2014 GENERAL ELECTION LIVE RETURNS
November 4, 2014
1:30 a.m. – November 5
This is our final update for the evening. All races have been decided, though the final margins are still to be determined. The major missing pieces are Cameron and Dallas Cos. We know that the Dallas results will put Davis up to 38.9% and drop Abbott to 59.3% (from 38.5 and 59.6, respectively). The Cameron boxes will likely get Davis to 39 and may cut Abbott’s margin to below 20 points, barely.
BALANCE OF POWER
All statewide races were won by Republicans. They will continue to occupy 26 of the 27 elected statewide offices (Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lawrence Meyers, who switched parties last year, remains in office.).
The Senate will have 19 Republicans, 11 Democrats and 1 vacancy (Hegar). One seat, SD10 (Davis), flipped to the Republicans.
The House will have 98 Republicans, 51 Democrats and 1 likely vacancy (Villarreal). Three seats — HD23 (Eiland open), HD117 (Cortez) and HD144 (Perez) — flipped to the Republicans.
The State Board of Education will continue to have 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats.
The Congressional delegation will be 25 Republicans and 11 Democrats in the House, 2 Republicans and 0 Democrats in the Senate. One seat, CD23 (Gallego), flipped to the Republicans.
TURNOUT
It appears that turnout (% of registered voters casting ballots) will not exceed 2010. With nearly 90% of precincts reported to the Secretary of State, turnout is 31.2%. Based on what’s left to complete the Secretary of State’s tally, we project a turnout of right around 33.3%.
2010 — 37.5% (4.98M votes cast)
2006 — 33.6% (4.40M votes cast)
2002 — 37.8% (4.55M votes cast)
1998 — 32.4% (3.74M votes cast)
1994 — 50.9% (4.40M votes cast)
1990 — 50.5% (3.89M votes cast)
1986 — 47.2% (3.44M votes cast)
1982 — 49.7% (3.19M votes cast)
DRAG FROM THE TOP
For the 4th time since 1998, the Democrat running for the very top office on the ballot ended up faring the worst of any statewide Democratic candidate:
2014 — David Alameel (SEN) 34.0%
2006 — Barbara Radnofsky (SEN) 36.9%
2004 — John Kerry (PRES) 38.5%
1998 — Garry Mauro (GOV) 31.4%
12:30 a.m.
CD23: AP calls race for Hurd.
12:15 a.m.
CD23: Hurd 49.7, Gallego 47.8 (2,124 votes) with 97% reporting. Only boxes out are 3 in Bexar Co. and all of Edwards Co., which Canseco carried in 2012.
STATEWIDES (88% reporting)
SEN: Cornyn 62, Alameel 34
GOV: Abbott 60, Davis 38
LTGOV: Patrick 59, Van de Putte 38
AG: Paxton 59, Houston 37
COMP: Hegar 59, Collier 37
LAND: Bush 61, Cook 35
AGRIC: Miller 59, Hogan 36
RRC: Sitton 59, Brown 36
The Democrats’ numbers should inch up a little when Cameron comes in, plus the rest of Dallas and Travis. Doubtful it will be enough for anyone to break 40.
EXIT POLLING
Men: Abbott 66, Davis 33
Women: Abbott 54, Davis 45
Anglo: Abbott 73, Davis 26 (Anglo Women: Abbott 67, Davis 32)
Black/African-American: Davis 92, Abbott 7
Hispanic/Latino: Davis 55, Abbott 44 (Hispanic/Latino Men: Abbott 50, Davis 49)
Age 18-29: Davis 50, Abbott 49
Age 30-44: Davis 51, Abbott 48
Age 45-64: Abbott 66, Davis 33
Age 65+: Abbott 71, Davis 29
STRAIGHT-TICKET
Harris Co.: a record 68% of votes cast — GOP 54-45
Dallas Co.: 65% of votes cast — DEM 55-45
Tarrant Co.: 65% of votes cast — GOP 61-38
Bexar Co.: 49.7% of votes cast — GOP 49.8-49.0
Travis Co.: 47% of votes cast — DEM 63-35
El Paso Co.: 56% of votes cast — DEM 66-32
Denton Co.: 62% of votes cast — GOP 72-26
Collin Co.: record 64% of votes cast — GOP 72-28
Hidalgo Co.: 61% of votes cast — DEM 71-27
