Mourdock Takes Commanding Lead In Senate Race

UPDATE: AP Declares Mourdock The Winner
Richard Mourdock has jumped to a commanding lead over Sen. Richard Lugar with about 5% of the votes tabulated. Mourdock is leading 61-39%. Those numbers are a bit misleading as many of those votes are from rural areas. Big numbers are yet to be reported in Marion and Hamilton Counties.

UPDATE: You can stick a fork in Lugar. Early numbers show Mourdock running neck-and-neck with Lugar in Marion County, which Lugar had to win by a substantial margin to overcome the huge margins Mourdock is winning by in most of the state's counties. Early returns from Lake County show Mourdock beating Lugar there by a 60-40% margin. Mourdock is winning by similar margins in Hancock and Hendricks Counties, two suburban counties bordering Indianapolis where Lugar had to perform well to defeat Mourdock. The two are running close in Boone County, another suburban Indianapolis county where Lugar had to run well. Mourdock is getting 60% of the vote in Allen County and 58% of the vote in St. Joseph County up north. The two candidates are running nearly even in Madison County. Mourdock is carrying Vigo County easily with about 57% of the vote. Mourdock is carrying Elkhart County with about 53% of the vote and over 80% of the vote in LaGrange.

UPDATE (7:48 p.m.)-The AP just called the race for Mourdock as he continues to hold a 60-40% lead in the statewide count. Some of the margins that Mourdock is winning by around the state are incredible. Astonishingly, it looks like Lugar will carry Marion County with less than 55% of the vote.