Get comfy, Portland, because this is about to get lit. Welcome to the Mercury's Primary Night Extravaganza. Think of this as a monstrous red, white, and blue stained glass window through which to view the mangled majesty of this year's races. Will Ted Wheeler cruise to easy victory in a packed mayor's race, or will he need that obscenely huge war chest for another six months of campaigning? How about Commissioner Steve Novick? Will voters implement a 10-cent gas tax after years of failed attempts to generate road money? And what the hell's going to happen in the Bernie v Hillary race, anyway? We'll have operatives covertly (and drunkenly) stationed at campaign parties, ready with quick insights and unnecessary asides. As always, the most recent additions are at the top of the post. You can follow #mercelex on Twitter for more shenanigans. And follow along with the results here.

We're happy you could make it!

Signed (while stuffing our faces on canapé),
The Mercury Election Strike Force

9 am, Wednesday— We need to note that Measure 26-173, the Portland gas tax, appears to have narrowly passed. It's got just under 52 percent of the vote, with 77 percent of votes counted, according to the O's calculus. The tax is historic, after years of Oregon fuel interests intimidating and battling back attempts to find new revenue for city streets. It's expected to generate $16 million a year, for four years. A little more than half will go toward road maintenance—a central point of contention for folks who want all the money for things like paving—while the rest will go toward safety projects like sidewalks, safer crossings, and bike lanes.

One person who won't be paying into that $16 million for safety and roads? The editor of the Oregonian.

If this 10 cents a gallon gas tax holds in Portland, then hello Lake Oswego Shell.

— Mark Katches (@markkatches) May 18, 2016

9:35 pm—For those just joining us, here's how it's all shaking out so far. Your next mayor will be Ted Wheeler. (Hooray.) Amanda Fritz will retain her commissioner's seat. (HOORAY!) Steve Novick—though far ahead in votes—looks like he's facing a runoff against Stuart Emmons, who can't even populate his own campaign party. (Seriously, what is WRONG with you people?) The "Yes on Gas Tax" is oh-so-barely ahead of the "No on Gas Tax." (Again, YOU PEOPLE.) For the open Multnomah County commission seat Dist. #1, Sharon Meieran has a hefty lead over Eric Zimmerman—but will face him in a runoff in November. Gov. Kate Brown will be facing off against Republican Bud Pierce as well, and Bernie Sanders has won the state of Oregon against Hillary Clinton—though he still has a long, uphill battle to wage. Mercury correspondent Erik is drunk and has wobbled home. Night-night, Erik!

(Oh, and check this shit out.)

Haaaaa Haaaa Haaaaaaaaaaa! Dummies.

9:30 pm— "Obviously we're on pins and needles over the gas tax," says Steve Novick in his second (!) speech of the evening, after thanking everyone again. And quoting Galaxy Quest again, so, keeping that dad joke streak going strong.

"I have no problem continuing to talk to voters," Novick says of the runoff, and gives a shoutout to opponent Chloe Eudaly and the Mercury: "I'm really impressed by how Chloe Eudaly has done. I have to say the Portland Mercury is looking pretty good."

Hey, that's us! Novick argues that the Mercury's endorsement is part of what helped position Eudaly so close to Emmons, who had an endorsement from the Oregonian and a shit ton more money behind him. He calls the close margin between Eudaly and Emmons "good news for Portland."

If Eudaly squeaks past Emmons, Novick promises "a nice civil campaign between two good lefties and we'll have a lot of fun together." He promises... basically the opposite if it's Emmons he faces.

More thank-yous, including one for Pumpkin, his dog, and we have to leave because Kenny and Zuke's is kicking us out.—MB

9:15 pm— I finally get Steve Novick's campaign manager, Thomas Mosher, to talk to me about the runoff election that now looms. He's pretty chipper, touting it as a chance for Novick to connect with voters, and echoes Novick's concern about the gas tax. "One thing he really wants to talk about is general income inequality," he says.

And who will the runoff be against? Stuart Emmons has a lead over Choe Eudaly last I checked, but Mosher says it might still be close, depending on what happens as ballots come in. "It could be her pretty easily," he says.

And what will the runoff look like from Novick's camp? Mosher says that Novick's advocacy for improved transportation and streets, particularly more frequent bus service beyond 122nd in East Portland, is "something we can point to and say, 'We're looking to do more of this.'"

