It's the 2018 Runoff: do you get to vote?

The votes in Travis County have been finally canvassed. And though there were several close calls on election night 2018, there emerged only five runoffs across Travis County. However, none of the races are county-wide, which means that not everyone living in the Austin area will have a race to decide on.

Early voting begins Thursday, Nov. 29, and ends Friday, Dec. 7. Runoff election day is Tuesday, Dec. 11. More information including voting sites, sample ballots, and even wait times may be found here.

Before you drive all the way to one of the voting centers to cast a ballot, check below to see if there's a runoff race in your precinct. If you don't know your precinct number, check your voter registration card (see image below for an example) or visit www.votetravis.com.

Bright spots amid a dark evening for Austin conservatives

While it was a rainy day in Mudville for the conservative remnant in the Austin area, there were more than a few silver linings that deserve mention as part of the overall picture of what happened during the 2018 general election.

* Frank Ward, the only Republican running to succeed the only Republican on the Austin City Council Ellen Troxclair, is headed to a runoff! The date is Dec. 11. 

* Chip Roy won election to Congressional District 21 to succeed U.S Rep. Lamar Smith. Along with him, the three incumbent Republican members of Congress also won reelection (Michael McCaul, Bill Flores and Roger Williams).

Plot ACCelerates in Pflugerville annexation election

While the ACC Tax Vote No! PAC team asked some interesting questions in a recent video, and pointed out that a lion's share of donations come from outside Pflugerville (or even the Austin area) the connections between the Austin Community College Board of Trustees, a consulting firm, and a PAC designed to support the vote yes campaign are becoming clearer.

Click to enlarge -- this might still give the reader a headache, though!

To summarize ...

The late-voter's guide to Travis County elections

If you missed early voting and are only just now looking at your sample ballot choices, don't worry: we're here to help!

Below are our recommendations -- mostly Republicans, as is par for our course, but with some Libertarian favorites and some local independents worthy of a vote. A race with no endorsement is not necessarily a slight against any candidate but that we either don't have enough information or wish to leave it up to the voter. (Leaving uncertain races blank is generally a wise choice.)