An Election Day marked by confusion, celebration and dramatic changes in momentum kept voters of the nation on the edge of their seats as the lead in the presidential race shifted between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush.

At press time, tentative numbers indicated that Bush held a slight lead over Gore, with 246 and 242 electoral votes respectively. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win, and several states, including Iowa, had not cast their electoral votes.

With 94 percent of the precincts in Iowa reporting, Gore held on to a 49 percent to 48 percent lead over Bush in the state. Preliminary figures also indicated that Green Party candidate Ralph Nader received 2 percent and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan garnered 1 percent.

Without Iowa’s seven electoral votes accounted for, local political leaders spent Tuesday encouraging Story County citizens to vote and monitoring the progress of the election returns.

“It looks like Iowa is going to be for Gore,” said Jan Bauer, chairwoman of the Story County Democratic Party.

Molly Scherrman, member of the ISU Democrats, said the student support of Gore has been “unbelievable.”

“Everyone’s pretty happy right now,” said Scherrman, sophomore in psychology. “He had a lot of students in here working hard. I think Story County all over is pulling for Gore.”

As the advantage shifted between Gore and Bush, the Republican Party of Story County remained optimistic.

“The atmosphere is ecstatic here,” said Jim Kurtenbach, chairman of the county Republican party. “[Iowans] tend to think and focus on what is best for Iowans, and Republicans give Iowans that opportunity. It is best for this nation if the Republicans are in command because they let the local issues land with the local people.”

Jason Darrah, chairman of the College Republicans, said the nation’s well-being hinges on Republican leadership.

“I think they have the ideas and the visions that will carry this country in the future to ensure our prosperity,” said Darrah, senior in political science.

In local elections, Democratic incumbent Leonard Boswell defeated Republican candidate Jay Marcus for the U.S. Representative, third district, taking more than 60 percent of the vote.

“Leonard represents the district very well, and he ran a positive campaign,” Bauer said. “I think that was reflected in the numbers.”

Another Democratic incumbent, Jane Greimann of Ames, was re-elected to the state House of Representatives for the 61st district, defeating another Ames candidate, Republican candidate Steve Halloran. Greimann received about 54 percent support, Halloran received about 43 percent and Libertarian candidate Eric Cooper, ISU associate professor of psychology, received more than 2 percent.

“I definitely want to be sure that we do something for our students and teachers and make sure our regent institutions are remembered better than they were last year at budget time,” said Greimann, who will begin her second term as a representative in January. “We need to sit down, set priorities, look at the budget and get to work.”

Republican Barbara Finch of Ames defeated Democratic incumbent Dennis Parmenter of Cambridge in the state representative race for the 62nd district. Finch garnered about 55 percent of the vote.

“Now that I am elected, I challenge people to be involved in the process,” Finch said.

Another Republican, Ames resident Mary Mosiman, beat out Democratic incumbent Judy Emmons in the Story County auditor’s office with almost 59 percent of the vote.

“I am the eternal optimist, and I knew our chances against any incumbent were slim to none,” Kurtenbach said. “We soundly defeated them and came very close to winning in the other races.”

Democratic incumbent Paul Fitzgerald defeated Republican Terry Stark for sheriff, and Democrat Wayne Clinton beat Gary Titus for county supervisor.

“Paul has modernized Story County law enforcement, taking a proactive approach,” Bauer said.

“Wayne has worked hard in his campaign, and as a middle school teacher, he has been such a positive role model,” she said.