I can tell the runoff isn't what the campaign was hoping for—one and done is indisputably a better outcome—but Mosher doesn't seem all that fazed. "When you come out three times higher than the nearest person, you know that you don't have that much to worry about," he says. He emphasizes Novick's track record. "He's not just gonna say, 'I'm gonna do this,' he's gonna see it through," says Mosher.

Okay, enough shop talk. What I really want to know is why I have to listen to Tom Petty at every election party ever.

Mosher says he doesn't know, but has an alternative in mind. "I would love to have Fugazi," he says.

And now the mayor is here! Whatta day!—MB

9:12 pm—[Editor's note: Erik is still at the Stuart Emmons campaign party, still drinking.] Jesus! After that photo everyone here CLEARED OUT. were they all just here for the photo? did I just miss the chance to be in an amazing photo because I was hunched in the back? this is the story of my life. anyways my offer to get Emmons pins for everyone is still open btw—EH

9:10 pm—

9:07 pm—

9:05 pm—Fox 12 flashes the percentages onscreen—Novick's under 50, and Stuart Emmons is in the teens, but that's enough to force a runoff. The room—which has, thankfully, filled out a bit—cheers loudly. One guy tries to get "STU-ART! STU-ART! STU-ART!" going. He fails. He contents himself with ending it with "STUART WHOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone here takes a group photo. Instead of "cheese," STU-ART Guy shouts "LET'S BEAT NOVICK!" I'm not in this photo. I'm hunched in the back, behind them, with another Kells IRA.—EH

9 pm—Mayor Charlie Hales and his wife, Nancy, showed up at Sarah Iannarone's party for a while. I caught up with Mayor Hales as he was about to leave, after watching Wheeler give his victory speech.

Why did you show up tonight?

“We’re friends of Sarah’s and we’re very proud of her. She’s off to a good start in Portland politics and I think she has a lot to offer and there’s a new generation of leaders emerging in this city, and I want to support that, encourage that, and I believe Sarah is part of that."

So, people are saying Wheeler will be the next mayor…

“We’ll see, we’ve got another hour or so.

If Wheeler is the next mayor, what are your thoughts?

“I’ll certainly offer him all the assistance I can when transition time comes. Of course, he’s state treasurer, so he’ll have to show up to work as a state treasurer until later in the year, but I’ll certainly be in touch. I know he will be, and we’ll make sure it’s an orderly transition for the people of the city. Hopefully we’ll all have street maintenance money and some safety improvement money with the gas tax, but that looks like a close call at this point. Commissioner Fritz is back in action with the election behind her, and Commissioner Novick may be in for a runoff."—DB

8:58 pm—"Alight, I need a drink," Stuart Emmons says. He heads for the bar, but gets sidetracked. He comes over to me with his iPhone. "Did you see the Oregonian's tweet?" he says? He hands me his phone, where he's grinning at this:

Just spoke to @NovickOR. "Looks like I'm headed to a runoff," he said #ORelection
— Andrew Theen (@andrewtheen) May 18, 2016

"That makes this the race," Emmons tells me."—EH

8:57 pm—That chug-a-chug guitar riff starts up, the lights raise slightly, and Next Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler takes the stage to “Eye of the the Tiger” and cheers..

"This has been an incredible and slightly early night,” he says. Cheers.

"Tonight the voters spoke loudly and clearly. We need to work together to create real progress for this community,” he says. Cheers.

He gives the rundown of his campaign platform—of sunny promises for housing and salves for homelessness, of a jobs plan, and infrastructure repairs, and all that. There will be plenty of time for all that.

“It obviously resonated with the voters, didn’t it?” Cheers.

Wheeler says he respects the hell out of Jules Bailey, and Sarah Iannarone, and Bim Ditson, and David Schor, and Deborah Harris, and at some point he can’t remember any more of the 14 candidates he just leveled. He thanks his wife. He says it’s time to start setting the ground for his administration, which begins January 1.

Oh, and he’ll be “working on my success as state treasurer, which by the way I still am.” Everybody laughs, I enjoy a jalapeno popper, and a staffer in Commissioner Fish’s office hands me a beer that I don’t need or necessarily want, but accept nonetheless.—DVH

8:55 pm—In other election news, Governor Kate Brown is leading her race, outpacing her nearest opponent by only.... ohhhh.... 80,000 votes. Can I go ahead and call this one?—WSH

8:50 pm—Lots of people are showing up and hugging and cooing over Chloe Eudaly's buttons which I didn't notice, but OF COURSE. (It's a zine thing.)

