The county is an evenly split between Republican and Democrat voters in this high turnout election year. There were more than 800,000 straight ticket ballots cast and the number of votes separating the Republicans from Democrats was a mere 2644. The Dems had a slight advantage. Barack Obama won the county by 585 votes.

The real joy for this pundit emerges as one looks further down the ballot. Harris County voters literally cherry-picked the candidates for county-wide offices, including judges.

As you may recall, this blogger endorsed Republican Mike Anderson for District Attorney. He had an unfortunate opponent who had made disturbing comments regarding domestic violence and other issues throughout the campaign. It is obvious from the returns that many Democrats crossed-over and voted for Anderson to win.

In the race for Harris County Sheriff, incumbent Democrat Adrian Garcia was challenged by a Republican candidate with unfortunate alliances and a spotty record. Again, many Republicans crossed-over to ensure the re-election of Garcia.

Vince Ryan, Democratic incumbent, was re-elected as County Attorney while Mike Sullivan, Republican, won his race for Tax-Assessor Collector. These two races were much tighter.

Even in the judicial races, voters seemed to pick and choose. More Democrats were selected than Republicans but some Republican judges did win.

Of course, the bond issues and the Metro referendum passed overwhelmingly. We talked about bonds from the very first of the year, from early discussions to the ballot. Voters in HISD and HCC districts agreed to tax themselves for improved educational facilities and opportunities. Houston voters were happy to pass bonds that will provide needed infrastructure and more parks. The Metro referendum was so completely confusing but voters seemed to figure it out and strongly supported the continuation of General Mobility payments.

Harris County voters – give yourselves a pat on the back! You did a good job.

The President of the United States has been handily re-elected, winning more significantly than most expected. The U.S. Senate remained in the hands of the Democrats and the U.S. House remained in the hands of the Republicans.

While the voters continually claim that they do not like “Washington Gridlock”, they did little to change the status quo that has created that very gridlock.

Congress will now have to decide if they will work together or shut down the government. Perhaps the President has heard from voters that we do not like the way things are going in D.C. and he will reach across the aisle more.

An interesting sidebar of the night was the number of women elected to the U.S. Senate. The largest number ever and they include the first Asian American woman, the first disabled veteran and the first openly gay Senator. Will the increase of women in the Senate bolster improved communications? Probably not but it will change the dynamics of the “ole boys club”.

Harris County:

Just a preliminary note on Harris County returns. I applaud Harris County voters for truly studying candidates and voting diversely across the ballot. This assured the election of Mike Anderson (R) as District Attorney and the re-election of Adrian Garcia (D) as Sheriff.

Give yourselves a pat on the back!

More to come on local results tomorrow.

Voters across the nation will go to the polls to cast their ballots to select our nation’s leader and to vote on many statewide officeholders while also deciding complex local issues.

Tune in to News 92.1 FM on the radio tonight to hear this blogger analyze the election returns. We will be discussing races from the White House to the School House and everything in between.

My thought for the day: When this day is done, please let us know who won!

Voter turnout is expected to be high, by American standards. It looks like as much as 50+ percent of the eligible population will cast a ballot. Some in the world are asking, why so few? But for Americans, 50% will be a good turnout.

Once every four years, we come together to choose the one person who will lead our country. This particular election is the one event in democracy that unifies us as a nation. Other than this election, all other leaders in our democracy are chosen by populations within the states.

And, let’s don’t forget that the states are busy choosing leaders for the democracy. U.S. Senate and Congressional races are happening across the country. Many states are picking Governors and other state leaders while local elections are choosing regional leadership.

In Texas, we believe in electing most offices so we have a long ballot. Be sure that you vote all the way through to the end.

Take a deep breath and hope that within the next 48 hours, it will be all over except for the post-analysis.

Speaking of analysis, this blogger will be joining anchors at News 92.1 FM radio tomorrow tonight to provide election updates and analyze the behavior of voters. We plan to focus on races throughout the ballot – from the Presidential results to the school bond election. Please tune in to listen!

For those of you have early voted, you know that it is a very long ballot and requires much “spinning” of the dial. Of course, if you vote straight ticket, you are done quickly.

However, it is my great hope that voters are truly studying the candidates and watching out for the few unfortunate and unqualified candidates, even if you are voting straight ticket.

It’s actually those straight ticket voters that are less likely to vote in the bond elections.

The bonds are at the very end of the long ballot and your finger may be sore from spinning the dial. Still, please take another minute to read them and cast your vote accordingly.

Today is the last day to early vote and polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Take advantage if you can and go ahead and get the job done.

Tuesday is Election Day!

There has not been a total damage assessment announced to date but local hurricane veterans know it will be in the billions of dollars. Insurance companies will embark on their traditional approach of partial payment through a variety of avenues and many homeowners and businesses will find themselves unable to fund repairs.

The President moved immediately to provide support from FEMA and to lessen the burden of providing federal support. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey responded gratefully to the President and thanked him and his team for their prompt attention and support. As we know, the President is a Democrat and the Governor of New Jersey is a Republican.

The media immediately jumped on Governor Christie’s words and made it into a huge story. As a veteran of storm recovery efforts, I simply heard a weary Governor who hadn’t slept in the last 48 hours thanking the people in D.C. for their support of his battered state. He is primarily concerned with making sure the people in his state get the support they need.

In fact, Governor Christie was one of the toughest leaders I’ve ever heard during a storm of this type. He directly told people that if they chose to remain in evacuation zones, he would not put first responders at risk to rescue them. But he still remained compassionate throughout the crisis.

Again, as a storm weary veteran, I and many others along the Gulf Coast know that the true work begins now. They literally have to get the trains running again, the hospitals back along and deal with the large number of people rendered homeless by the storm and storm-related events. They will need assistance from all over the country to achieve these goals.