Galveston Co.: 61% of votes cast — GOP 66-33
Fort Bend Co.: 73% of votes cast — GOP 58-41
Montgomery Co.: 70% of votes cast — GOP 86-13
Williamson Co.: 56% of votes cast — GOP 66-33
11:35 p.m. – November 4
KEY RACE RUNDOWN:
GOV: Abbott 60, Davis 38 (82% reporting)
LTGOV: Patrick 59, Van de Putte 38 (82% reporting)
SD10: Burton 53, Willis 45 (98% reporting), GOP pick-up
HD23: Faircloth 55, Criss 45 (98% reporting), GOP pick-up
HD27: Reynolds 67, Hamilton 33 (EV only)
HD43: Lozano 61, Gonzalez 39 (81% reporting — Jim Wells Co. still out, and Lozano won EV)
HD94: Tinderholt 57, Ballweg 40 (97% reporting)
HD105: Anderson 55, Motley 43 (98% reporting)
HD107: Sheets 55, Donovan 45 (80% reporting)
HD108: Meyer 61, Bailey 39 (98% reporting)
HD113: Burkett 60, Whitley 40 (70% reporting)
HD115: Rinaldi 57, Stafford 40 (92% reporting)
HD117: Cortez loses to Galindo, 47-53, GOP pick-up
HD137: Wu 58, Fiki 42 (96% reporting)
HD144: Perez loses to Pena, 49-51, GOP pick-up
HD149: Vo 55, Hoang 45 (96% reporting)
CD23: Hurd 50, Gallego 47 (88% reporting), GOP pick-up
CD27: Farenthold 63, Reed 34 (91% reporting)
NEW MEMBERS
Senate (8): Bettencourt (SD7), Burton (SD10), Creighton* (SD4), Hall (SD2), Huffines (SD16), Perry* (SD28), Taylor (SD8) and SD18 Open*
House (26): Anderson (HD105), Blanco (HD76), Burns (HD58), Burrows (HD83), Faircloth (HD23), Galindo (HD117), Israel* (HD50), Keough (HD15), Koop (HD102), Landgraf (HD81), Metcalf (HD16), Meyer (HD108), Murr (HD53), Paul (HD129), Pena (HD144), Phelan (HD21), Rinaldi (HD115), Romero (HD90), Schofield (HD132), Shaheen (HD66), Spitzer (HD4), Tinderholt (HD94), VanDeaver (HD1), White (HD55), Wray (HD10) and HD123 Open*
Congress (3): Babin (CD36), Hurd (CD23), Ratcliffe (CD4)
(* won special election)
11:10 p.m.
SD10: Burton leads Willis, 53-45, with 92% reporting
HD43: Faircloth leads Criss, 55-45, with 1 precinct out.
HD117: Cortez trails Galindo, 47-53, with 2 precincts out.
HD144: Perez loses to Pena, 49.4-50.7 (155 votes).
CD23: Gallego trails, 47-50 (3,507 votes) with 84% reporting. Still out are 7 precincts in Bexar Co., 8 in Brewster Co., all of Edwards Co., 3 precincts in El Paso Co., 9 precincts in Frio Co., 4 precincts in Hudspeth Co. and 17 precincts in Val Verde Co. It is unlikely Gallego will be able to overcome Hurd’s lead.
All other statewide, congressional, legislative and SBOE seats will be won by the party currently holding the seat.
10:30 p.m.
2010: Perry 55, White 42; average statewide Democrat received 36%
2014: Abbott 60, Davis 38; average statewide Democrat receiving 37% with 64% reporting.
Republicans extend streak to 116 straight statewide races won (121 if presidential elections are included).
Looking likely GOP will gain 1 congressional seat (CD23), 1 Senate seat (SD10) and 3 House seats (HD23, HD117, HD144).
CD23: We have Hurd with a 1,008-vote lead with boxes still out in Bexar (Hurd favored), Brewster (Gallego favored), Edwards (Hurd favored), El Paso (Gallego +2,000 in EV) Frio (Gallego favored), Hudspeth (Hurd favored), Jeff Davis (Gallego favored), Medina (Hurd +2,600 in EV), Upton (Hurd favored) and Val Verde (Gallego +1,070 in EV). Gallego will be hard-pressed to make up this margin, given Bexar and Medina are still out.
HD144: Perez trails by 159 votes with 1 precinct out.
HD149: Vo leads by almost 2,000 votes with 1 precinct out.
10 p.m.
TOPLINE
- Republicans win all statewide races. Democrats all under 38% with 37% reporting.
- Gallego trailing Hurd in CD23.
- Burton leads Willis, 52-45 in SD10 with 84% reporting, a pick-up for GOP.
- GOP leads in three DEM-held House seats (HD23 Eiland open, HD117 Cortez, HD144 Perez).
- HD23: Faircloth leads Criss, 55-45 (2,975 votes) with 100% of Chambers Co. and ~60% of Galveston Co. reporting. Faircloth won Chambers Co. by 5,452 votes. Criss leads Galveston Co. by 2,477 votes.
- HD117: Cortez trails, 47.5-52.5 (968 votes), with 46% reporting.
- HD144: Perez trails, 48-52 (317 votes), with 72% reporting.
LOCAL
Austin: Rail proposition failing, 58-42, unclear how much vote remains out
Austin Mayor: Adler 38, Martinez 30, Cole 15, Phelps 9
Austin Dist. 5: Kitchen 54, Rodriguez 23
Austin Dist. 8: Troxclair 26, Scruggs 25, Bray 19, Pierce 17
Austin Dist. 9: Tovo 49.7, Riley 40
Dallas Co.: DA Watkins traling, 50.1-49.9 (570 votes) with 20% reporting
Denton: Fracking ban proposition passing, 60-40, with 36% reporting
9:30 p.m.
HD23: Faircloth leads, 53-47 (1,547 votes) with 44% of Galveston Co. precincts reporting and only EV in Chambers Co. reported.
HD43: Lozano leads, 62-38 (1,744 votes) with Kleberg Co. reporting EV and 38% of San Patricio Co. reporting. Bee and Jim Wells Cos. have not reported any results. In 2012, Lozano lost those two counties by 1,984 votes.
CD23: Medina Co. now reporting EV, and Hurd has 2,620-vote advantage there. He leads Gallego overall by 3,484 votes. Six counties have not reported any results, including three strong Democratic counties.
DALLAS CO.
HD102: Koop leads 64-36 with 45% reporting
HD105: Anderson leads 57-42 (2,643 votes) with 38% reporting
HD107: Sheets leads 56-44 (2,281 votes) with 18% reporting
HD108: Meyer leads 61-39 with 5% reporting
HD113: Burkett leads 60-40 with 14% reporting
HD115: Rinaldi leads 57-40 with 12% reporting
TARRANT CO.
SD10: Burton leads 51-46 (6,773 votes) with 54% reporting
HD94: Tinderholt leads 57-41 (5,019 votes) with 52% reporting
BEXAR CO.
HD117: Cortez trails 48-52 (815 votes) with 36% reporting
HARRIS CO.
HD137: Wu leads 57-43 with 50% reporting
HD144: Perez trails 48-52 (317 votes) with 72% reporting
HD149: Vo leads 52-48 (763 votes) with 58% reporting
FORT BEND CO.
HD27: Reynolds leads 67-33, EV only
9 p.m.
Davis has conceded GOV race to Abbott. Van de Putte conceded LTGOV race to Patrick earlier in the evening.
STATEWIDES (11% of precincts reporting, 2.5M votes)
SEN: Cornyn 61, Alameel 35
GOV: Abbott 59, Davis 39
LTGOV: Patrick 58, Van de Putte 39
AG: Paxton 59, Houston 39
COMP: Hegar 58, Collier 38
LAND: Bush 61, Cook 36
AGRIC: Miller 59, Hogan 37
RRC: Sitton 58, Brown 37
HD23: Criss leads Faircloth in Galveston Co. by 1,515 votes (100% of precincts are reporting but not all votes have been counted). Faircloth led Criss in Chambers Co. by 3,062 in early voting.
HD47: Workman is winning, 75-25. SoS has the numbers flipped.
HD49: Naishtat is winning, 86-14. SoS has flipped either the in-person or ballot-by-mail numbers.
HD117: Cortez losing to Galindo, 52-48 (609 votes) with 19% reporting.
HD144: Perez losing to Pena, 53-47 (418 votes) with 44% reporting.
CD23: Hurd has 7,000-vote lead in Bexar Co. with 13% reporting.
8:35 p.m.
EL PASO CO. EV:
Straight-ticket: DEM 66, GOP 32 (54% of all votes cast)
SEN: Alameel 54, Cornyn 40
GOV: Davis 60, Abbott 37
LTGOV: Van de Putte 59, Patrick 37
HD43: Lozano carries San Patricio Co. by 1,589 votes (64-36). San Patricio represented 42% of the vote in 2012, and Lozano won it 58-42.
CD23: Hurd leading by about 4,500 votes according to Secretary of State. Gallego makes up 1,935 of that in El Paso Co. EV. Heavily Republican Medina Co. still not reporting (Canseco won by 5,000 in 2012.). Two larger Democratic-friendly counties still not reporting (Frio, Val Verde) not likely to produce that large of an advantage for Gallego.