Many of these people are vaguely familiar from the world of self publishing. Others are Eudaly's small business owner friends from the Mississippi neighborhood.

The campaign manager's young assistant calls her "Chloe Ukelele" I'm told. The nine-year-old has since peaced. Children have been exiled from the bar due to the darkening hours. Some persons over the age of 21 are physically fighting in a flirtatious way, which would be appropriate for nine-year-olds. Travis is back and he wants to talk NUMBERS and PERCENTAGES.

Eudaly excuses herself to talk to some newly arrived supporters and suddenly there are shouting about affordable housing, like literally shouting, "Affordable! Housing!"—SS

8:49 pm—And Erik Henriksen is our first officially drunk correspondent of the night, leaving all other Mercury correspondents in the dust. Congrats, Erik.—WSH

8:48 pm—Who wants a Stuart Emmons pin? I will grab anyone who wants one an Emmons pin right now. In related news, this is the most Kells beer I've ever had in my life.—EH

8:41 pm—Meanwhile... what about that gas tax?

Talk of the gas tax's uncertain future continues at Novick/Fix Our Streets HQ. "I'm optimistic," says Fix Our Streets Portland CM Aaron Brown of the close results for his ballot measure. He says that in late-returned ballots, there may be hope for the gas tax yet.

"It's a helluva lot tighter than I wanted it to be," someone says to Brown, who reiterates his point about later ballots still coming in.

"The next update is supposedly at 9:30," he tells me, "so we'll know more then."

So... I guess more pastrami? Now they're playing Sufjan Stevens at peak slow and mellow, which is a pretty objectively weird musical choice for an election night party, but it isn't Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen, so I'll take it.—MB

8:37 pm—Ahhhhhh. That's better.—WSH

8:35 pm—Back at the presidential race, Bernie Sanders currently has a 10 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton statewide. (Dear fucking god, I need a drink. Not because of this result... I just generally need a drink.)—WSH

8:34 pm—The Iannarone folks just watched Jules Bailey concede to Wheeler on a live stream. The mood is starting to get slightly somber.

Iannarone says she didn't watch Bailey concede and says it's too early.

"I'm not ready to bow out yet," she told me. "If there's still 42 percent of ballots to be counted, I'm not ready to give up yet"—DB

8:33 pm— Jules Bailey has conceded. His baby starts crying as soon as Bailey starts his speech.

"Numbers didn't work out. But there's much to celebrate. Just got off the phone with Wheeler. He's a great man. He's ready to be mayor of Portland. I have a stack of thank you letters to write. I apologize. By working together we can make this a city to be proud of. Thank you for giving your heart and soul to this race. "

He thanks his wife, who looks a touch bummed.

"Let's celebrate!"

People cheer.—CF

8:30 pm—A Sarah Iannarone campaign staffer just announced some early results showing Wheeler at 58 percent, Bailey at 16 percent, and Iannarone at 10 percent.

I asked her how she feels about it.

"The number that scares me is the candidate above 50 percent," she said. "I would like to be higher but you can't complain when you come out of nowhere."

She's hoping Wheeler's numbers dip below that 50 percent threshold.—DB

8:28 pm—Commissioner Nick Fish, who endorsed Wheeler, is here, drinking a kolsch (he favors Belgian beers, it turns out). Fish clashed pretty severely with Mayor Charlie Hales last week. We ask if Hales’ position is diminished now that his successor appears anointed.

“Of course,” Fish says, “he’s a lame-duck mayor.” Fish says Wheeler can now lay groundwork for his administration over the next five months, and that he’s “looking forward to sitting down with him soon.”

Meanwhile, Portland’s (apparent) next mayor has yet to address his fans. The beer is flowing.—DVH

8:25 pm— Meanwhile Stuart Emmons is delighted with the results so far. "It's really good," he says, before grinning and knocking on the wood of a nearby chair.

He's glad that it looks like Wheeler and Fritz won't face runoffs. That means, Emmons says, "All these local issues will end up on this race."

He tells me he looks forward to continuing the conversations he's been having about this issues.

"Those are good conversations to have," he says. "We're trying to get the status quo out of there. No more status quo!"

