Here we go. Constantly updated results.

Statewide Races — GOP Sweep

• Governor: Hairspray wins with about 40%. Chris Bell’s at 29%, Grandma’s at 18%, and the Kinkster is pulling up the rear with 11%.
• Lt. Governor: Darth Dewhurst beats Maria Luisa Alvarado in a landslide. Dewhurst changes his shirt in celebration.
• Attorney General: Greg Abbott whips David Van Os, 61-36.
• Comptroller: Susan Combs rolls over Fred “Yes, this is my real name” Head, 61-36. Hopefully we’ll see another dirty novel.
• Land Commissioner: Jerry Patterson spanks VaLinda Hathcox, 57-40.
• Agriculture Commissioner: Todd Staples beats Hank Gilbert, 56-41.

U.S. House Races — Incumbents Roll

• All of Texas’ incumbents are winning.
• Shelley Sekula-Gibbs won the special election, but lost her write-in bid. Lampson takes DeLay’s seat. The good news: Shelley’s off City Council.

State House — Come on, Talmadge!

• Democrat Hubert Vo is running away with it.
• Democrat Ellen Cohen beats incumbent GOP Rep. Martha Wong.

State Senate — Dan wins big

This Patrick fellow is pretty popular. No surprises here.

County Treasurer — Orlando narrowly escapes gainful employment

Orlando’s got it locked up.
City of Houston Propositions — Mayor White gets enormous sack of cash

Houstonians apparently don’t want their money, as all the propositions are passing with comfortable margins.

City of Bellaire Propositions — I have no idea what they are

Neither do many other people. Turnout is under 5,000.

Katy ISD Bond Issue — So what’s another $269,472,225?

It’s passing, 53-47. More than 11 percent of voters left this one blank. I’m sure they’ll enjoy Mayde Creek High School’s $7.2 million swimming pool.

North Harris-Montgomery Community College District Bond Issue — Hell no!

This quarter-billion-dollar bond issue is losing with about 45% of the vote. $2.5 million for the Kinesiology Center? No thanks.

Deer Park — Cocktails now legal

In the race that really matters, voters have legalized mixed drinks in a booze-soaked landslide.

West Columbia — Cocktails, wine now legal

Brazoria County’s residents have seen fit to legalize sales of wine and liquor. Well done.

There has been a death in our “family”. Flygal’s nephew was killed in the line of duty last week in Iraq. Since flygal is a regular part of the Lone Star Times family, that makes Michael part of our “family”

Flygal wrote the following about her nephew:

Sergeant Michael Weidemann was a 23yo man who grew up under very difficult circumstances: his father was unavailable, and his mother died when he was a teenager.

When he was in high school he joined the JROTC, and found his niche.

Although he was considered by some a “dork’, they also said he always thought of others before himself.

After graduating with honors, he enrolled in the army, and was attached to a unit out of Gliessen, Germany as an automotive technician.

On October 31st, 2006, the armored vehicle he was driving on patrol in Hit, in the Anbar province near Baghdad, was hit by an IED,and he was killed.

He is survived by a grandmother, 1 sister and 3 brothers, and 4 aunts and uncles.

He was a man who, though his life started out very difficult, decided he wanted to help bring freedom to a country he had hardly heard of, and help maintain freedom here at home, while keeping the terrorists trying to disrupt our freedom away from the US.

He will always be a hero in my eyes.

Thank you, Michael

Governor Carcieri of Rhode Island ordered state flags lowered to half staff in honor of Sergeant Weidemann.

The rest of the Providence Journal article provides a description of a wonderful young man that found his place in life and wasn’t whiney about the tough knocks he suffered. If anything, he would help those around him at the expense of his own self. (Also mentioned is a special friend he connected with here in Houston, Sara.)

In spite of our hedonistic, avoid all responsibility society, we still have young people that against all odds, step up to the plate and answer the call of duty. They make sacrifices for the rest of us that most of us can’t imagine making.

While this is a very sad day for Sergeant Weidemann’s family and friends, today of all days is perhaps the best day to remember him. Today is election day. Today we vote in freedom because men and women like Sergeant Weidemann made that ultimate sacrifice to secure for us that privilege.

Flygal, we at LST want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and the rest of your family.

Michael led a heroic life that all of us would like to honor…

For updates and opinions on the election results in East Texas, visit The Pine Blogger’s Election Night Views, hosted by the Lufkin Daily News.