8:15 p.m.
GOV: Various news outlets called race for Abbott.
STATEWIDES: AP calls all statewide races for Republican candidates.
PROP1: State proposition passing, 81-19.
HD23: Galveston Co. EV, Criss leads Faircloth, 55-45 (1,581 votes). Her margin in Galveston Co. is half of Faircloth’s Chambers Co. advantage.
STRAIGHT-TICKET (early voting only)
Harris Co.: 70% of all votes cast (GOP 55, DEM 44) – up from 2010
Dallas Co.: 66% of all votes cast (DEM 55, GOP 45) – same as 2010
Tarrant Co.: 68% of all votes cast (GOP 60, DEM 39) – up from 2010
Bexar Co.: 49% of all votes cast (GOP 51, DEM 48) – same as 2010
Travis Co.: 47% of all votes cast (DEM 64, GOP 35) – down from 2010
Denton Co.: 63% of all votes cast (GOP 72, DEM 27) – up from 2010
Collin Co.: 64% of all votes cast (GOP 72, DEM 27) – up from 2010
Fort Bend Co.: 73% of all votes cast (GOP 60, DEM 39) – up from 2010
Montgomery Co.: 70% of all votes cast (GOP 87, DEM 12) – up from 2010
Brazoria Co.: 57% of all votes cast (GOP 72, DEM 27) – up from 2010
7:50 p.m.
About 2 million votes in:
SEN: Cornyn 60, Alameel 37
GOV: Abbott 57, Davis 41
LTGOV: Patrick 56, Van de Putte 41
AG: Paxton 57, Houston 40
COMP: Hegar 57, Collier 40
LAND: Bush 59, Cook 37
AGRIC: Miller 57, Hogan 39
RRC: Sitton 57, Brown 39
SCCJ: Hecht 58, Moody 39
SC6: Brown 59, Meyers 39
SC7: Boyd 57, Benavides 40
CCA3: Richardson 58, Granberg 39
The spread between the top- and bottom-performing Democrat is 4.4%. This is a very narrow spread, indicative of heavy straight-ticket voting.
7:35 p.m.
GOV: We have early voting numbers for 8 of the state’s 10 most populous counties (excludes El Paso, where polls are still open, and Hidalgo, both friendly to Democrats). In those 8 counties, Abbott has a 66,529-vote advantage over Davis in early voting.
Other Republican statewide candidates holding similar leads.
HD23: In Chambers Co. EV, Faircloth 84, Criss 16 (3,062-vote margin). Chambers represents about 30% of total vote in district. No info yet from Galveston Co.
No info yet on legislative races in Nueces Co.
7:10 p.m.
Burton leading SD10 in EV, 52-46
HARRIS CO. EV:
Straight-ticket: GOP 55, DEM 44
GOV: Abbott 52, Davis 46
LTGOV: Patrick 52, Van de Putte 46
HD149: Vo 53, Hoang 47
DALLAS CO. EV:
Straight-ticket: DEM 55, GOP 45
GOV: Davis 55, Abbott 44
LTGOV: Van de Putte 55, Patrick 43
HD105: Anderson 57, Motley 42
HD107: Sheets 57, Donovan 43
HD108: Meyer 61, Bailey 39
HD113: Burkett 60, Whitley 40
HD115: Rinaldi 58, Stafford 40
TARRANT CO. EV:
Straight-ticket: GOP 60, DEM 39
GOV: Abbott 57, Davis 42
SD10: Burton 52, Willis 46
HD94: Tinderholt 57, Ballweg 41
BEXAR CO. EV:
Straight-ticket: GOP 51, DEM 49
GOV: Abbott 50, Davis 48
LTGOV: Van de Putte 51, Patrick 47
SD25: Campbell 66, Boone 32
HD117: Galindo 52, Cortez 48
CD23: Hurd 58, Gallego 40
NUECES CO. EV
Straight-ticket: GOP 53, DEM 45
GOV: Abbott 54, Davis 44
LTGOV: Patrick 51, Van de Putte 45
No state rep race info
5 p.m.
Welcome to another night of live election returns and analysis from Texas Election Source.
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Polls close at 7 p.m. local time tonight, roughly two hours from now across most of the state. Of course, any voter in line at that time will still cast a ballot. Thus, local precincts may not close until significantly later than 7 p.m. local time. Counties will begin reporting early voting totals shortly after 7 p.m. local time.
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