I tell him that's a pretty good campaign slogan.—EH

8:20 pm—At Novick's party results are up and there's a subdued cheer until we realize that no percentages are up yet. It's "the quiet while we double check our math," says a woman behind me. (SIDEBAR: I just saw Oregon's Speaker of the House Tina Kotek! Fan girl moment for Oregon's Speaker of the House Tina Kotek!) And then... Looks like Stuart Emmons is in second place behind Novick, who stands for a speech.

"Thank you so much, everybody," he says, "It looks like we might be in for a long night," adding that he foresees a runoff election for his campaign "against the Oregonian editorial board. Then Novick quickly pivots to the uncertain status of Measure 26-173, touting the measure as a solution to that fact that "For thirty years... we haven't done basic street repair." It's time to "put an end to these thrifty years of futility," he says, singing the praises of the measure's coalition of supporters and campaign staff actually telling Fix Our Streets campaign manager Aaron Brown to take a bow, which Brown actually does.

"Win or lose by god it was a fight worth making," continues Novick, "If you think you've got a shot, you should go for it, particularly if the future of the city is at stake: I'm proud that we pushed this coalition together. I desperately hope that we're going win tonight but if we don't there's always the next election."

And then because it wouldn't be a Novick party without some good dad jokes, he says, "In the immortal words of galaxy quest, 'Never give up never surrender.'"

There's supposed to be a quick segue to campaign staple Tom Petty, but the music takes a little too long to kick in.—MB

8:20 pm—"We feel good! As far as percentage points, I couldn't tell you but we feel like this will be a good stepping stone in Chloe Eudaly's political career," Travis McGee, Chloe's media specialist says. That doesn't sound too good, Travis!

I tell him that doesn't sound super positive and he says that they're gonna keep Novick under 50%. They feel good about that.

Chloe Eudaly worked at her bookstore Reading Frenzy today. Then she walked her ballot down to North Portland public library. She's being conservative about her phrasing as well. She ran this campaign in a very grassroots fashion and she and Marshall agree she was heavily outspent by her competition.

"We're 2,000 votes under Stewart!" Marshall shouts, scrolling on his phone.

"Oh! That makes me feel really good!" Eudaly exclaims. More percentage points are thrown around. Travis goes to get me a beer. That's so nice!

Chloe Eudaly goes to talk to a supporter and returns with some fried pickles to share!

Some of her supporters ask her what she'll do if she wins.
"Well I'm not going to WIN," Eudaly enunciates "but I might get into the runoff."
"What if you get into the runoff and you win?!" I say, trying to start some shit.
Eudaly anecdotely tells me about being asked this question a few weeks ago and she answered:

1) Declare a real housing crisis.
2) End the 48 hour rule.

Then she explains the 48-hour to me because I'm ignorant. That's some bullshit!—SS

8:15 pm—The first boatload of results hits the Blitz Ladd and it’s what everyone pretty much though. Ted Wheeler has roughly 58 percent of the vote with 55 percent of votes counted. And just like that, the Oregonian is calling it for Ted. Damn, that was quick.

“Ted Wheeler is our man!” a guy shouts, and suddenly everyone’s chanting “WHEELER, WHEELER!”

Commissioner Nick Fish is here. So is Multnomah County District Atty. Rod Underhill, and County Commissioner Judy Shiprack (whose colleague Jules Bailey just lost decisively). DVH

First results on tv show wheeler up huge. Crowd! #mercelex pic.twitter.com/dQRgFzLcsz
— Dirk VanderHart (@dirquez) May 18, 2016

8 PM— The first results are in from Multnomah County for the democratic presidential candidates and it's looking like this:

Meanwhile Sharon Meieran is taking a commanding early lead in the Multnomah County Commissioner Dist. #1 race, with Eric Zimmerman trailing far behind.

Unsurprisingly Ted Wheeler is killing it in early results, trailed by Jules Bailey and Sarah Iannarone.

Likewise Amanda Fritz has left her opponents in a cloud of dust for the commissioner's seat position #1, while incumbent Steve Novick (41,244) has a very strong lead against Stuart Emmons (14,407) who is closely trailed by Chloe Eudaly (12,104) in the race for commission seat position #4.

7:58 pm—Wonk celeb sighting alert! Commissioner Nick Fish is here at Novick's shindig: I've never seen Commish Fish in person before and he's awfully tall. Fish shakes hands with Novick's chief of staff, and congratulates him on running a good campaign. He must mean in a general "we're on the same team!" way, because someone else just pointed out Novick's campaign manager, a different person entirely!

