High highs and low lows characterized the election campaign in Missouri this year for republicans. State republican party chairman John Hancock has never seen anything like it. The national results looked great for republicans for a while last night–but the final results for John Ashcroft and Jim Talent were disappointing for Hancock. Ashcroft lost to the late Mel Carnahan; Talent has lost to Bob Holden. The only Republican to crack the lineup of statewide offices is Matt Blunt, elected to Secretary of State. Hancock did manage to help put Missouri in the “win” column for Governor Bush, a critical victory for the national party. For more detailed election returns, see the Missouri secretary of state’s website at http://sosweb.sos.state.mo.us/enrweb/.