Houston and Harris County election returns *updates*

This template from two years ago worked pretty well for me, so here we go again, with updates through the evening.

The first returns posted are for early votes cast prior to Election Day and flashed to the harrisvotes.com website after 7 p.m.  The first Election Day tallies will be posted after that, and the closest races below will be updated, with the previous numbers appearing as a strike-through.

State propositions 1-7 (from the TXSOS website):

1.  80% For, 20 Against
2. 89-11
3. 64-36
4. 70-30
5. 81.5-18.5
6. 76-24
7. 81-19

Harris County propositions:

1.  73% For, 27 Against
2.  63-37
3.  61-39
4.  74-26

-- City of Houston propositions:

1. (HERO) 38% 39% For, 62% 61% Against
2. (Term limits) 63% 65% For, 37% 35% Against

A smashing victory for hate and bigotry in this city.

-- Houston Mayor (major candidates, alphabetical order):

Chris Bell 6.16%  7.41%
Steve Costello 6.5%  6.72%
Adrian Garcia 13.14%  17.14%
Ben Hall 10.47%  9.5%
Bill King 26.3%  25.27
Sylvester Turner 34.88%  31.32%
All others: 2.65%
Undervote: 2.19%  2.88%

Marty McVey, at 0.54 % of the EV, was outperformed by the Vietnamese candidate, Nguyen Thai Hoc, who doubled him up with 1.04%.  At 8:40 p.m. Chris Bell conceded, followed by Steve Costello.  Adrian Garcia is rumored to be doing the same at 9 p.m.  Late update: Note that the 2.88% undervote exceeded the total of all votes for the seven also-rans (2.65%), including McVey.

Final: It's Turner and King next month, as the poli-sci profs guessed.

-- Houston City Council District A (contested races only listed):

Iesheia Ayers-Wilson
Brenda Stardig (i) 85.52%  84.3% (with a 18.8% undervote)


-- District B:

Jerry Davis (i) 69%  53.3% with the same percentage of undervotes as A)
Vince Duncan
Isaac Mayhorn
Kenneth "KP" Perkins
Ben White Jr

-- District C:

Ellen Cohen (i) 66%  67.93%. Undervote in this district tops 1 out of 5 voters, at 21.3%.
Carl Jarvis
Michael McDonald

-- District F:

Kendall L. Baker 24.86%
Steve Le 36.56%  40.38%
Richard Nguyen (i) 38.57% 34.09%

The tightest contest of the night pits the Republican-turned Democratic incumbent against his fellow Vietnamese challenger.  And it turns ominous for Nguyen, as he finishes the first round trailing Le.  Fewer undervotes here, under 16%.

-- District G:

Sandie Mullins Moger 49.01%  48%  49%
Greg Travis 50.99%  52%  51%


It's a dead heat in this Republican district for the right to replace Oliver Pennington.  As late returns (after 9 p.m.) come in, Travis begins to ease away.  The largest number of undervotes recorded in a district race was here: 22.49%.

-- District H:

Roland M Chavez 22.68% 22.29%  21.85%
Karla Cisneros 33.77% 35.29%  34.99%
Jason Cisneroz 23.46% 22.47%  24.3%
Abel Davila 19.92% 19.98%  19.86%

In this Latino district, Chavez and Cisneroz are neck and neck for the runoff against Cisneros in December.  And Cisneroz prevails, and will face Cisneros in December.  Just over 20% undervoted this race.

-- District I:

Robert Gallegos (i) 59%  57.29%
Herlinda Garcia

One of Council's best members stiff-arms his anti-Hero opponent. About 16.33% of the district's voters did not cast a ballot.

-- District J:

Manny Barrera 21.04% 20.70%  20.78%
Jim Bigham 18.51% 20.08%  21.17%
Mike Laster (i) 45.64% 43.99%  43.62%
Dung Le 14.8% 15.24%  14.42%

The anti-HERO candidate Barrera -- or Bigham -- looks to push the incumbent Laster into a runoff. And the late returns push Bigham into second, with the runoff between he and Laster coming in December.  Here the undervote was just above 17%.

-- Houston City Council At Large 1:

M. "Griff" Griffin 11.68%
Mike Knox 26.97%  24.75%
Lane Lewis 11.6%
Tom McCasland 11.89%
Chris Oliver 11.34%
James Partsch-Galván 3.2%
Jenifer Rene Pool 7.55%
Georgia Provost 15.78%  14.81%

Provost leads for second place and the runoff, with Republican Knox at the front and four more -- Griff, McCasland, Lewis, and Oliver all chasing her 4,000 vote lead.  Late update: And that's how it finishes, with Knox and Provost in the runoff.  28.56% of the 268,000 Houston municipal elections voters picked 'none of the above'.  That was good for first place.

-- At Large 2:

Andrew C. Burks Jr 14.87%
Willie R. Davis 23.97%  22.5%
Eric Dick 20.23%
Moe Rivera 8.69%
David W. Robinson (i) 32.24%  32.6%

In the clearest sign on the ballot that African American HERO haters turned out their vote, the incumbent will be a runoff with their chosen candidate Davis, eliminating attorney Dick (who finished second in the mayor's race two years ago to Annise Parker) and the former incumbent of AL2, Burks, finishing fourth.  There was a 31% undervote in this contest.

-- At Large 3:

Michael Kubosh (i) 64.42%  60.22%
John Christian Bullitt LaRue 6.51%  8.01%
Joseph McElligott 5.06%  6.31%
Doug Peterson 24%  25.46%

The fat man skates.  A nice showing for the Green, McElligott, who lost his own party's endorsement, and a poor showing for the progressive Democrat Peterson.  Another indication that black voters chose an anti-HERO Republican over two lefties and a center-righty (Bullitt LaRue).  One third -- 33.09% -- of the city's voters skipped this race, the most of any.

-- At Large 4:

Larry Blackmon 5.43%
Amanda Edwards 36.57%  34.93%
Jonathan Hansen 2.98%
Roy Morales 14.03%  16.9%
Matt Murphy 9.38%
Laurie Robinson 16.64%  16.42%
Evelyn Husband Thompson 14.97%  13.44%

The perennial Morales and the NASA widow Husband Thompson trail Robinson for the right to face Edwards in the runoff.  Late update: And Morales comes from behind to overtake Robinson and qualify for December against Edwards.  A total of 28.35% of all votes picked no one here.

-- At Large 5:

J. Brad Batteau 10.12%
Jack Christie (i) 48.66%
Sharon Moses 22.46%
Philippe Nassif 18.76%

The incumbent hopes for late returns to avoid a runoff with attorney Moses.  Late update: But they don't.  Here is Houston's best chance to knock out a Republican incumbent next month.  Once more, nearly one of three voters, or 32.34%, pick 'none of these'.

-- Houston City Controller:

Jew Don Boney 11.05%
Chris Brown 23.06%  24.92%
Bill Frazer 34.13%  31.35%
Dwight Jefferson 3.38%
MJ Khan 14.16%
Carroll G Robinson 14.22%

The easiest race to predict on the night.  22.89% cast no vote at all for the city's top accounting post.