"It's not 8:00 yet, is it?" someone says. Nope. We're still looking at a page of blank results on the projector. More pastrami, please!—MB

7:55 pm—A fun moment may have turned out to be a bad omen for the Iannarone campaign. They had three guys playing a game of Twister; one guy, dressed as Uncle Sam, was wearing an Iannarone mask, one was wearing the a Ted Wheeler mask, and the other was wearing a Jules Bailey Mask.

The Iannarone guy went out first. Bailey came in second. Wheeler won.

They really should've rigged this thing.—DB

7:55 pm—Stuart Emmons' party looks small, but it's friendly. There are lots of "old friends," Emmons explains when I pull him aside, as well as some new supporters. People grab "Stuart Emmons for Portland" pins from a table and put them on.

"I'm feeling pretty good!" Emmons says when I pull him aside from the party chitchat, shortly before eight. "I've done my honk and waves," he grins, "on about five different bridges." (He's not kidding—I saw him on Burnside and MLK last week at rush hour, his skin red from the sun.) He seems upbeat, optimistic. "I've got to get Novick under 50," he says, sounding confident, "and Chloe [Eudaly] will help with that."

"This has been an amazing journey," Emmons says. "I've met so many fabulous people, and gotten to know the city again.... And I think we've really impacted city council."

8 pm nears, and I wish him good luck.

"No big deal, right?" I say.

"Ha! No big deal!" Emmons laughs. "It's just the rest of my life!"—EH

7:52 pm—Back at the Wheeler party the totchos are a hit, and we haven’t had a chance to claim that free beer. Neither has mayoral candidate David Schor, who ran on a tax-the-rich-to-pay-for-housing-platform, won the nod of the Oregon Progressive Party, and has stopped by en route to his own event at the Green Dragon.

Schor highlights a weird dynamic I picked up all race: despite being the big business candidate, the money candidate, and the general frontrunner, Wheeler seemed to generate far less antipathy among his fellow candidates than did Jules Bailey.

“Ted was very open,” Schor tells me. “He went out of his way to make forums more inclusive.”

Does he have any predictions? Schor does not. He notes every poll we’ve seen showed undecided voters leading any single candidate. The could break Wheeler’s way or some other way, Schor says.

As oldies play over the PA (“Let It Be,” etc), I ask Wheeler’s campaign consultant, Jake Weigler, what kind of polling his camp’s got.

They did one in January, Weigler says, a “messy” poll in early April, and another in late April. They all showed the same thing: High support for Wheeler, but also “a lot of undecided people.”

“That dynamic never really changed,” Weigler tells us. Which has one of Wheeler’s top consultants a bit on edge. He thinks his candidate can clear 52 percent tonight, sealing the race without need for a runoff. But he also notes that Wheeler does best with older voters, who tend to vote earliest. If he’s not above 50 percent when initial results drop at 8 pm, Weigler says, “I’m going to be increasingly skeptical.”—DVH

7:50 pm—Impossible not to feel conspicuous at commissioner candidate Stuart Emmon's party. Kells' private party room, off to the side of regular Kells. One wilting Emmons lawn sign outside. Maybe 20 people here total. Quiet.—ERIK HENRIKSEN [I SENSE A TRAP, ERIK! GET OUT OF THERE QUICK!!—STEVE]

7:45 pm—SNEAKY! It's a beautiful Tuesday evening and Bar Bar’s outdoor patio—the home of commissioner wannabe Chloe Eudaly's party—is packed, but are all these beautiful babies here for politics? A girl I know who makes political poetry comics waves at me. So maybe.

A few tables, front and center on the patio are reserved for Eudaly. There's a small crew of Eudalites by some picnic tables. I'm introduced to the campaign manager and a young person assistant who is probably nine.

“How come it takes a jillion hours to make a simple chopped salad?!” the assistant manager exclaims dramatically before retiring to the garden.

"I'm in the garden! I'm in the garden!" the nine-year-old assistant campaign manager shouts from the small grotto in the back of Bar Bar.

Conversation about internet trolls and whether or not Steve Novick will get more than 50% of the vote is the a-popping. "Chloe owns Favebook so we might see how much social media influences this election," Chloe supporter Mel Favara says.