BENZION ADDS ANOTHER SHAMELESS PLUG– Yes, go visit The Pine Blogger’s Election Night Views… but not before clicking on the “tip-jar badge” in the upper right hand corner of LST and throwing a few bucks our way!

Squawk Adds another shameless plug for The Pine Blogger:

For those of you who have been holding your breath waiting for the “Arab Street” to explode since the Saddam death sentence, you can now exhale. Palestinian rent-a-mobs are finally on protest duty.

JENIN, West Bank: Schoolgirls marched and shopkeepers closed down their stores in this West Bank town on Monday in protest at the death sentence handed down against Saddam Hussein by a Baghdad court which found him guilty of crimes against humanity.

Carrying pictures of Saddam, about 250 girls from seven to 13 years old paraded through the town’s refugee camp, chanting “Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv…”

How do we know this bunch is rented? The receipt is provided.

Under Saddam’s rule Iraq donated $25,000 per household for Jenin residents to rebuild homes destroyed in a 2002 Israeli military offensive there.

“He was such a nice dictator. He paid for our homes to be rebuilt after the evil Jews came in and smashed them. It took months to rebuild our weapons-smuggling tunnels, but we got it done thanks to Saddam.”

And of course, no Middle East protest story would be complete without the “Death to America!” threats.

In the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, masked gunmen from a previously unknown group calling itself Arafat’s Army threatened reprisals against foreign citizens in the Palestinian territories if the sentence against Saddam is carried out.

“We warn the American administration and its collaborators not to hurt Saddam Hussein because … we will target all foreigners, especially the Americans and their British supporters,” one of the men said, without giving his name. “We warn all foreigners in the Gaza Strip, especially the Americans, that they will be kidnapped and killed in front of witnesses.”

You might want to put the itinerary for that romantic “Meet and greet with the Arab street” Palestinian vacation on the shelf until all this blows over.

It was a boastful, vote-buying, passionate, propositioning, whispering, flu-inoculating, masculine, fish frying kind of campaign season. Now it all comes down to the ballot box.

Have you done your civic duty?

Grab your wallets Houston.  The “official” push for a new stadium for the Houston Dynamo soccer team has kicked off.  Not satisfied with sharing Robertson Stadium with the Houston Cougars, last night on KHOU TV, Oliver Luck announced that for the franchise to become economically viable the team needs a new stadium.  If history is any indicator, the citizens of Houston will be asked to foot the bill for the 4th new professional sports stadium built since 2000.  Economically viable?  Hmmm now where I have heard that before.

I’ve come to the conclusion that people are going to vote for whoever it is they want to be Governor, regardless of what anyone else has to say. That’s fine, and probably a good thing.

But for the love of God, can we all please agree to at least vote to abolish a wasteful and unnecessary government bureaucracy?

That means voting for Richard Garcia for Harris Co. Treasurer. He’s running to abolish the office. He promised my wife, to her face, he’d abolish the office. If he betrays that promise, LST will hound his ass so badly he’ll wish he’d never been born. And we’ll take you along for the ride.

But so far as we can tell, the man deserves to be trusted. He’s out campaigning with his mom, for goodness sake. Look at his campaign ad, it’s unmistakable and un-”spinnable”–he’s running to abolish the office.

You know how good it feels to vote against a bond proposal or tax rate increase? To vote, and win, and know you just stopped the government from getting bigger and more burdensome?

Well this is even better– IT IS A CHANCE TO VOTE TO NOT ONLY NOT INCREASE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT, BUT TO ACTUALLY ABOLISH PART OF THE GOVERNMENT. Poof. Gone. This should be about as difficult a decision as voting to kill Hitler.

Yet the fact that Garcia is running on the Democratic party ticket appears to throw some people for a loop.

I don’t know how else to say this– a vote for Garcia is not a vote “for a Democrat”– it is a vote to abolish a wasteful and unnecessary government bureaucracy.

Sadly, you are not going to have many opportunities in your lifetime to do just that–don’t squander one of the few you’ve been given.

Richard Garcia for Harris Co. Treasurer. In your heart, you know he’s right.

OK folks, this is about as easy as I can make it. Polling locations / sample ballot.

• Harris Co. / sample ballot
• Montgomery Co. / sample ballot
• Fort Bend Co. / sample ballot
• Galveston Co. / sample ballot
• Brazoria Co. / sample ballot
• Chambers Co. / sample ballot

LoneStarTimes.com does NOT encourage you to vote. If you need to be “encouraged,” you’re so stupid we’d rather you didn’t have any involvement in deciding who gets to operate our government.

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