those members include a man named dave bratt who does not have to wait until january because the way his seat in congress is by beating eric cantor, the republican house majority leader in a republican primary in virginia for eric cantor's home seat. eric cantor then quit congress and that's what made that seat an open seat. that's why dave bratt was sworn in today so he can take his seat immediately until having to wait till january with everybody else. eric cantor's powerful staff in washington sort of cast to the four winds once mr. cantor unexpectedly lost that primary then quit congress. but having been through that whirlwind of anger and recrimination and surprise and shocking loss inside their own party, the eric cantor staff, i always thought, is in a particularly good spot. they've got a particularly good vantage point from which to see where the republican party is really coming from right now and where they might be going. joining us now a republican strategist former communications director for the republican party and most recently deputy chief of staff to majority leade

they are republican party candidate dave bratt and democrat jack trammell. both are procedures. >>> crossing the border into the district who will be the mayor? the race is much closer than years past. >> reporter: hello, i'm bruce johnson. key to the d.c. mayoral race is now the turnout. bowser is the overwhelming favorite in a town where eight of ten registered voters are democrat. she's got close to a half million dollars in the bank to move campaign workers around where they need to be. david ketanya is counting on independent voters and needs a third of the democrats to look his way. he is trying to become the first openly gay and the first white mayor in d.c. home rule history. as for carol schwartz she has practically no money left, no strategy, and according to most observers almost no chance of winning. >>> now, in addition to the mayor's race voters in the district will be deciding whether or not to legalize possession of small amounts of pot. if approved, d.c. would follow in the footsteps of washington state and colorado, and the city council vot

house speaker john boehner will swear in dave bratt during a ceremony in the capitol. he upset the longtime majority leader eric cantor in the primary. he went on to win the election in the seventh district by beating a fellow professor from randolph macon college. >>> right now, congress is back at work for the first time since the midterm election. topping the ambitious agenda, this afternoon, the senate will hold a hearing on the handling of the ebola crisis. this is the first hearing in the senate since the first u.s. case of ebola was diagnose signatured in dallas. >>> both the senate and house are back in session for the first time in weeks. for more on that, we're joined by mark murray nbc political editor. expecting to get anything done at all? >> there are some things that can get done but probably not as much as the previous lame duck after the republican had their big win in 2010. the chief items, one, just keeping the government open. they still have to pass something. so -- or the government will shut down. >> they used to do it for a whole year but in the

dave bratt and jack trammel. >> and now to the district where election officials say turnout has been moderate and improvement over the april primary. the mayoral matchup puts david catania and carol schwartz. bruce johnson has been visiting a number of polling precincts. the only poll that matters is the one today. >> we have been canvassing the city. right now we're in northeast washington off of south dakota avenue. this is the udc community college campus. its precinct, 66. and as of 3:00 p.m. this afternoon, some 873 votes have been cost here. they say as many as 1800, 1900, as much as 2,000 votes could be cast here before the polls close at 8:00 tonight. of course they are voting for mayor, two seats up on the d.c. council. they are voting for the first time for an attorney general and also legalizing marijuana. that's getting a lot of people out to the polls today. >> i want somebody that knows d.c. and also has a great plan for his future. >> he went to all the schools and talked to us and explained how he would fight for us. >> i voted for murrell bowser. >> i voted for mayor

about immigration and speaker john boehner swears in one of the newest congressman, virginia's dave bratt what beat eric cantor in the primary. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. ive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the well-crafted all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit and zero first month's payment on select new volkswagen models. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle

dave brat and jack camel sought bracketor's seat but brat can claim victory. the randolph college econprofessor received 61% of the vote to beat out his opponent. you may recall brattd off a surprise upset when he toppled eric cantor on a shoe string budget of a little more than a few hundred thousand dollars. that's the latest here. back to you. >>> only in today's -- all right. only in today's politics could $200,000 be a shoe string budget. thank you, leslie. >>> let's look at some of the latest numbers on some of the other big races in virginia, maryland, and dc. we start with the senate race in virginia between democratic incumbent mark warner and republican challenger ed gillespie. again, a lot closer than anyone ever expected and with 99 percent of the precincts reporting, looks like mark warner has 49% of the vote to ed gillespie's 48%. >> let's get to debra alfaron who has the latest from the headquarters there, mark warner. debra. >> no one thought it was going to be this close. so close, in fact, that maybe an election -- maybe they would have to have a recount, perhaps. that is certainly something not off the table at this point. we have heard that sena