Political parties still waiting for Monroe County results

Four hours after Monroe County's polls closed, Franklin Andrew tightly held his choice drink of the night -- Red Bull. \n"I'm tired," said the Chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party Tuesday night at the GOP's reception at City Grille. "Sleep deprivation -- I've gotten six hours of sleep in the past three nights."\nAnd with just 32 percent of the county's precincts reporting totals at 11 p.m. Tuesday, Andrew prepared himself for another night with little sleep and at least five more Red Bulls. \n"If they're done (counting votes) by 8 in the morning, I'll be surprised," he said. \nAt press time, Democratic candidates led in six of nine major Monroe County races with 31 of 96 precincts reporting. But the incomplete local results did not stop the Democrats from celebrating, nor some of the Republicans from going home to sleep with hopes they would awake to completed results.\nOnce the polls closed, noise and excitement only grew larger at Monroe County Democratic Party headquarters as election \nresults swung in favor of the Democrats.\nOnce the 9th District congressional race was called in favor of Democratic candidate Baron Hill shortly after 10 p.m., the beer and champagne continued to flow for the packed room full of screaming and jumping Democrats. A few of them were even crying in happiness for the eventual swing of the U.S. House of Representatives toward Democratic control.\n"People think if (Hill) can win in this close of a race, then all House races will go towards the Democrats," said IU College Democrats President Emma Cullen.\nAs more numbers revealed Democratic leads in local races, the energy in the tightly packed building continued to rise.\n"It's huge," Cullen said of the Democrats' big wins, which she said were a result of high voter turnout. "Every race that was a toss up for Indiana has been won. The counties we thought would be Republican went Baron Hill."\nThe Republicans were less celebratory during the evening, blurting shouts of enthusiasm when a few of their local candidates took preliminary leads. \n"It ain't looking good," said Republican county commissioner candidate Jeff Ellington. \nEarly in the evening, Ellington reviewed preliminary results from typically conservative-leaning precincts and concluded his opponent, Patrick Stoffers, was winning more votes than anticipated. "Those are votes I can't afford to lose."\nGOP campaign volunteer Alicia Graves was a little more optimistic. \n"I think the Republican Party will win all the major races," she said early in the evening. "I feel like we're sitting good, not comfortably, but good."\nBy the evening's end, Republicans said they still didn't feel defeated because the majority of the precincts had not reported. They believed the ones already tallied typically lean toward the Democrats.\nJohn Yaggi, field organizer for the Democrats, said he expects the Democratic Party to take the House back, forcing the Bush administration to check on its effectiveness. \n"I think Democrats are going to be pushing real issues the Republicans have forgotten about in the last six years," he said.\n"It's always a good year to be a Democrat, but this is a great year to be a Democrat," said Dan Combs, a township trustee candidate and former Monroe County Democratic Party chairman.\n"There's going to be one or two disappointments, but it's a tsunami locally," he said.\nDemocratic prosecuting attorney candidate Chris Gaal would not make any predictions in his own race, although he was winning by 12 percent at press time.\n"I've never seen so much energy in this place," Gaal said. "Things are swinging Democratic. I think it signals a much needed change in this country. That's what I hope"