Daily - The Austin Chronicle (2024)

We're digging through the state results. Of interest:

In Congressional District 10, Democrat Ted Ankrum did refreshingly well against incumbent Michael McCaul. With almost all votes counted, Ankrum, in a conservative district stretching from West Lake Hills to suburban Houston, has pulled in 41% of the vote, vs. McCaul's 54%. Austinite Michael Badnarik – the Libertarian Party's nominee for U.S. president in 2004 – drew 4%.

The threat to conservative Democrat Chet Edwards in CD 17 never materialized – he took 59% in President Bush's home congressional district.

Close the door on the Tom DeLay era: Democrat Nick Lampson will take his old seat, his 50% holding off the write-in campaign of Houston City Council Member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who pulled 43%. Lampson will have to be a mighty conservative Democrat – if Gibbs can do that well as a write-in, she could smoke him when her name is actually on the ballot.

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The Travis County Republican Party's "No Blue Dot" campaign (referring to Travis County's tendency to appear as a blue Democratic Dot on Republican red Texas election maps) has failed miserably.

It took until nearly midnight, but with all 46 precincts reporting, Democrat Valinda Bolton has defeated Republican Bill Welch in state House Dist. 47, at a stroke replacing retiring incumbent GOP Rep. Terry Keel and turning the Travis Co. House delegation solid blue. "People are so hungry for change," Bolton had said a few hours earlier, at the Democratic Party election headquarters at the Stephen F. Austin hotel. Reached again by phone just after the final returns were released by the Travis Co. Clerk, Bolton said, "I'm excited, I'm enthusiastic, and I'm just beginning to realize that a whole new phase of my life is about to begin."

The odds of the Dems taking the Senate look slim. The count is 48-48, with four races still outstanding:

Virginia: Democrat Webb leads by a mere 2,265 votes, with 1% of the precincts yet to report. If his margin of victory is less than 1%, a recount will be automatic.

Missouri: Democrat McCaskill is in trouble; she's trailing by 4%. However, only 65% of the precincts have been reported. If those precincts still outstanding are from Kansas City and St. Louis, she could pull even.

Tennessee: Ford appears doomed; Republican Corker leads him 51-48, with only 6% of the boxes left. Unless all of those are in Memphis, Ford's barbecue is smoked.

Montana: Tester looks solid, even if only 30% have reported; he leads Republican Burns 54-44.