Election day arrives (LIVE UPDATES ON RESULTS)

UPDATE at 10:30 p.m.

Texas looks to remain red as Sen. Ted Cruz bests Rep. Beto O'Rourke for the Junior Senate seat. Gov. Greg Abbott has also won his re-election bid as governor. In District 19, Rep. Jodey Arrington is showing a victory with over 75 percent of the vote, while Mike Conaway in District 11 has over 80 percent. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has not been declared the winner yet, but currently leads by almost 7 percent with 41.5 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Texas Tribune.

Ag. Comm. Sid Miller and Attorney General Ken Paxton are also winning their respective races, but are not yet confirmed as winners. Land Comm. George P. Bush won his re-election bid handily by a 13-point margin.

Nationally, races look to pan out the way most experts and polls had predicted, with the GOP maintaining the Senate (they currently have 50 seats won) and the Democrats winning the House, though they are still down in seats at the moment 144 to 151.

Some interesting elections from across the country include Republican Ron DeSantis winning in Florida over Democrat Andrew Gillum, which was a highly concentrated race in terms of attention by both parties. Republican Marsha Blackburn took the Senate victory in Tennesee, while Sen. Joe Manchin (Democrat) was able to hold onto his Senate seat in West Virginia, which heavily supported President Donald Trump in 2016. Manchin is thought to be one of the more conservative Democrats in the chamber and was one of three Democrat incumbents vying to keep their Senate seat. The other two voted against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in October, while Manchin voted in favor of him.

In the Governor's races, Republicans currently have 21 seats won and Democrats have 17. Both parties had seven governor seats not up for re-election, setting the stage for Republicans to potentially lose seats, as they controlled 33 of the state legislatures coming into the election. So far, Democrats have picked up four that had previously belonged to Republicans, including Illinois, Michigan and New Mexico.

UPDATE at 8:15 p.m. (LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS)

Local election results for Stephens County and Breckenridge were posted. Stephens County and Breckenridge have elected to stay with Republicans in 2018, with every election going in favor of the GOP candidate. None of the races were particularly close, with not one Democratic candidate scoring over 1,000 votes. The one proposition on the ballot, the "legal sale of beer and wine," passed as well.

Below shows the full list of candidates. The candidates highlighted are the winners in the county or district. One thing to mention is these are not final on the state or national level, but only vote totals for Stephens County. These are also unofficial, as the county has until 5 p.m. tomorrow to count mail-in ballots.

Stephens County will release votes by precinct tomorrow.

City of Breckenridge Proposition - "The legal sale of beer and wine"

For - 982

Against - 266

U.S. Senator

Ted Cruz (Republican) - 2,627

Beto O’Rourke (Democrat) - 324

Neal M. Dikeman (Libertarian) - 13

U.S. Representative District 19

Jodey Arrington (Republican) - 825

Miguel Levario (Democrat) - 61

U.S. Representative District 11

Mike Conaway (Republican) - 1,818

Jennie Lou Leeder (Democrat) - 228

Rhett Rosenquest Smith (Libertarian) - 14

Governor of Texas

Greg Abbott (Republican) 2,649

Lupe Valdez (Democrat) - 291

Mark Jay Tippetts (Libertarian) - 24

Lieutenant Governor

Dan Patrick (Republican) - 2,565

Mike Collier (Democrat) - 363

Kerry Douglas McKennon (Libertarian) - 30

Attorney General

Ken Paxton (Republican) - 2,578

Justin Nelson (Democrat) - 344

Michael Ray Harris (Libertarian) - 35

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Glenn Hegar (Republican) - 2,595 

