The Big Day
November 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Election Day is here at last. Election officials are expecting huge turnout across the state. Texas, of course, isn’t in play in the presidential race, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is expected to capture a second term. But there’s a lot at stake in down-ballot state races today.
We’ll bring you updates throughout the late afternoon and evening. We have reporters covering the election in Houston, Dallas, Brownsville, and Austin.
Perhaps the biggest prize is the Texas House. Democrats need to gain five seats today to reclaim a majority in the 150-seat chamber and end the speakership of Midland Republican Tom Craddick. A five-seat pickup would give Democrats a 76-74 advantage. A few weeks ago, that seemed a longshot, though party activists have become increasingly confident recently that they can pull it off. Democrats seem likely to gain 2-5 seats in the House (one interesting scenario would be a four-seat pickup that would result in a 75-75 tie). You can read our breakdown of the hottest Texas House races here. In our Nov. 28 print issue, reporter Patti Kilday Hart will chronicle the speaker’s race that starts, with backroom meetings and politicking, as soon as the results are in.
Republicans will retain control of the Texas Senate, though Democrats hope to pick up two or three Senate seats: in Fort Worth, Wendy Davis may topple Sen. Kim Brimer; in southeast Texas, Sen. Mike Jackson has a tough race with attorney Joe Jaworski; and in a special election to replace Sen. Kyle Janek in suburban Houston, former gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell is running against four opponents, including three Republicans.
There are four close Congressional races to keep an eye on (details here).
We’ll also be watching three contested races for the Texas Supreme Court. Republicans currently hold all nine Supreme Court seats.
And then there are the big-picture questions: How many of the nearly three million Democratic primary voters will return for the general? Will Obama supporters vote for down-ballot Democrats? Will Republicans hold on to power in Harris County?
We’ll have answers to some of these questions in a few hours.
