Curt Brown reports:

Brian McClung, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's former spokesman who left to run the pro-Emmer Minnesota Forward group, emerged from the campaign war room and said Emmer "absolutely" had a chance to narrow Dayton's lead.

"Four years ago, Governor Pawlenty didn't lead until 2:30 a.m., so early results are interesting but but not final," McClung said. He said the voting glitch Hennepin County, Minnesota's largest spelled a 60,000 vote gain for Emmer, narrowing the lead to 5 points. "It's going to be a long night," McClung said. "The fact that the state's largest county made a 400,000 vote mistake is a concern. They say it's a phone line. Sounds like a Cook County phone line."