Republican candidate Greg Gianforte body slams a reporter

Well, that doesn't mean they approve of his actions from last night.

Bozeman, Montana (CNN) Votes are being tallied in Montana's special election for the open US House seat, capping off a whirlwind final 36 hours that saw one of the candidates accused of assaulting a reporter.

With 56% of precincts reporting, Gianforte has 119,498 votes -- or 49.9% of the vote, compared to Quist who has 105,899 votes -- 44.2% of the vote, according to Edison Research.

75% Precincts Reporting, 285,789 Total Vote

Greg Gianforte (Republican) 51.1% 146,038
Rob Quist (Democratic) 43.1% 123,158

Well, maybe not. But it does mean they don't disapprove, certainly not to the extent that they think he should have dropped out of the race, eh?

MISSOULA, Montana — Republican candidate Greg Gianforte’s alleged “body slam” of a reporter Wednesday night might have shaken up expectations for a special election for Montana’s single seat in the House, but a large percentage of those expected to vote have already turned in their ballots.

As of Wednesday night, 259,558 ballots have been returned, said Derek J. Oestreicher, the Director of Elections and Voter Services in the Office of the Montana Secretary of State. That number is of 357,596 absentee ballots sent out, meaning about 73 percent of absentee ballots are in.

Since audio of the scuffle surfaced, Montana’s Secretary of State office has been getting calls and questions asking if voters can come in and change their vote. Under Montana law, however, ballots that have mailed in and received by county election administrators are considered votes received and cannot be changed.

Since audio of the scuffle surfaced, Montana’s Secretary of State office has been getting calls and questions asking if voters can come in and change their vote.

Do you want the news or not? I mean you can be in a little bubble of people who only espouse the point of view that you agree with. That's up to you. Lots of people live that way, never hearing alternative sides of a story or updates that pertain to the events of the day...

Oh, "getting calls," eh? How many, ya figure? 10? 20? 100? Hundreds of thousands?

Quote:

Oh, "getting calls," eh? How many, ya figure? 10? 20? 100? Hundreds of thousands?

I strongly suspect that the vast majority of voters knew their early votes could not be changed. There would be no point in requesting to change your vote, if you knew it was not allowed

That said, here's what I "strongly suspect:" Voters in Montana don't give a rat's ass if some cheese-eating limey intruder gets his ass roughed up.

Neither you or I can really know how many voters would change their vote if the law permitted them to do so.

Yeah, I agree, which was my basic point. Who knows? But I haven't seen any expressions of regret coming from Montana voters after he was elected, have you?

I am curious on what's being said in the local media in Montana as oppose to the national media in regard to voters regrets.

Two men are being hailed as heroes after they were killed while trying to stop a man from abusing two young women on a train in Portland, Oregon, because they appeared to be Muslim.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, of North Portland, allegedly attacked the men on a MAX train at the Hollywood Transit Station at 4:30 p.m. Friday. He was charged with offenses including two counts of aggravated murder over the incident, which occurred hours before the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Witnesses said at least one of the women the suspect targeted was wearing a hijab, and it appeared the abuse was religiously and racially motivated. Christian is known to locals and authorities as an active white supremacist.

Gianforte liked the reporter and was trying to "slam dance" with him.

'how to joke'