Governor Romney has mostly remained classy during this crisis as well. He has been using his campaign rallies to raise funds and collect food for the Red Cross. But alas, a national crisis has shifted focus off of the campaign.

Isn’t a relief to put politics aside for a couple of days and watch our national and state leadership work together to address this unprecedented weather event?

Will it affect the election? Most likely. Who does it benefit? Hard to say. The President is pulled off the campaign trail and most of the states hit hard by the storm were blue states already. Romney continues to campaign and the ads keep running in those critical swing states. What do you say America?

There are six days left before the election and three days left to vote early in Texas. Early vote locations are open until 7:00 p.m. tonight so go exercise your right to vote before you trick or treat!

Happy Halloween!

The East Coast is home base for the U.S. Stock Markets and hosts many of the network media outlets. For this reason, we will hear more about this storm than we did when Hurricane Ike swept across Southeast Texas, wiping away Bolivar Peninsula and caused billions of dollars in damages.

This storm is hitting the East Coast and will dominate America’s news for the next few days. The biggest question for the election falls on the potential loss of power. If two or three states lose power and people are unable to participate in early voting, will it change election results?

Meanwhile, President Obama has to be very Presidential as he deals with potential disaster news and Romney needs to be cautious in attacking a President during a crisis situation.

This year’s “October Surprise” just may be the weather. Pay close attention to the Presidential candidates. Both have already cancelled appearances scheduled in one of the tightest swing states – Virginia. They are rerouting their efforts to focus even more on Ohio and other midwestern states.

Presidential campaigns are usually fairly adaptable but this storm may create new hurdles for both candidates.

One of the most base levels of a model democracy is holding elections. The U.S. form of democracy is driven by “representative government”, i.e. a government chosen by its citizens. Elections are the process we use to choose these leaders.

It is common for international guests to observe elections, across the world. We send people to points near and far to observe elections in other countries. Many countries wish to observe American elections. For how will they ever be a stronger democracy if they do not understand the basics of our selection process?

This practice has been going on for many years in American elections. But this year, Texas – the “friendly” state, has decided to make an issue of international observers. I have to say that I am honestly embarrassed by our behavior.

Our Attorney General and a number of County Clerks (administrators of elections) have chosen to create a political issue over these international observers. Why? One of the programs that facilitates international election exchanges is affiliated with the United Nations. A certain wing of the Republican Party and Tea Party activists have decided that the United Nations is not a friend to America.

The simple task of sharing the tools to create and operate a democracy is bordering on becoming an international incident in Texas.

Meanwhile, the Texas Secretary of State has engaged in damage control and tried to provide legitimate explanations. She is our liaison with foreign governments as well as the chief administrator of elections in Texas.

This blogger is beginning to wonder if we have something to hide that is causing us to create such a stir over a longstanding tradition.

But hey, remember that the sovereign state of Texas is the friendliest American state!

Foreign policy is especially difficult to debate as the candidates know the whole world is watching every word uttered. Social media was abuzz that Romney was mostly agreeing with the President and not as full of fight as in the past. It may be somewhat true but when it comes to the defense of our nation, neither candidate wants to put our safety at risk.

Obama did seem to have an advantage as the “Commander in Chief” and didn’t hesitate to use that term when he could. He had some good one-liners and zinged Romney a few times.

Romney took advantage of a couple of questions to shift the debate back to domestic issues – his strength – and they both lapsed back into their regular rhetoric.

Personally, I was stunned by the lack of discussion on broader foreign policy issues such as the expansion of the Panama Canal and what it might mean for American business and there was very little focus on Latin America in general.

For the most part, the debate was uneventful. The Obama forces are all fist-bumping today and feel strongly that they won the debate. The Romney forces believe that he held his own and are accusing the President of “being snarky.”

Take your pick. In my humble opinion, there was little difference between them on critical issues of foreign policy.

Final debate score from this moderators point of view:
First debate – Advantage Romney
Second debate – Toss-up
Third debate – Advantage Obama

Now, it is time to vote. Take your pick and go cast your ballots!

Debates – If you are still possibly on the fence with this election, tonight is your last chance to watch the Presidential candidates debate. The first debate went handily to Romney and helped to re-energize his campaign. The second debate was a virtual tie giving Obama the opportunity to energize his forces and Romney’s voters to feel more fight. What will happen tonight? Laughing at myself as I realize what I just wrote sounds like the lead-in for a Reality show.

Reality Show – speaking of, I have compared reality shows and the 2012 election in the past but it seems like a good time to mention it again. In my opinion, we have come to view elections much like we do reality shows. With these shows, we often get to “vote” to help the judges know how we feel. If we don’t like someone, we “vote” them off the island, off the show. Millions of Americans will cast their ballots on these shows and most of them pay money to do so. Hey, the vote in the election is free! Throughout American history, many have given their lives or made significant sacrifices so that we have the right to vote. Let’s honor their actions by casting our ballot.

Early Vote – which leads us to early vote. In Texas, we have no-excuse early vote. Essentially, the polls are open two weeks for an extended Election Day. Since the election is on a Tuesday, it is a good idea to vote early. You can vote during the week or you can vote next weekend. Click here for early vote locations and hours.

Let’s clarify some rumors. You may either arrive with your Voter Registration card or your personal identification – i.e. your Texas Driver’s License. You are not required to show your picture ID for this election and may still vote with your voter registration card. Either way, just vote.

The end of the ballot – Don’t just vote in the Presidential race but remember that those bond issues for our region are at the very end of the ballot!

So, we are in the home stretch. I’m not sure who will win but I do know that if we all vote, the American people and democracy will come out on top!