5:05 - Former broadcaster Vince Marinello has been found guilty of second degree murder by a Lafayette jury.

5:00 - We have a verdict in for the trial. We are awaiting the decision.

4:35 - About an hour into their deliberations, jurors have sent back a question to the judge. It is not clear what the issue involves. Jurors have been deliberating since about 3:20 p.m.

>> Continue reading: Marinello murder trial updates

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Around 10 p.m., CBS has called the presidential race for Barack Obama.

>> Continue reading: CBS is calling the presidential race for Obama

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Rigamer feels confidant calling the state Supreme Court race for Greg Guidry.

>> Continue reading: Greg Guidry predicted winner

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Rigamer feels confidant that William Jefferson and Steve Scalise are both going to win. Jefferson is drawing too strong with black voters.

Scalise is winning handily in almost all of the parishes. This despite the fact that Harlan used a $1 million of his own money.

>> Continue reading: Calling the race for Scalise and Jefferson

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A short night for Leon Cannizzaro, who looks like he barely broke the sweat, as he is maintaining his large lead with black voters. While Capitelli is leading with white voters, Rigamer does not think that he is drawing enough to win.

>> Continue reading: Scatch that again -- Rigamer calls DA race for Cannizzaro

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Early numbers coming in don't look favorable for Ralph Capitelli.

Rigamer is starting to see a definitive pattern emerging, as Leon Cannizzaro is getting around 74 percent of black voters, while Capitelli is getting 55 to 60 percent of white voters.

This returns are similar to the primary, where Cannizzaro ran strong across the board.

>> Continue reading: Scratch that -- could be a long night for Capitelli

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Early numbers in the DA's race have Rigamer starting to think it might be a close race.

Last time, Leon Cannizzaro dominated the black vote. Rigamer said he needs to see results in predominately black precincts to see if a trend is emerging.

>> Continue reading: Early numbers have tight race for DA

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I asked Rigamer why Obama could not win a state like Louisiana, especially since it has a large black population. Many polls had Louisiana solidly for McCain.

Statewide, he said, black voters and GOP voters, are about the same size in number, which cancel one another out.

He felt that Obama would need to get around 35 percent of white voters to carry the state.

The same scenario is playing out in...

>> Continue reading: GOP and black voters cancel one another

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Talking with Rigamer becomes frustrating. He knows, or at least can predict with high certainty, what voters are going to do inside the voting booth. He says it is just math when calling the races.

Why?

Because we are creatures of habit, he says. GOP voters vote GOP, black voters vote black, and on and on. "When you go to the cafeteria, do you get the same stuff?" he asked me. To wit, I grumbled, "Yes."
>> Continue reading: It is just math? Or are humans that predictable?

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Last time, Cannizzaro was strong across the board with black voters and white voters. Rigamer said that all he needs to do is maintain to win.

But that was before Capitelli got the endorsement of Jason Williams, a black defense attorney who ran against both in the primary and has been glued to the hip of Capitelli since.

Captelli will need to cut into the black vote, said Rigamer. He will be looking at selecte...

>> Continue reading: Cannizzaro needs to maintain; Capitelli needs more black votes

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