Trump elected president for second term; Cruz re-elected to Senate

Former President Donald Trump was returned to the White House by Gonzales County voters and the nation on Tuesday, Nov. 5, in complete but unofficial election returns.

According to the Associated Press, the Republican ticket of Trump and vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance had claimed 277 electoral votes out of a possible 538 as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6 — seven more than the 270 necessary to be elected. The Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had won 224 electoral votes with outcomes in Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Alaska still to be decided.
Republicans down ticket in the state of Texas also were named victors Tuesday night. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, locked in a re-election fight against Democrat Rep. Colin Allred, won with 53.2 percent of the vote — a nearly nine-point victory. As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Cruz had received 5,965,513 votes to 4,990,224 for Allred. No other candidate received more than 2.37 percent of the vote.

U.S. House Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Victoria, had little trouble in winning his re-election bid against Democrat Tanya Lloyd. Cloud won 183,570 votes, nearly two-thirds of the votes cast, while Lloyd got 94,217.

Railroad commissioner Christi Craddick coasted to re-election against Democrat challenger Katherine Culbert. Craddick had 55.71 percent of the vote, compared to 38.91 percent for Culbert, as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

All three incumbent Texas Supreme Court justices were re-elected by comfortable margins. Jimmy Blacklock defeated DaSean Jones, 58.31 percent to 41.69 percent. John Devine defeated Christine Vinh Weems, 57.42 percent to 42.58 percent, and Jane Bland defeated Bonnie Lee Goldstein, 56.36 percent to 40.38 percent.

Republican David Schenk is the new presiding judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals, winning 58.32 percent to 41.68 percent for Democrat Holly Taylor. In Place 7, Gina Parker will be the new judge, defeating Nancy Mulder, 58.43 percent to 41.57 percent. Lee Finley will be the new judge in Place 8 as he won 58.95 percent of the vote to 41.05 percent for Chika Anyiam.