Election results

The South Dakota Secretary of State's office has begun posting results from today's special election. With six precincts reporting, Diedrich leads 56%-44%. Stay tuned for updates...

UPDATE at 8:12PM: Herseth takes the lead, 52-48 with 20 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:18PM: Herseth's lead widens, 54-46 with 40 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:22PM: Minnehaha County (most populous county in SD) precincts starting to report, Herseth lead widens further 56-44 with 71 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:26PM: The AP's Joe Kafka reports Herseth has an early lead. Herseth at this time leads 56-44 with 81 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:31: Herseth's lead narrows to 55-45 with 106 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:38: Herseth's lead narrows another point, 54-46 with 120 precincts reporting...

UPDATE at 8:46: Herseth's lead narrows yet another point, 53-47 with 156 precincts reporting. Union and Tripp counties have nearly all precincts reporting, in Tripp Diedrich leads with 56%, in Union, Diedrich leads with 51%.

UPDATE at 8:57: Herseth leads 53-47 with 203 precincts reporting. The DCCC's blog has pics of Herseth at the Sheraton in Sioux Falls.

UPDATE at 9:01: More Minnehaha precincts reporting, Herseth leads in Minnehaha 57-43. Herseth leads 53-47 with 212 precincts reporting.

UPDATE at 9:05: Herseth's lead narrows again, 52-48 with 242 precincts in. Diedrich handily wins Tripp County with 56%.

UPDATE at 9:11: Herseth ahead 52-48 with 279 precincts in. Diedrich handily wins in Campbell County with 67%. Herseth is winning in Clay County with 64%.

UPDATE at 9:22: Herseth increases lead back to 53-47, and handily wins Buffalo County, home of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, with 81%.

UPDATE at 9:30: Herseth lead back to 52-48 with 343 precincts reporting. Watching for West River returns now....

UPDATE at 9:37: Herseth lead at 52-48 with 402 precincts reporting. Jay Reding also is keeping track of the polling. It's a 50-50 tie in Charles Mix County, home of the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation.

UPDATE at 9:49: Herseth leads at 52-48 with 414 precincts reporting. Diedrich behind in Minnehaha 54-46 with 50 of 69 precincts reporting. Union County has a 50-50 tie with all precincts reporting. Diedrich leads in Lincoln County 52-48 with 14 of 21 precincts reporting. Meade County in the Black Hills shows Diedrich leading 52-48 with 10 of 37 precincts reporting.

UPDATE at 9:57: Herseth lead narrows to 51-49 with 476 precincts reporting. Pennington County (second most populous county in SD and reliably Republican) returns starting to come in. Diedrich leads in Pennington 52-48 with 10 of 42 precincts reporting. No returns posted yet from Shannon and Todd Counties, respectively the home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Rosebud Indian Reservation. More pics available at DCCC's blog.

UPDATE at 10:11: Herseth lead at 51-49 with 567 precincts reporting.

UPDATE at 10:17: Herseth lead still at 51-49 with 579 precincts reporting. No precincts have reported from Butte, Custer, Hanson, Roberts, Stanley, Shannon, and Todd Counties.

UPDATE at 10:23: Herseth lead still at 51-49 with 588 precincts reporting. Nobody has called this baby yet.

UPDATE at 10:26: Herseth lead still at 51-49 with 604 precincts reporting. All but one Minnehaha precinct has reported, with Diedrich behind in that county 54-46. Diedrich is ahead in Pennington though, 53-47 with 14 of 42 precincts reporting.

UPDATE at 10:32: Herseth lead still at 51-49 with 618 precincts reporting. Pennington County precincts are starting to pour in, and Diedrich leads in that county 55-45 with 23 of 42 precincts reporting. The Pennington County results could put Diedrich over the top, but the reservation counties of Shannon and Todd would put Herseth back on top. So far no precinct from Shannon or Todd has reported.

UPDATE at 10:42: Herseth in lead, 51-49 with 656 precincts reporting. MyDD does the math and says Herseth is going to win.

UPDATE at 10:50: Herseth in lead, 51-49 with 688 precincts reporting. Pennington County returns continue to come in, Diedrich leads there 56-44 with 29 of 42 precincts reporting.

UPDATE at 11:00: Herseth leads 51-49 with 691 precincts reporting. A reader asks what my source is for the numbers. All of the numbers come from the Secretary of State's website, which is updated every 5 minutes.

UPDATE at 11:07: Herseth leads 51-49 with 700 precincts reporting. Only 98 more to go. Still no precincts reporting from Butte, Hanson, Shannon, and Todd Counties.

UPDATE at 11:14: Herseth leads 51-49 with 703 precincts reporting. Jay Reding begins analyzing the ramifications of this election on the Senate race in South Dakota.

UPDATE at 11:31: Herseth leads 51-49 with 714 precincts reporting. I think that Zogby poll conducted on the race two weeks ago was bunk.

UPDATE at 11:41: Herseth leads 51-49 with 733 precincts reporting. MyDD says Herseth may be making an appearance shortly.

UPDATE at 11:53: It's at 50-50, with Herseth leading by 2098 votes, and 758 precincts reporting. This is the worst of all possible outcomes for Tom Daschle. Herseth winning, making an all-Democratic delegation (something ticketsplitting South Dakotans don't want), but only winning by the slimmest of margins. This summer will be a barnburner of a campaign for both House and Senate.

UPDATE at 12:02: It's back to Herseth leading 51-49, with 765 precincts reporting. Shannon County precincts, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, just started reporting, with 95% of the votes going to Herseth. Wow.

UPDATE at 12:21: Jay Reding calls it a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats. Well said. I'm off to bed.