Here are the vote totals, and here’s an early Chron story which has the results right but was just before the last batch came in. To summarize:
– Sue Deigaard had the only easy night – she led by 30+ points early on and cruised to a 64-36 win.
– Bridget Wade had a modest early lead, which stretched out to a 54-46 win.
– The next closest race was in HCC, where Eva Loredo had a small lead all the way, eventually winning by five points.
– Elizabeth Santos held on by 41 votes, and unfortunately Kendall Baker finally managed to get elected to something, by 78 votes. It would not surprise me if there are recounts in either or both of these, though as we know, those seldom make any difference.
– The HISD board has Republicans on it again, for the first time since the 2017 election that put Deigaard and Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca on and gave Anne Sung a full term. Democrats now hold a 7-2 advantage on the board. I fully expect Wade and Baker to make trouble, but they’re not going to be able to get anything passed unless they can convince at least three other members to go along with them.
– So is this a portent of Bad Things to come for Democrats? Eh, maybe, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. These were pretty solidly Republican districts – as was Deigaard’s – before 2017, and both Sung and Vilaseca were caught up in the Abe Saavedra fiasco. For what it’s worth, Harvin Moore beat Anne Sung by a similar 53-47 margin in the 2013 race, while Mike Lunceford in V and Greg Meyers in VI were unopposed. In fact, the last election in District VI before 2017 that wasn’t unopposed was in 1997.
– Total turnout in the four HISD district was about 35K, which is right about where I thought it would be.
– Election results came in at normal times, with the first Election Day numbers coming in at 8:15 and the final tallies being posted three hours later. Isabel Longoria tweeted that it was a wrap at 11:27. I saw some concerns about slowness at the voting sites related to the processing of the paper receipt, but I think that can be ameliorated by having more scanners at voting locations for future, higher-turnout elections.
“People are saying__________”. There have always been people who think they know how to run an election better than those who DID run the election. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who made the elections happen. Your expertise, dedication and long hours are appreciated.
1 day and counting………
Not a good sign at all for democrats. Next time around GOP might be able to flip III and VIII given the Hispanics leaving democrats and joining GOP in waves
D.R. if anything it is the Democratic Party leaving the Hispanics.
Glad to see a return to more normal reporting times. I do not expect Bridget Wade (who I supported) to be an obstructionist. Kendall Baker may be different, but would be wise to pick his battles, or he will be ignored.