This story first ran 11/13/2012, on Dane101.com

It seemed like it would be a celebration and a rare coming-together for Dane County’s political minority: Republicans.

On Election Day evening about 70 people gathered at the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Madison to watch Fox News’ election returns and cheer on the Republican ticket. Had Republican Chad Lee won the race for the 2nd Congressional District, it would have been his victory party. As it was, it was a gathering for Republicans who, many of them said, tended not to gather.

Dane County Republican chair Mike Herl greeted the crowd cheerfully just before 8:30 p.m., shortly after polls had closed in Wisconsin.

“What I love about this is 75 percent of the people in this room, I don’t even know,” Herl said. (read full text)