Chloe's campaign manager says he thinks people will arrive to this party late. He lets on that perhaps not everyone on this patio is here for Chloe. That political poet is not as political as I thought. I'm noticing a large percentage of Chloe's supports look kind of goth. I look sort of goth so I'm allowed to say that.—SUZETTE SMITH

7:40 pm—I walked into Velo Cult at 7 p.m. for mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone’s election party and that fantastically catchy “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” song, which is perfect for a politician, was blasting for the couple dozen supporters here to support her. People are drinking beer, eating food, and listening to 80s music in the combo bar/bike shop in Northeast Portland. Iannarone is excited about the biscuits and gravy she cooked up in her cafe today after voting.

She chose to host her party at Velo Cult “to show that commerce and community can go together."

Iannarone is in good spirits—when I first approached her, she gave a kiss on the forehead of a baby that was just handed over, joking it was the first one she’s kissed on the campaign trail.

She’s hoping that Wheeler doesn’t get a majority of the vote and that she beats Jules Bailey to force a runoff with Wheeler in November.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “I think that if we can keep Ted Wheeler below 50 percent, we have a real shot” to come ahead of Bailey.—DOUG BROWN

7:35 pm—The snack spread at Kenny and Zuke's, party headquarters for Steve Novick's campaign and Measure 26-173, is tremendous. I was hoping for bagels, and my hopes came true. There are also deviled eggs. This is sustenance election night parties should aspire to. "Our snacks are going to be the best of any party due to pastrami sandwiches," a source close to the Novick campaign tells me while we chat in front of the Oregonian's live blog projected huge.

The crowd at the moment seems mainly comprised of campaign staff and reporters—we've got KOIN and the Tribune in the house. Fix Our Streets Portland campaign manager Aaron Brown is handing out literature, and Novick comes by. "Clinton is winning Kentucky by 1000 votes," he says.—MEGAN BURBANK

7:30 pm—Meanwhile at mayoral candidate Jules Bailey's party, it's being held, according to Mercury flying monkey Courtney Ferguson at a "weird empty floor in a building in Old Town." There are a lot of news cameras, which makes Courtney feel inadequate with her old-timey iPhone 5. (Spoiler alert: Courtney is inadequate.) After a slow start, people are trickling in (many dressed in seersucker) and making a beeline for the bar—where the bartender is refusing tips? "They pay me plenty," he says. (I bet if Jules doesn't make the runoff, he's going to be kicking himself for that decision.) The man of the hour, Jules Bailey arrives with his wife and adorable baby. (So if he loses... you know... there's that.)

7:20 pm—

The money train began chugging before Ted Wheeler formally announced his run for mayor in September, and hasn't let up since.

In 2016 alone, Wheeler's raised nearly $632,500 (Jules Bailey, who capped contributions at $250, has collected a little more than $153,000). Hell, today alone, as polls suggest he's dominating the race, Wheeler's raised at least $5,600.

We'll know shortly whether that cash train keeps chugging into a November runoff, or Wheeler seals the deal with more than 50 percent of the vote tonight. But more pressing in our mind as we headed to Blitz Ladd was: What kind of shindig can the city's big-money candidate put together.

Whoever's driving Wheeler's Twitter account offered only scant hints.

@dirquez streamers and balloons!
— Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) May 18, 2016

Well, we're here, and they weren't lying. The back of the bar is draped in blue and gold balloons, stocked amply with Blitz-standard lukewarm totchos and wings, and the bracelets that get guests some unknown quantity of free beer are bright green. ("You're the one journalist that gets one of these," the guy said, affixing it to my wrist and eying the Mercury press pass. You're damn right.)

No sooner had I arrived than Ted Wheeler did, his wife Katrina on his arm and a medium sized coffee of unclear provenance clutched in a hand. The TV cameras swarmed: Does Wheeler think he'll win it all tonight?

He was assuming the race will go till November, he says, but it doesn't matter. "Either it will or it won't. We'll be ready to go January 1, either way."

Then he walks into Blitz (which, if I'm being honest: Blitz?) to cheers. We're still around 45 minutes away from getting an inkling as to whether that's the case.—DIRK VANDERHART

7:15 pm— Our flying monkeys (Mercury election correspondents) are heading toward their destinations (the candidate parties) which means we'll be updating you on the most important election information (who's serving shrimp?) in just a few minutes. In the meantime, I will be preparing in my usual fashion.—WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY