Gianforte Wins Montana Special Election

Greg Gianforte’s 7 percentage point win in the Montana special election keeps a seat in Republican hands, but fundamentally represents bad news for the GOP. The basic issue, as David Wasserman breaks down for the Cook Political Report, is that for prognostication purposes you don’t just want to know who wins or loses a special election — you want to know the margin.

Looking up at the large projection of vote totals in the ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday night, Montana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Essmann looked relaxed and promised, "It ain't gonna be close."