tonight across the state failed. Only time will tell though.
Goodnight, and good luck.