BREAKING: Lincoln Survives Runoff

In the second marquee race of the night, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) proved nearly everybody wrong and edged out Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D)--who ran to her left--in the runoff for the Democratic nomination.

With 85 percent of precincts reporting, Lincoln has 51.8% to Halter's 48.2%.

Lincoln was left for dead by many pundits and Democrats in Arkansas, Washington, and across the country even as of earlier today.

But her campaign, boosted by a visit from Bill Clinton, overcame a number of expensive attacks from outsider organized labor groups. The story tomorrow will probably be either that outside groups may not be as powerful or influential as local interests OR that the progressive grassroots movement isn't as strong or enthusiastic as the Tea Party movement.

Lincoln will start off as the underdog in the general election, where she will face Rep. John Boozman (R).