Today the presidential electors will meet in their respective state capitals and cast their electoral votes for President and Vice President. Most of the time they vote the way their state voted, but so-called "faithless electors," who do their own thing are not unheard of. In 1948, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2004 electoral votes were cast for someone other than the winner of the state election (see electoral votes in .csv format and Excel format). For the first time in over a century, the electors in one state are not even supposed to cast their electoral votes the same way. Barack Obama got 1 electoral vote in Nebraska, which will be cast by Obama supporter William Forsee, a high school biology teacher who lives in Omaha. The electoral votes will be counted by a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2009.
There is no news on the VA-05 recount in which Tom Perriello (D) went in leading Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) by 745 votes. Likewise, no news on the Minnesota Senate recount, in which the challenged ballots and especially the absentee ballots will play the determining role.
Like every other valuable commodity, a Senate seat has a market price. What is the market price of Obama's seat? Well, here is an economic analysis of what it might have brought had the seller gotten away with it.
The DSCC has cajoled Houston mayor Bill White (D) to run for the Texas Senate seat Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to vacate when she runs for governor of Texas in 2010. White has proved a powerful vote getter in the past, getting 86% of the vote for mayor in 2007. With such a popular figure running for an open seat, the Democrats have a shot at picking up this seat. As an aside, the list of 2010 Senate races is given on the Data galore page listed on the menu. The Texas race is not there yet because Hutchison has not formally announced her intention of resigning yet. The next regular election for the seat is in 2012, so if White runs, it will be for a 2-year term.