a democrat named liz mathis. and perhaps they picked her because they were treated to calls like this against her. >> so before you support liz mathis, call her and ask her which homosexual sex act she endorses. >> yes, that's how the campaign went in iowa. we'll have more on that coming up later in the show tonight. so the democrat won that race in iowa. the democrats, there, hold on to the state senate in iowa. and the genius republican plan by the genius republican governor there is foiled. that happened in iowa. even though there was national focus on ballot measures in a few different states last night, off-the-radar places like iowa and new jersey and kentucky had some pretty striking results. in kentucky, a number of statewide office holders were up for election, and it was nearly a clean sweep for the democrats, in kentucky. democratic governor steve bashir and abramsome won re-election by a 20-point margin. the state auditor's race and the attorney general's race, despite some big national guns weighing

mvinst cindy golding, some unsuspecting iowa residents picked up their phones and heard this. >> liz mathiscall her at -- and ask her which homosexual sex act she endorses. >> no one has been able to figure out who was behind that call. this group, citizens for honesty and sound marriage, chasm, theyá don't have a website.qçó a local reporter tried to trace their number and didn't come up with anything. the republican campaign for that senate race said they had nothing to do with it. the national organization for marriage, better known as nom j"átk did get involved in this race on the side of the republican candidate, they also disavowed this anti-gay robo call. but it'sm6á call her up and ask her which ei gay sex act she's in favor of. the beltway keeps telling us this year that conservatives are over all the social issues, anti-gay stuff. that was karl rove era, that was bush administration era.w3 they're all over that now. iscal e all over that now. tóáuqáy really? ask iowa about that. ask maine. >>> best new thing in the world today? confirmation ofe1xd the long-standing but not defamat

tonight, democrats have held on to their majority, associated senate calling the raze for democrat liz mathis against the republican, cindy golding. another race keeping our eye on, san francisco, ed lee has been interim mayor since gavin newsome left to become california's lieutenant-governor. and facing 15 different challengers in san francisco. if he elected today he will be the first asian mayor. heavily asian there and chinese. and he would become the only mayor elected in part due to a video endorsement that looks like this. ♪ thank you for blessing me and the rest of the city with ed lee. only 5'5" and gets everything done. see the moustache ♪ 2 legit 2 quit. ed lee. >> i think the floating moustache is a little scary. very early returns in from san francisco showing ed leeway ahead. at this point those are just early returns. the most closely watched race across the kris an effort to repeal what ohio republicans did early this year when they stripped union rights. and a yes vote would have left what the republicans did in place with a yes vote and no vote would repeal what republicans

it is republican cindy golding in that race against democrat liz mathis. that's special election tonight in iowa with very, very broad statewide consequences. polls just closed on that. we're waiting on preliminary results there. another race we're keeping an eye on is the mayoral race in san francisco. ed lee has been the interim mayor of san francisco since gavin newsom became lieutenant governor of california. ed lee facing 15 different challengers tonight. if he is elected today, he will be san francisco's first asian mayor. san francisco a heavily asian-american, particularly chinese-american city. ed lee will also be the only mayor in the country elected in part due to a video endorsement that is anything at all like this. ♪ thank you for blessing me and the rest of the city with mayor ed lee ♪ ♪ too legit to quit ♪ ed lee >> let the record show that was emc m.c. hammer but not doing the dance, himself. we're waiting on the mayor race results tonight. the most closely watched race is where we're getting the live shot right now. the effort to repeal w

this was a big fight when former television anchor liz mathis beat her republican opponent by a 56-44ine, the middle class defeated a republican effort to restrict voters' rights. same-day registration. they beat it back in maine. and over in new jersey, the coattails of the big guy, well, it didn't help any of the republicans he endorsed last night. they all lost. in mitch mcconnell's state of kentucky, democrats won big. democratic governor steve beshear trounced his republican opponent to win re-election. john kasich is crying in his beer after americans killed the bill. arizona, michigan, iowa, maine, new jersey, and ohio all have radical right-wing republican governors who have absolutely attacked workers to balance their budgets. middle class voters who were asleep at the switch maybe in 2010 or the midterm, guess what, they're awake now in 2011. the question is, will the democrats recognize that the tide's coming in on a possible sea change in america? can they keep the momentum going? joining me now is senator bernie sanders, independent from vermont. great to have you with us

on monday, she will become a full-fledged member of the iowa senate, a special warm welcome to liz mathis. [applause] i also what -- i also want to welcome mike fitzgerald. the line they hold on that executive council is so important. thank you. you are going to hear more from them later this evening, but you cannot mention too often our congressman. [applause] when the voters of senate district 18 elected liz earlier this month, it was not just a win for democrats. i believe it was a victory for the state of iowa. it showed how effective the democratic message is and how organized we are. it is why and how we will win in 2012. there is no doubt that we have a lot on our plates in 2012. we must expand the majority in the iowa senate. we must break the grip of tea party republicans from the iowa house. we must send for democrats to congress. -- four democrats to congress. we must reelect barack obama as president of the united states. those are not goals of this organization and the people in this room, those are the imperatives. some people look at that as a lot of work i look at it as a