throughout America who have given us this great victory.
And I thank Ronald Reagan.
I thank him for turning our country around
and for being my friend and for going the extra mile
on the hustings.
It was just like him.
He is simply one of the most decent men I have ever met.
The vice president-elect, Dan Quayle,
thrust into the national spotlight
by George Bush at the GOP convention this summer,
watched the returns at a Washington hotel,
and then spoke to the Republican convention in celebration
about the evening's victory.
Two years of campaigning, an untold number of debates,
news conferences, crisscrossing the country week after week.
The times a bitter and dirty general election campaign,
but in a race someone has to lose.
Tonight, Michael Dukakis accepted defeat
as he addressed a disappointed crowd of supporters in Boston.
Just a few minutes ago, I called Vice President Bush
and congratulated him on his victory.
Oh!
And I know I speak for all of you
and for all the American people when
I say that he will be our president
and we'll work with him.
This nation faces major challenges ahead
and we must work together.
We have three ways to tally the votes for you.
First of all, let's look at how Americans voted
across the nation today.
So far, with 54% to 46%, Bush leading Dukakis 31 million
to 26 million votes.
The important votes also in the electoral college,
538 electoral college votes up for grabs, 270 needed to elect.
At 617 this evening, CBS projected
that George Bush had the 270 votes he needed.
Right now, he stands at 333.
Dukakis has 80.
How do we vote here in California so far?
We have with just 7% of the precincts reporting,
59% for Bush and 39% for Michael Dukakis.
Well, Ted, Republicans may have won the White House,
but the Democrats have held their lead in the Senate.
Before tonight's elections, Democrats held 54 seats
in the Senate.
It appears they will continue to hold that majority.
Let's take a look at that board.
So far, Democrats have 17.
Republicans have nine new seats.
Well, returns are just coming in in the California Senate race.
Alan Dean is standing by lie that the Secretary of State's
office, where all the returns are being calculated tonight.
Al, what's the situation?
There was a holdup earlier this evening due to a court order
in Alameda County.
Is that correct?
You bet there was.
There was a lot of excitement going on here tonight
at election headquarters, all in the last couple hours,
and more than just counting votes.
About two hours ago, a judge in the Bay Area
ordered a polling place to stay open there until 10 o'clock.
The lights had gone out.
People believed it was closed.
The judge said, give them a couple extra two hours.
At 9 o'clock, that all changed.
The polling places were closed.
The judge changed his mind, meaning
that we have numbers from statewide races all over.
And the numbers that we'll show you now
are from the US Senate race between Pete Wilson
and Leo McCarthy.
With 8% of the vote in, the incumbent senator
from San Diego is leading with 60% of the vote,
Leo McCarthy coming in with 35%, 5% spread
between a few other people.
The big story in California, it appears, though,
is voter turnout.
We are seeing more than 75% or predictions of 75%
statewide.
In Sacramento County, it's even higher than that.
That started with big crowds this morning,
but then this afternoon, we were hit with a lull.
Woo!
But with nightfall, the Get Out and Vote campaign
picked up momentum.
Both parties were out in force.
You know how critical California is to the
Democratic caucus, and we really need your help.
Democrats and Republicans were knocking on doors
asking you to determine the future.
That's been recalled.
Beautiful stuff.