Elections have consequences. So they say. But when it’s Republicans saying it, what they really mean is that elections of Republicans have consequences. The rest, for some peculiar reason, don’t count.

Thus Mitch Berg, salivating over a redistricting map that would dramatically shift power in Minnesota’s congressional elections, insists that the DFL must accept the Republican map because “elections have consequences:”

The DFL isn’t going to like it – but redistricting isn’t supposed to be predicated on the happiness of the party that loses the election.

Well, then, it’s a good thing Mark Dayton won the governorship, huh? Just think: If Tom Emmer hadn’t spent two weeks straight talking about waiters, he might very well be in the governor’s mansion to sign this disaster of a redistricting plan. But he’s not. So it’s going to be vetoed.

Because elections have consequences.

Multiple news outlets are reporting this morning that Tom Emmer will concede the gubernatorial race. It’s likely that multiple factors contributed to Emmer’s final decision. His campaign had withdrawn all but 90 challenges, and the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion against him yesterday.

First of all, congratulations are due to Governor-elect Dayton. Dayton ran a focused, principled campaign that should serve as a model for future DFLers.

Second, thanks are owed to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota. I think I can safely say that ABM’s support was crucial to Dayton’s victory. While they were outnumbered by right-wing groups such as MN Forward, MN Future, and Minnesota Majority, their message consistently won the day.

Last but not least, we should thank Representative Emmer for his candidacy. While it is popular these days to demonize anyone and everyone in public service, the fact is that it involves major sacrifices. I have an enormous amount of respect for anyone willing to dedicate two years of their lives to the campaign trail, and I sincerely thank Rep. Emmer for his efforts.

The Star Tribune’s Rachel Stassen-Berger reports on Twitter that Tom Emmer is scheduled to make a “recount announcement” today at 10:30 am. Is he finally planning to concede, in light of the impossible math?

I’m skeptical that the Republican party will let him, but we’ll find out shortly.

EDIT (10:15 AM): Sources say no, he’s not planning to concede. Looks like Tony Sutton and the GOP aren’t done with him yet.

Many of the challenged ballots in the recount have now been uploaded to the Secretary of State’s website. Even a cursory glance through them reveals how hopeless Tom Emmer’s case is. I haven’t had much time to look through them, but on a whim this morning, I decided to look through ballots in one county (Carver, picked at random). Here are a few examples of what I found.

For each ballot, I’ll provide a screenshot of the relevant area, a description of the challenge, and a link so you can view the entire ballot. All ballots on the SoS website are PDFs.

Carver_ChaskaW3_1

Challenge: Undervote. Team Emmer claims this is not a vote for Dayton, because the circle is apparently not filled in sufficiently.

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