Congressman Lloyd Doggett had the following statement on tonight's election:

“Electing my friend Nancy Pelosi, as the first woman to serve as the Speaker of the House, will make history. More importantly, the extremist agenda that has driven Congress, since I was elected in 1994, has now become history. Hope can replace despair. We can slowly begin to repair some of the damage that has been done – like reversing the raid on student aid, raising the minimum wage, and demanding accountability from this Administration on Iraq, no-bid Halliburton contracts, and much more."

With 167 of 253 precincts reporting, Doggett is heading for re-election in the special election for the recently redistricted (yet again) Dist. 25 with 70% of the vote. He defeated three obscure opponents.

In the 2001 Lege redistricting, an extra district was carved into Travis County, increasing our delegation from five seats to six, with three specifically shaped to elect Republicans. Our representation went from four Dems, one Republican, to a 3-3 split, an appalling situation in True Blue Travis.

It's looking like those GOP gains could be completely rolled back tonight, mainly due to Travis voters' anger over the Republicans' attempts to completely dismantle the public education system in Texas.

...on a cell phone, frantically asking, "Where should I go right now?"

"This feels so good."

"It was fun to do."

"It was so balanced, and I think that really resonated with the voters!"

To anyone who will look, Wynn shows his copy of the new National Geographic Traveler, naming Austin "the best little city in America." "It's a play on Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," he excitedly explains, "but we're the only city in America that made the list," he gushes. Best to keep your cool, Mayor, as not to frighten off the alluring constituent by his side... who seems to have taken grooming tips from Malibu Stacy. Who just left Joe's Bar and Grill with him...

ABC News has projected that the Dems have the House in the bag; CNN says the current actual tally is Dems 158, GOP 134 (with 218 needed for a majority).

In the Senate, the current tally is Dems 47, GOP 46, with 51 needed for a majority the Dems to take control, but only 50 for the GOP to have the edge with VP Cheney's tie-breaker vote.

In the eight Senate races we've been watching:
Virginia: too close to call
Missouri: Talent(R) 52%, McCaskill(D) 44%, with 41% of precincts counted
New Jersey: CNN calls for Menendez(D)
Maryland: CNN calls for Cardin(D)
Tennessee: Corker(R) 52%, Ford(D) 47%, with 77% precincts
Rhode Island: CNN calls Whitehouse(D)
Arizona: Kyl(R)53%, Pederson(D) 44%, with 63% reporting
Montana: Tester(D) 54%, Burns(R) 44%, with 3% reporting

If the GOP holds onto their current leads in VA, MO, TN, and AZ, then the Dems come up short. We may not know who has won VA until the morning.

Because Gov. Goodhair is on TV right now, reminding that we're about to endure four more years of his far-right incompetence. Unfortunately, the Texas governorship tends to lead to bigger things, such as the presidency. Jeez, if you think the Bush White House has been bad, say this phrase without screaming in horror: "President Perry"

… are in the state 3rd Court of Appeals, where I'm guessing you have a push and pull between Travis County and the 23 other mostly rural counties that make up the district, which basically runs from LaGrange to San Angelo. Here are the numbers, with what I estimate to be about 50% of the vote counted:

Place 2
Alan Waldrop - Incumbent (REP) 49.42%
Jim Sybert Coronado(DEM) 50.58%

Place 3
Will Wilson(REP) 47.81%
Diane Henson(DEM) 52.19%

Place 5
David Puryear - Incumbent(REP) 49.77%
Mina A. Brees(DEM) 50.23%

Place 6
Bob Pemberton - Incumbent(REP) 49.30%
Bree Buchanan(DEM )50.70%

Charlie Baird is fretting. He's been at Cuba Libre for over an hour and he hasn't seen any election results. For whatever reason, the e-night numbers in the 299th District Court are nowhere to be found. They're not showing up on TV. And he can't seem to locate them on the county Web site (they're there, but he's apparently too frazzled to properly navigate the Net). In short, Baird is nervous. Yeah, it's funny, especially considering his opponent, Madeleine Connor – which more than one Baird party reveler has dubbed the "GOP sacrificial lamb" – hasn't ever tried a criminal case in her short career as a criminal attorney. Still, Baird isn't a guy who takes anything for granted. Even after he's been told, even by the Chronicle more than once, that early voting totals showed him with 63% of the vote at 7:30pm. "You take this stuff for granted, that's when you lose," says Baird. Still, at least somewhere, he does know that his election is, thankfully, inevitable. "If I lose, it's gonna be a bad night for Travis County, and probably only Kirk Watson would win." That's right, Charlie – now have that drink and celebrate, because come Jan. 1, you'll be donning the black robe.

And in other breaking news, AP has declared that the sun will apparently rise in the east tomorrow.