Joi Chevalier (Democrat) - 283

Ben Sanders (Libertarian) - 53

Commissioner of the General Land Office

George P. Bush (Republican) - 2,549

Miguel Suazo (Democrat) - 317

Matt Pina (Libertarian) - 71

Commissioner of Agriculture

Sid Miller (Republican) - 2,591

Kim Olson (Democrat) - 312

Richard Carpenter (Libertarian) - 36

Railroad Commissioner

Christi Craddick (Republican) - 2,598

Roman McAllen (Democrat) - 282

Mike Wright (Libertarian) - 59

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2

Jimmy Blacklock (Republican) - 2,602

Steven Kirkland (Democrat) - 324

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4

John Devine (Republican) - 2,603

R.K. Sandill (Democrat) - 308

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6

Jeff Brown (Republican) - 2,603

Kathy Cheng (Democrat) - 315

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals

Sharon Keller (Republican) - 2,579

Maria T. (Terri) Jackson (Democrat) - 297 

William Byran Strange III (Libertarian) - 51

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 7

Barbara Parker Hervey (Republican) - 2,607

Ramona Franklin (Democrat) - 304

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8

Michelle Slaughter (Republican) - 2,617

Mark Ash (Democrat) - 182

State Representative District 60

Mike Lang (Republican) - 2,710

Chief Justice, 11th Court of Appeals District

John Bailey (Republican) - 2,707

County Judge

Michael Roach (Republican) - 2,746

District Clerk

Christie Coapland (Republican) - 2,731

County Clerk

Jackie Ensey (Republican) - 2,723

County Treasurer

Sharon Trigg (Republican) - 2,708

County Commissioner, Pct. 2

Mark McCullough (Republican) - 779

County Commissioner, Pct. 4

Eric O'Dell (Republican) - 746

Justice of the Peace

Steve Spoon (Republican) - 2,697

Constable

Adam R. Babilon (Republican) - 2,695

UPDATE at 7:15 p.m.

Polls in Texas are officially closed and the first results of the night, coming mostly from the east coast, are starting to come in. Several districts in Florida and Kentucky have reported a GOP victory, with some Democratic victories spread out across Florida. The only district left for Kentucky is their 6th district, which currently has the Democratic candidate leading.

As it stands right now in the House, 28 seats have been won by the Democrats and 19 by the Republicans. Most of these seats, however, are considered strong Democratic or Republican, and very few of what are considered vulnerable seats for each party has been accounted for.

In the Senate, which had 42 Republicans and 23 Democrats not up for re-election, the Democrats have secured seven seats at this point in time. Republicans have not secured one yet, but still control 12 more seats at the moment than the 30 Democrats who are either not up for reelection or have already been declared the winner. In order for Republicans to maintain the majority, they need to win just nine seats, while the Democrats will need to win 21 more to secure the Senate.

These updates come as experts anticipate the Democrats taking a majority in the House, and Republicans maintaining their majority in the Senate. This is due to the historical trends of a controlling party losing seats in the midterm immediately after a presidential election. Though, in the Senate, of the 35 seats up for grabs, 26 of them are having to be defended by Democrats. This spells a likely net loss of seats for the party.

In the state-level races, which there are 36 of in this election, only Massachusetts has reported a winner, which was Republican Charlie Baker. Entering this election, Republicans controlled 36 state legislatures, so it stands to reason they could net lose some states. However, this does not necessarily mean they will lose their majority.

The Breckenridge American will be updating shortly with election results for Stephens County and Breckenridge, as well as updates on the state and national elections throughout the night.

UPDATE at 4:30 p.m.

Issues at voting and polling locations are rising up across the U.S., with concerns over the voting machines, as well as weather delays in New York and in the midwest.

Machines in various states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee have reported issues with voting machines and ballott scanners breaking. The technical issues caused several electronic ballots within polling locations across the country to shut down for a period of time, with some residents electing to wait in line for the machines to work again, or use a paper ballot. Others said they would come back at a later time.

Some of the technical issues that exist are malfunctioning scanners or machines, and some machines missing power cords, due to dead batteries in the polling machines. Tennessee has experienced power outages at several polling locations, which also caused a switch to paper ballots. These issues have led to longer lines and in some cases, extended voting times in a precincts across the country.

In El Paso, concerns about voter intimidation cropped up as well, with the Customs and Border Protection electing to hold a crowd control exercise Tuesday. This created a stirrup at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which stated concerns about the practice being used to intimidate voters and keep them from the polls. In response, the exercise was cancelled.

On a happier note, girl scouts in Breckenridge are handing out free cookies in the parking lot across the street from the Chamber of Commerce and the Breckenridge American to those who have voted.  If you have voted, PTO President Kim Fuller is advocating people come get some free cookies.

Election results are expected to start coming in around 5 p.m. Results locally should be known by 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Breckenridge American will update this story as soon as election results start to become known.

Original story:

Today is Election Day for the 2018 midterm. This means if you do not cast a vote today, you will not get a chance to do so.

The Breckenridge American encourages every registered voter to vote in this election. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today. Listed below are the polling locations by precinct.

Precinct 1 – First National Bank Tower Room, 101 E Walker, Breckenridge, Texas.

Precincts 2 – The Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 1601 W Elliott, Breckenridge, Texas.

Precincts 3 – The Chamber of Commerce building, 100 E Elm, Breckenridge, Texas.

Precincts 4 – The BISD Support Center (Bus Barn), 907 US Hwy 183 N, Breckenridge, Texas.

Precinct 5 – Wayland Volunteer Fire Department, 10276 FM 1852, Breckenridge. Texas.

To find your voting precinct, visit Vote.org and search by your address.

Early voting numbers, according to the Stephens County Tax Assessor Office, had 1,896 early voters. This compares to the 2014 midterm when the turnout was 824 in early voting.

The Breckenridge American will be updating this post throughout the day with new election information, including the results later tonight for local, state and national elections.