Arizona stays red

Well, there weren't too many surprises coming from McCain's home state yesterday. All of the incumbents, even Harry Mitchell, D, in the 5th Congressional District, held onto their U.S. Congressional seats, and the Mac nabbed the state's presidential contest, albeit by a narrower margin than most talking heads expected. Ann Kirkpatrick, D, bagged only open seat -- the 1st Congressional District, vacated by Rick Renzi, R, in the wake of a scandal -- beating out Sydney Hay, her far right challenger.

In ballot initiative news, Arizonans voted 56.5% to 43.5% to ban gay marriage. Additionally, in spite the havoc wreaked on the state's housing market due, at least in part, to irresponsible lending practices, the folks in Arizona voted "No" on reforming predatory payday lenders. Proposition 202, or the deceptively named "Stop Illegal Hiring" initiative, did not pass. All that means is that the current penalties for businesses that hire undocumented immigrants will remain in place.  And finally, the yeses and nos for Proposition 101, also known as "Medical Choice for Arizona," are almost dead even -- the "No" has an advantage of fewer than 150 votes.  If Prop 101 had managed to eke out a victory, it would have meant an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting any universal health care plans.

While Arizona may have turned a slightly pinker shade of red this year, not much has changed.