Shade is creaming Kim in early voting; Galindo and Morrison are early leaders in Place 4. PLACE 1, AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL 0 of 206 Precincts Reporting Lee Leffingwell 9,530 66.76% Allen Demling 1,608 11.26% Jason Meeker 3,137 21.98% Total Votes Counted in this Race: 14,275 PLACE 3, AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL 0 of 206 Precincts Reporting Jennifer Kim 4,139 27.77% Randi Shade 9,266 62.17% Ken Weiss 1,499 10.06% Total Votes Counted in this Race: 14,904 PLACE 4, AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL 0 of 206 Precincts Reporting Cid Galindo 4,351 30.32% Laura Morrison 5,296 36.91% Ken Vasseau 332 2.31% Jennifer Gale 1,105 7.70% Osemene, Sam 658 4.59% Robin Cravey 2,608 18.17% Total Votes Counted in this Race: 14,350 ACC: Mahoney is on the bubble for avoiding a runoff: Mahoney 48.71% Keller 31% Mike Reid (who dropped out) 21% AISD: Brister and all 3 bonds appear headed for easy victory.

The Aztex kickoff their first home game in just a couple of hours now. Excitement builds.

Here's a game-day update from a player's blog.

The Aztex will have live music for this inaugural home game courtesy of the Frank Gomez Band. "Come hear Big Frank’s own unique blend of R&B, blues, classic oldies and Tex-Mex music."

7:30pm kickoff; Round Rock High's Dragon Stadium, just off I-35 and FM 620. $8, $5 for kids 12 and under.

Eight plaintiffs, including the Texas branch of the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, have filed suit against the Texas Democratic Party, charging that its dual primary/caucus system for selecting presidential delegates discriminates against Hispanics. The suit seeks an injunction preventing the TDP from using the system at its June 6-7 state convention in Austin.

As if Speaker Tom Craddick didn't have enough on his plate with half the House gunning for his imperious seat at the head of the chamber next session. Now the Texas Democratic Party is heading back to court to make sure that their candidate for his House seat, Bill Dingus, stays on the ballot. It looked the Midland City Council member was going to be off the ballot when on April 16, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith said Dingus was not eligible to file to run against Craddick because he was still on the council (The slightly mindbending bit here is that the case came about because the Dems took it to court to clarify whether an old exemption for Midland council from the state rules was valid or not). But as TDP spokesman Hector Nieto said at the time, the GOP actually never asked for any redress, and since Smith's opinion was only an opinion, with no order attached, it didn't really change anything. Now the TDP has filed a notice of appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, presumably to make sure that ruling can't be deployed against them.

Election Day is upon us, and the candidates are making their final pitches to voters, YouTube style. Here's Robin Cravey: And Randi Shade (the day before the election, actually): Check back with Newsdesk this evening, as we'll be blogging up the E-Night results from the candidates' parties.

As candidates' ads blanket the airwaves and mob your mailbox, City Hall Hustle cuts through the BS in a City Council election advertising spectacular. Haters, watch out! [video-1]

The tables are turning on local documentarian (and SXSW 08 alum) David Modigliani, who'll be in Crawford this weekend scouting locations for his upcoming Rolling Roadshow screening of Crawford, his intimate portrait of a town turned upside down by Dubya. So it's not entirely coincidental that Modigliani will be there this weekend – in case you hadn't heard, a certain First Daughter is getting hitched. Naturally, the national media's setting up camp in Crawford – and a few of 'em are turning the camera on Modigliani ("a taste of my own medicine," he told me). MSNBC will air a live interview with him at 9:40am on Saturday; while Inside Edition will run a segment on the film on Monday. The New York Times also plans to run a story in Monday's edition.

What's that you say? There's something other than council races going on tomorrow? BLASPHEMER!!! Actually, there's something else you activist and eco types might want to stick in your calendar for May 10. The United States Postal Service's 14th annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive makes it easy to donate food in the nation's biggest one-day food drive. How easy, you ask? Three steps simple.

1: Get some non-perishable food: Canned or plastic-bottled goods, cereal, rice, pasta, etc. Nothing expired, nothing in a glass container (breaks too easy).
2: Place said food in bags next to your mailbox
3: Wait for your letter carrier to pick it up. Visit the official site for more details.

Reaching elbow deep into my mountainous top self of t-shirts that doomy Monday morning required absolutely no thought at all. Today, there was only one choice. Texas without tees equals Coachella without a canteen. Fatal. Other than 329 different Rolling Stones tour gouges, my closet houses no more than a half-dozen band billboards. Not that I don’t want a Manu Chao badge of honor or Pride Tiger tee. They just never fit like that $2 Miller Lite white-on-white from the Goodwill on North Lamar. My $25 Radio Birdman black-and-red, via Emo’s last year, hangs on me like a tarp.