Karen Huber may largely have Barack Obama to thank for her victory over Gerald Daugherty. An increasingly Democratic Southwest Austin carried her to a narrow and shocking victory over the incumbent, 48.5% to 46.4%.

The Power Boxes

In the 10 precincts that had the most ballots cast, Daugherty took the Top 3 prizes, but below that, Huber dominated, including huge margins of 1,897 in Precinct 342 and 1,118 in Precinct 352. Six of these boxes are in Southwest Austin. An important point that may support the notion that a lot of voters were just turning out for Obama: The votes for the three candidates fall well short of the total ballots cast in each precinct. – Lee Nichols

Pct. Total Ballots Daugherty Huber Benedict
367 4,388 2,058 1,885 157
376 4,150 2,177 1,425 173
345 3,976 2,260 1,293 139
342 3,763 711 2,608 205
366 3,704 1,487 1,785 171
328 3,637 1,341 1,830 169
354 3,509 1,390 1,676 173
349 3,466 1,301 1,778 177
374 3,443 1,986 1,078 151
352 3,334 891 2,009 208

This article appears in November 14 • 2008.

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