Polls closed across Iowa at 9 pm, and I will update this post periodically as results come in from around the states. Any comments related to today’s elections are welcome in this thread.

P.S.- As expected, Wisconsin Democrats fell short in their effort to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker.

UPDATE: Results are after the jump.  

Full vote totals and percentages are on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.

IA-01: Early returns show Rod Blum keeping it closer than expected with Republican establishment favorite Ben Lange. UPDATE: Wow, with nearly all the votes counted, Lange is leading Blum by only 52 percent to 47 percent. LATER UPDATE: I don’t think anyone expected this primary to be so close. With all but two precincts in, it’s Lange 52.8 percent, Blum 46.6 percent. FINAL: Lange 52.8 percent, Blum 46.6 percent. Imagine what might have happened if Blum had had a little more money to spend building his name recognition around the district.

IA-02: Early returns show John Archer ahead of Dan Dolan on the Republican side and Dave Loebsack way ahead of Joe Seng. UPDATE: With 255 of 425 precincts in, Loebsack has 86 percent of the vote, and Archer has a big lead on Dolan, 58 percent to 41 percent. LATER UPDATE: Loebsack’s share of the vote has dropped below 80 percent. Archer has a commanding lead in the GOP primary. FINAL: Loebsack 81.5 percent, Seng 18.3 percent. The incumbent was smart not to waste a lot of money on the primary campaign. On the Republican side, Archer finished with 60.5 percent of the vote, to 39.3 percent for Dolan. Was his message more appealing, or did he mainly benefit from having started building his name recognition on tv and radio sooner?

State Senate: Crawford County Supervisor Mark Segebart looks to be on track to win the GOP nomination in open Senate district 6. Governor Branstad had endorsed Carroll Mayor Adam Schweers. UPDATE: With all but one precinct in, Segebart has 46.6 percent to 40.3 percent for Schweers.

Dennis Guth defeated GOP establishment favorite James Black in the open Senate district 4. The Democratic nominee will be Bob Jennings.

In the open Senate district 10, where Democrats have no candidate, Jake Chapman easily wins the GOP primary with 65 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Matthew Mardesen.

Amy Sinclair will be the Republican nominee in the open Senate district 14, where Paul McKinley is retiring. Dick Schrad will be the Democratic candidate.

Jane Jech has a slight lead on Larry McKibben in the Senate district 36 GOP primary. Winner faces first-term Democrat Steve Sodders. UPDATE: Jech crushed McKibben. With all but two precincts in, she’s ahead 59 percent to 41 percent. That improves Democratic prospects for holding their Iowa Senate majority. Hard to see Sodders losing to Jech.

No results yet in Senate district 22. Incumbent Pat Ward defeats right-wing challenger Jeff Mullen easily in the Polk County precincts of Senate district 22. He’s competitive in the Dallas County part of the district, but Bleeding Heartland user albert notes in the comments that Ward is taking the lead even there. UPDATE: With most of the votes counted, Ward leads 58 percent to 42 percent. I hope Mullen’s supporters sulk and stay home in November.

With about half the precincts in, Shelley Parbs leads the three-way Democratic primary race in Senate district 38, where the winner faces first-term Republican Tim Kapucian. UPDATE: Parbs has 57 percent of the vote with only one precinct left to report.

Very early returns show Larry Kruse leading the GOP primary and Rich Taylor leading the Democratic primary in the open Senate district 42. UPDATE: It will be Taylor vs Kruse in this Democratic-leaning district.

In the clash of two GOP Senate incumbents, Jim Hahn leads Shawn Hamerlinck with about 20 percent of the precincts counted in Senate district 46. UPDATE: Hahn holding his lead with about half the precincts reported. The Democratic nominee for this district is Chris Brase. LATER UPDATE: Scott County reported and carried the day for Hamerlinck. He wins this primary with nearly 61 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Hahn.

Dan Zumbach will easily with the GOP primary in the open Senate district 48. The Democratic nominee will be Nate Willems.

Rita Hart defeated Dorothy O’Brien by nearly 54 percent to 46 percent in the Democratic primary for open Senate district 49. The GOP nominee is Andrew Naeve, who nearly won this Democratic-leaning area in 2010.

Former IA-01 Congressional candidate Will Johnson, a big Ron Paul supporter, won the GOP primary in Senate district 50 (Dubuque). He won’t stand a chance against first-term Democrat Pam Jochum.

