Live Blogging: VIN News Election Coverage 2012

11:35 PM ABC projected Charles Rangel won the congressional seat for the 13th district in New York in Tuesday’s election. Rangel, who has been a U.S. representative since 1971, was censured by the House of Representatives in 2011 over an accumulation of ethics violations. He overcame a stiff primary challenge in his heavily Democratic district.

11:19 PM Fox News projects that President Barack Obama has won re-election.

11:07 PM CNN PROJECTS DEMOCRATS KEEP MAJORITY IN U.S. SENATE

11:02 PM Obama wins CA, WA, HI; Romney wins ID.

10:56 PM Romney wins North Carolina.

10:40 PM NYC Councilman Simcha Felder Tweets: I’m gonna call it: Simcha Felder (D-C) beats incumbent David Storobin (R) for State Senate in the “Super-Jewish” district.

10:38 PM Romney wins Arizona

10:35 PM CBS PROJECTS OBAMA WINS MINNESOTA IN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL RACE

10:14 PM Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod says Republican projections of a Mitt Romney victory on Tuesday are based on fiction, not facts.

“Our confidence is based in data, it’s based in early vote numbers, it’s based in the things that we can see, and we can prove to ourselves,” Axelrod says on ABC News. “Their confidence appears to be in some hidden mystical force that is going to materialize at the last minute and push him over the finish line. And I think as time wears on this evening that fiction is going to be exposed.”

10:11 PM MSNBC projected that Democrat Claire McCaskill won the U.S. Senate seat for Missouri in Tuesday’s election. McCaskill, a former Missouri state auditor and county prosecutor, is the incumbent and is completing her first term. She defeated Representative Todd Akin, who stirred controversy with his comment that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant.

10:01 PM ABC News projects Romney will win Montana, Utah.

10:00 PM CNN projected that Democratic Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. won the race for Illinois’ second congressional district in Tuesday’s election. Jackson is the subject of a criminal investigation over financial improprieties and has been treated for depression and bipolar disorder.

9:57 PM ABC projected that President Barack Obama won Minnesota.

9:34 PM CBSNews projects that Pres. Obama will win NEW HAMPSHIRE

9:31 PM Obama Wins Wisconsin, State Where GOP VP Candidate Paul Ryan Served As Congressman.

9:18 PM ABC News declares Barack Obama as the projected winner in the Pennsylvania Presidential race.

9:10 PM CNN projects: Republicans will maintain majority in House of Representatives.

9:08 PM NBC news calls Massachusetts senate race for Elizabeth Warren

9:05 PM Obama wins NY, MI; Romney wins NE, WY, KS, LA, SD, TX, ND

9:02 PM NY1 is projecting that Kirsten Gillibrand will be re-elected to the Senate

8:52 PM ABC News projects Romney will win Mississippi

8:44 PM CBS News projects Sen. Bob Menendez will hold onto his seat in New Jersey.

8:40 PM NPR calls Arkansas for Romney.

8:24 PM Obama wins New Jersey

8:02 PM CBSNews Projects: Obama wins MA, MD, IL, CT, ME (3 out of 4 electoral votes), RI, DE, Washington DC. Romney wins AL, OK, TN.

8:01 PM Romney wins Indiana.

7:53 PM Fox calls Georgia for Romney

7:44 PM Reuters/ipsos exit poll update: six of ten Ohio early voters chose Obama; more than half of Ohio voters chose Romney on Tuesday

7:42 PM Fox News projects Romney winning South Carolina

7:41 PM Eric Cantor, GOP, elected U.S. House, District 7, Virginia.

7:37 PM Ohio, North Carolina Too Close To Call

7:31 PM Romney wins West Virginia.

7:22 PM Top White House adviser David Plouffe likes what he sees in terms of voter turnout, especially in the nine battleground states that President Barack Obama has been targeting.

Says Plouffe: “I think we are going to do very well.” He says he expects Obama will have enough electoral votes for a second term.

7:14 PMSCORECARD: Americans voted in a presidential election on Tuesday but the Electoral College, not the popular vote, actually elects the president of the United States.

There are 538 members of the Electoral College, allotted to each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Two hundred seventy votes are needed to win the election.

Following is a tally of the likely Electoral College votes won by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, based on states where at least two television networks have projected a winner, as well as those in which little contest was expected:

LIKELY TOTAL IN THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Obama: 191 Romney: 191

STATES WITH A PROJECTED WINNER State Likely winner Electoral votes Vermont Obama 3 Kentucky Romney 8 Indiana Romney

11 SWING STATES WITHOUT A PROJECTED WINNER State Electoral votes Colorado 9 Florida 29 Iowa 6 Michigan 16 Nevada 6 New Hampshire 4 Minnesota 10 North Carolina 15 Ohio 18 Pennsylvania 20 Virginia 13 Wisconsin 10

STATES WHERE LITTLE CONTEST IS EXPECTED (1) State Likely winner Electoral votes California Obama 55 Connecticut Obama 7 Delaware Obama 3 District of Columbia Obama 3 Hawaii Obama 4 Illinois Obama 20 Maine Obama 4 Massachusetts Obama 11 Maryland Obama 10 New Jersey Obama 14 New Mexico Obama 5 New York Obama 29 Rhode Island Obama 4 Oregon Obama 7 Washington Obama 12 Arkansas Romney 6 Arizona Romney 11 Alabama Romney 9 Alaska Romney 3 Georgia Romney 16 Idaho Romney 4 Kansas Romney 6 Louisiana Romney 8 Mississippi Romney 6 Missouri Romney 10 Montana Romney 3 Nebraska Romney 5 North Dakota Romney 3 Oklahoma Romney 7 South Carolina Romney 9 South Dakota Romney 3 Tennessee Romney 11 Texas Romney 38 Utah Romney 6 West Virginia Romney 5 Wyoming Romney 3 (1)

Before the election, little contest was expected in the majority of U.S. states, with polls of voters showing consistent leads for either Obama or Romney.

7:06 PM Reuters/ipsos exit poll: first-time voters choose obama by a two-to-one margin nationally.

7:04 PM Polls are starting to close on the East Coast. The AP has called Vermont for President Barack Obama, Kentucky for Mitt Romney.

7:00 PM Stay tuned to this this forum to get all U.S. Election and local race results.