Celebrity Chef Stirs Up SC Senate Race

Barbara Boxer, Rand Paul win; Christine O'Donnell, Linda McMahon lose

(AP) - They may have lost the House, but Democrats will keep control of the Senate, barely. In big blue victories to help seal it, Harry Reid held off Sharron Angle in Nevada, while Joe Manchin won in West Virginia and Barbara Boxer in California. Earlier, Rand Paul (Kentucky), Marco Rubio (Florida), and Mike Lee (Utah) racked up tea party victories, but Christine O'Donnell couldn't overtake Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware. Elsewhere:

• Democrat Richard Blumenthal defeated Linda McMahon in Connecticut.
• Republicans have flipped six seats: John Boozman beat incumbent Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, and Ron Johnson beat incumbent Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, while Dan Coats (Indiana), John Hoeven (North Dakota), and Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania) won open seats. (Toomey beat Joe Sestak.) In Illinois, Mark Kirk took President Obama's old seat.
• Republican David Vitter fended off a tough challenge from Rep. Charlie Melancon in Louisiana.

Alvin Greene, Meg Whitman, Christine O'Donnell, oh my!

(NEWSER) - The crazies have come pouring out of the woodwork, writes Gail Collins in a survey of the 2010 election landscape. Sure, not much is new about Carl Paladino and Andrew Cuomo frustrating New Yorkers' simple dream "of having a governor whose sex life is a complete mystery," but head down to South Carolina, where "the most impossible Republican in the Senate," Jim DeMint, is looking pretty good next to "apparently delusional Democrat" Alvin Greene. Tough choice, South Carolina. More»

Weird Democratic candidate faces felony charge

(AP) - Longshot US Senate candidate Alvin Greene was indicted today on two charges, including a felony charge of showing pornography to a South Carolina college student. A Richland County grand jury indicted Green for disseminating, procuring, or promoting obscenity—a felony—as well as a misdemeanor charge of communicating obscene materials to a person without consent. More»

Senate candidate from South Carolina releases video so amazing it hurts

(NEWSER) - Alvin Greene has just launched his first campaign video, and it is priceless. Titled "Alvin Greene Is on the Scene," the video features a dopey hip-hop mix, with some choice lyrics like, "Well Greene's a new face in politics / And he don't show porno to college chicks ." Or how about: "Alvin Greene is the one for you / He knows how you feel because he's unemployed, too." More»

GOP can't complain if Alvin Greene somehow wins

(NEWSER) - "Joe the Plumber, meet Alvin the Gump." So writes Kathleen Parker, who sees parallels between South Carolina's Alvin Greene and Forrest Gump (as well as Chauncey the Gardner from Being There). No one can quite believe that Greene became the Democratic candidate for Senate on his own, with nothing to "recommend him but sheer dumb luck" and maybe an alphabetized ballot, Parker writes in the Washington Post . More»