On the Iowa House side:

Iowa House Republican Whip Erik Helland lost his primary to Jake Highfill in House district 39. That’s a big upset. Former State Representative Walt Tomenga, who represented part of this area before retiring in 2008, had publicly endorsed Highfill and slammed Helland.

LATER UPDATE: Helland was the only Iowa House GOP incumbent to lose to a primary challenger, not counting Sweeney (who lost to a fellow incumbent).

Pat Grassley is on track to defeat Annette Sweeney in Iowa House district 50. UPDATE: Not even close, Grassley 61 percent, Sweeney 39 percent. Will Bruce Rastetter still give huge sums of money to the House Republican Majority Fund?

Incumbent Jeff Smith will survive his primary challenge in House district 1. Ditto for Ron Jorgensen in House district 6, Greg Forristall in House district 22, Joel Fry in House district 27, and Jarad Klein in House district 78.

Henry Rayhons is barely ahead of his primary challenger, Bob Dishman, in House district 8. UPDATE: Rayhons holds on to win that primary. First-term incumbent Tom Shaw trails Maison Bleam in the early returns from House district 10. UPDATE: With almost all of the votes in, Shaw leads 64 percent to 36 percent.

Incumbent Cecil Dolecheck has a narrow lead with about a third of the precincts counted in House district 24. UPDATE: It turned out to be a blowout for Dolecheck, who received nearly 59 percent of the vote against Jane Jensen.

Julian Garrett looks on track to defeat his primary challenger in House district 25. UPDATE: Garrett wins with 59 percent of the vote.

In House district 26, the more conservative Republican Steve McCoy defeated Carlisle Mayor Ruth Randleman by nearly 56 percent to 44 percent in the GOP primary. Scott Ourth is the Democratic nominee in this open seat, where Glen Massie is retiring.

Republican House incumbent Kevin Koester also survived his primary challenge in House district 38.

None of the six Republican candidates won 35 percent of the vote in the open House district 37. Jim Robidoux fell just short with 34.4 percent. Matt DeVries was in second place with 29.7 percent. A district convention will decide the nomination.

Marti Anderson narrowly defeats Cara Kennedy-Ode in the three-way Democratic primary for House district 36. Janet Peterson vacated that district to run for the Iowa Senate. Jeff Ibbotson wins the three-way Republican primary in that district but probably has no chance against Anderson in the general.

Jim Carley wins the GOP nomination in the new House district 30, where Kim Pearson retired. Carley faces Democratic nominee Joe Riding in the general.

Michael Klimesh wins the three-way GOP primary in House district 55. He’ll face Democratic incumbent Roger Thomas.

In the open Iowa House district 72, where Republican Lance Horbach is retiring, Nathan Wrage won the Democratic primary against Cristina Blackcloud-Garcia by 53.6 percent to 46.1 percent. I believe Blackcloud-Garcia is the first Native-American woman to run for the Iowa legislature. Wrage will face Republican Dean Fisher in the general.

David Johnson and Dick Schwab are neck and neck in the Democratic primary in House district 73. The winner faces Bobby Kaufmann, son of retiring GOP House Speaker Pro-Tem Jeff Kaufmann. LATE UPDATE: Final results: Schwab nearly 57 percent, Johnson 43 percent. We will see whether Johnson was right when he warned that a candidate from Johnson County (Schwab) would struggle in a district where more constituents live in Cedar County.

In the open House district 76, David Maxwell won the GOP primary by a 2-1 margin over Larry Wilson. He’ll face Grinnell City Council member Rachel Bly in the general.

Megan Hess won the GOP primary in the open House district 2, defeating Josh Davenport by nearly 54 percent to 46 percent. She’ll be heavily favored to beat Democrat Steve Bomgaars this November. This was a test of strength for various conservative interest groups in a heavily Republican part of northwest Iowa.

Both candidates reside in Spencer. Davenport is a pastor. Hess is a recent law school graduate who has worked in the Iowa and Minnesota legislatures and assisted Congressman Steve King and Senator Chuck Grassley. Iowa Gun Owners and Iowa Liberty PAC support Davenport. He also has the backing of House members Kim Pearson and Tom Shaw. The NRA endorsed Hess. Iowa Right to Life supports both candidates.

In more open-seat results, Greg Heartsill won big (3-1 margin) in the GOP primary to represent House district 28. He’ll face Democrat Megan Day Suhr this November.

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller easily defeated two Democratic primary challengers, winning 58 percent of the vote.

But Johnson County Auditor Tom Slockett trails his Democratic primary challenger Travis Weipert. UPDATE: Slockett conceded. It’s rare for a 35-year incumbent to lose a primary.