Polls close and the waiting begins in race for governor

Update 11:09 p.m.: Handel just spoke to supporters. Her voice sounds a little hoarse, understandably as it’s been a long day.

“What an incredible, incredible night,” she said. “I came down here to say thank you. You’ve been following all the numbers. I think it’s going to be a little bit longer. There are a lot of absentee ballots still out there to be counted. Keep our fingers crossed and be optimistic.

“This is a great, great campaign. We remember when we started that no one, no one thought we’d be able to come this far. I feel optimistic. There are a lot of absentee ballots out there.”

She thanked her staff, her husband Steve and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

“We’ll stay optimistic the rest of the night,” she said. “Let’s be optimistic, keep the faith and party on!”

Update 11:04 p.m. Deal just spoke to supporters. Handel is coming down soon.

Here’s what Deal said:

“If I’d worked a little harder, you wouldn’t have had to stay here all night.  We’re still waiting,. We’re still ahead in the numbers. We are encouraged at the totals we’ve seen. We hope they will hold. We look forward to seeing the conclusion of it (the runoff I guess) in the very near future.”

Update 10:58 p.m.: The Associated Press has decided that — surprise! — the race is really close and they’re not going to declare a winner tonight.

That’s not surprising, as it’s been clear for some time that Handel would have to sweep almost all of the outstanding vote to overtake Deal.

But it’s also increasingly likely that the margin for Deal tonight will be within the 1 percent, which would allow for a recount, should Handel so desire.

Update 10:46 p.m.: Handel spokesman Dan McLagan just held an impromptu news conference in a corner of the W Hotel’s ballroom.

His spin? More than 3,700 absentee ballots have yet to be counted in Fulton County, and another 3,000 are uncounted in Gwinnett. They reasonably expect a good many of those to go to Handel.

“We had a robust absentee program in Fulton County,” he said. “Deal didn’t have one at all.”

McLagan said Handel will likely come speak to supporters around 11 p.m., but he said he has not spoken with her about the possibility of a recount.

State law says that if a candidate loses by 1 percent or less, that candidate can demand a recount.

Update 10;23 p.m.: Another Fulton County note. With 32 percent of precincts reporting, according to the secretary of state’s Web site, Deal has 11,177 votes there.

In the primary, when there were five more candidates running, Deal took 4,959 votes.

Handel? In the primary she won 26,345 votes in her home county. Thus far tonight, she’s at 27,664.

Update 10:16 p.m.: You might not care at the moment, but all of DeKalb is now in.

As expected, turnout in the Democratic-heavy county was low, says the AJC’s Megan Matteucci. Only about 35,000 of DeKalb’s 448,500 registered voters cast ballots.

Sixty-one percent of those went to Handel.

DeKalb’s elections director, Maxine Daniels, said this wasn’t the lowest turnout she has ever seen. In December, the county reported 4 percent turnout for a local runoff.

Update 10:09 p.m.: Deal just came down and spoke to his supporters in Gainesville.

“It’s too early to know if we’re going to win. There are still some precincts in important areas that are out,” he said.

Update 10:04 p.m.: For comparison’s sake as we all await Fulton County results, that county turned out 42,407 votes in the July 20 Republican primary for governor.

So far today, Fulton County has reported 83 percent of votes actually cast today. That total?36,471.

For whatever that’s worth.

Update 9:39 p.m.: Handel’s supporters are growing optimistic. While Deal still leads by roughly 9,000 votes with 80 percent of precincts reporting, Fulton County is still largely absent while Hall County has reported 99 percent of its precincts.

In Fulton, where Handel is, and must, win big, about two-thirds of the votes actually cast today have been reported. But 0 percent of early and absentee ballots have been.

Overall, Fulton County reports only a quarter of its total precincts as being counted.

Update 9:13 p.m.: It’s tighter than a tick now, with more than 70 percent reporting. Deal has an almost 8,000-vote lead. Nearly 475,000 votes have been cast.

Update 8:52 p.m.: It’s starting to look more and more like the candidates’ home counties could decide this.

With 11 percent of the precincts reporting, Handel has a 6,200-vote lead in Fulton County. In Deal’s home of Hall County, Deal leads by 6,000 votes with 20 percent reporting.

Overall, with 69 percent of precincts statewide, Deal has a 9,000-vote margin.

Update 8:25 p.m. Now with 39 percent of precincts in, Deal is leading 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent.

We’ve gotten the first few precincts from Fulton County, which could represent early and absentee voting. Handel, as expected, is leading big there, 4,196 votes to 1,629 votes for Deal.

In DeKalb, 37 percent of precincts are in and turnout appears miserably low — only 1,817 votes with Handel leading 1,111 to 706.

Update 8:07 p.m. Deal just came out and spoke to reporters at the Gainesville Civic Center. Here’s a tastes of what he said.

On why folks are voting for him. “I think because they finally looked at several things. One is who has the best experience and is the most qualified to be governor of this state. And from a Republican point of view, who has the best chance of winning in November. I think that is the critical question people have been asking.”

On people swinging to him because of perceptions that Handel has run a negative campaign: campaign:

“I think there has been (a reaction). We have seen people who have left her camp, openly left her camp to come our way and it’s all attributed to the extreme negative campaigning and character-type assassinations.”

Re: turnout

“From all indications, we have had a very strong turnout in Hall County and that is going to be a big help to us. We are grateful our friends are coming back to the polls.”

“It’s easy on a hot day like this to not come back to the polls. We think we are going to get more than our share of swing voters who cast their votes for other people but are now coming our way.”

Re: Would he endorse Handel:

“I think candidates have to make their own decisions if they are going to support their opponents in a final go-around. That is certainly something I will have to consider as I am sure she will have to consider.”

Update 8:03 p.m. Deal now up by 2,500 votes with 26 percent reporting. Huge important note, however: Not a single vote reported from Fulton County yet. Hall County, Deal’s home, reporting 2 percent of precincts and he is, of course, ahead there.

Update 7:58 p.m.: And now, with 20 percent of the precincts reporting, Deal is has his first lead.

Update 7:55 p.m. Wow. With 18 percent of the votes counted, Handel and Deal are separated by 40 votes. Handel ahead.

Update 7:47 p.m.: Deal is speaking with a few reporters now. We’ll share his thoughts when it’s done.

The latest count shows Handel with a 1,000-vote lead, 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent.

It’s really tight in Cobb: 3,852 votes for Handel and 3,175 for Deal with 7 percent reporting.

Update 7:38 p.m.: It’s a late-arriving crowd in Buckhead and in Gainesville. Deal is expected to arrive at the Gainesville Civic Center at 8 p.m. We’ll update with comments if he speaks.

Results are starting to come in. Although it’s only 1 percent reporting, Deal is leading in Gwinnett, a county Handel has to carry. Conversely, Handel is absolutely crushing Deal in Cherokee County.

Nothing yet from Deal’s home county of Hall or Handel’s home county of Fulton.

Overall, Handel is leading 52 percent to 48 percent with 10 percent reporting.

Original post: It’s 7  p.m., do you know where your GOP candidate is? Or, perhaps more accurately, who it is?

The answer to the latter question still is “no.” But we should all learn in the next few hours as counties begin reporting results in the Republican runoff for governor.

Karen Handel’s campaign is set up at the swank W Hotel in Buckhead, while Nathan Deal is staying close to home at the Gainesville Civic Center.

The typical protocol for these things is that the candidates will make an appearance at some point early in the evening to rally the faithful and then disappear until the results are in.

Stay tuned.