Republican Roy Blunt speaks in Springfield
Hundreds celebrate with Republican Congressman Roy Blunt in Springfield, as he becomes Senator Roy Blunt. He holds a commanding lead over Secretary of State Democrat Robin Carnahan, who has conceded. Blunt says Missourians, and Americans as a whole, have spoken.
“We gotta get focused in the concrete, on the things that matter. Private sector jobs. Government jobs don’t pay the bill, government jobs are the bill. You need some of them, but if they get out of proportion with the rest of the economy, the rest of the economy doesn’t grow. People also know that this campaign in America and in Missouri was about something even bigger than all of that and it was what kind of country we were going to live in. Once every generation, Americans have to renew their own lease on freedom. even in the greatest country in the history of the world, freedom is not guaranteed,” Blunt said.
Republicans gathered in Springfield shortly after 7:00pm. With the projection screen showing Fox News coverage, Republican Congressman Roy Blunt was projected to take the U.S. Senate seat even before any precints had reported.
Hundreds filled the conference center at University Plaza
The results have backed up that projection. Blunt was the “keynote speaker,” but this was also the official Republican watch party. So as excited as the group was about that race, there was also lot of enthusiasm behind the gains for the GOP nationwide.
Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party Lloyd Smith says he thinks Republicans are in great shape to take control of the House of Representatives. He also likes Republican Vicky Hartzler’s chances of unseating incumbent Democrat Ike Skelton, who has held the 4th District Congressional seat since 1977.
Republican Billy Long, flanked by his family, speaks in Springfield
Billy Long was the first candidate to speak at the watch party. He celebrated with his family as he soundly defeated Scott Eckersley, his Democratic opponent in the 7th District Congressional race. Long says the first thing he will do when he gets to Washington is attempt to make signifcant changes to the health care reform passed by Democrats this year.
AUDIO: Ryan Famuliner interviews Lloyd Smith [4 min MP3]
Republican Billy Long speaks at the Springfield watch party [8 min MP3]
AUDIO: Ryan Famuliner inverviews Billy Long [2 min MP3]
AUDIO: Roy Blunt speaks to the crowd in Springfield [8 min MP3]
Interview with Blunt campaign manager Ann Wagner [4 min MP3]
AUDIO: Ryan Famuliner reports [1 min MP3]
The view from the podium in Springfield
