Rob Portman has won the Senate race in Ohio over Lee Fisher. Portman, the former OMB Director under George W. Bush, was widely expected to win. Fisher handed his entire war chest at the end of the race to the Ohio Dem Party for GOTV efforts and went dark on television.

The OH-Gov race between Ted Strickland and John Kasich, on the other hand, is too close to call. That extra money could come in handy. Sherrod Brown is very encouraged and “confident” that Strickland will pull it out there, which would be enormous. I’m looking into information on the Attorney General’s race there; it’s a key race for the future of the foreclosure fraud investigation, with hard-charging incumbent Democrat Richard Cordray against former Republican Senator Mike DeWine.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is launching in $1 million ad buy in the West Virginia Senate race in a serious attempt to expand the Senate playing field; they must now see this state as winnable.

Republicans, in the minority in West Virginia’s legislature, now understand that they can basically push around the majority to meet their desired ends.

That’s a familiar tale in this short era of Democratic control in Washington. Looks like it’s spreading outside the Beltway, too.

New West Virginia Senator Carte Goodwin opposes any cap and trade legislation before the Senate, CQ reports.

My suspicion is that the Republicans will allow a final vote on financial regulation legislation tomorrow and make it out of town for the weekend, dealing with unemployment benefits extension next week after a replacement for West Virginia’s Sen. Robert Byrd has been named.

Late yesterday, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin released a draft proposal for the November 2010 special election to replace Robert Byrd. I find it interesting because you essentially have the candidate writing the terms of their own election.

With Olympia Snowe joining Susan Collins and Scott Brown by signing on to the financial reform bill, many outlets have reported that this gives the Democrats the votes they need to pass the measure. That’s only half-true; Democrats may have the votes after a replacement Senator is named in West Virginia. But at the moment, the fate of the bill rests in the hands of none other than the still-undecided Ben Nelson.

At 92, Robert Byrd lived a full life, over half of it in the United States Congress. He was an institution in West Virginia and probably did more to keep that state alive as any man in America. His checkered history aside (acknowledged and regretted by him but continually brought up by conservatives losing an argument), he was a massive presence in the Senate, someone who treated the office with dignity. RIP.