SAN ANTONIO — Election Day has come and gone in Bexar County, Texas and the country, bringing major developments to the political landscape.
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, former President Donald Trump was within victory in the White House race, having been projected the winner of multiple key battleground states. Bexar County incumbents won reelection in the sheriff and Commissioners Court races, while Sen. Ted Cruz defeated Democratic challenger Colin Allred to win a third term.
Follow live updates from our team below below:
2 a.m.: Bexar County turnout
With all voting centers reporting results, the Bexar County Elections Department tallied 150,392 in-person voters on Tuesday, the most for an Election Day since 2004.
But the overall turnout of 58.6% is down from the 2020 presidential election, when 65% of the county's registered voters cast a ballot and early voting was extended bye a week to accommodate for COVID-era protocols.
Midnight: Rebeca Clay-Flores (D) projected to win Bexar County Commissioner, Pct. 1
Incumbent Rebeca Clay-Flores is expected to win Bexar County Commissioner, Precinct 1 over Republican challenger Lina Prado after earning almost 59% of the vote.
Midnight: Grant Moody (R) projected to win Bexar County Commissioner, Pct. 3
Republican Grant Moody is expected to be reelected as Bexar County Commissioner, Precinct 3 as he has almost an 11-point lead over challenger Susan Korbel.
11:50 p.m. CBS: Donald Trump projected to win battleground state of Georgia
CBS is projecting the former President Donald Trump to win the important battleground state of Georgia, adding 16 electoral votes to his lead.
11:40 p.m. AP: Philip Cortez (D) projected to win Texas House District 117
Incumbent Philip Cortez is projected to win the Texas House District 117 race against Republican Ben Mostyn. Cortez is ahead with a sizeable lead of more than sixteen percentage points, AP numbers say.
11:40 p.m. AP: Josey Garcia (D) projected to win Texas House District 124
Democrat Josey Garcia is expected to win after leading the race for District 124 in the Texas House by nearly twenty-five points against Sylvia Soto.
11:10 p.m. AP: Donna Campbell (R) projected to win Texas Senator District 25
Donna Campbell is projected to win the race for Texas Senator District 25. Campbell continues to maintain her big lead against Democratic challenger Merrie Fox with over twenty-seven points.
10:45 p.m. AP: Mark Dorazio (R) projected to win Texas House District 122
The Associated Press is projecting Republican Mark Dorazio to win Texas House District 122 over Democrat Kevin Geary after securing more than 58% of the vote.
10:30 p.m. AP: Donald Trump projected to win the Battleground State of North Carolina
Donald Trump has secured 16 more electoral votes as the Associated Press is projecting that he will win the battleground State of North Carolina with almost 51% of the vote.
10:15 p.m. AP: Trey Martinez Fischer (D) projected to win Texas House District 116
Trey Martinez Fischer is expected to win against Republican challenger Darryl W. Crain and represent District 116 in the Texas House of Representatives again. Fischer is trailing ahead with more than thirty-three points, according to AP estimates.
10:00 p.m. AP: Elizabeth "Liz" Campos (D) projected to win Texas House District 119
Elizabeth “Liz” Campos is expected to win her reelection campaign against Republican Brandon J. Grable in a race for the House seat representing District 119. Campos is leading with more than twenty-seven points, according to the Associated Press.
9:55 p.m. All six charter propositions poised to pass in San Antonio
With some Election Day returns starting to come in, each of San Antonio's six city charter propositions are still poised to pass. If they do, it would mean salary raises for the mayor and City Council members; the removal of pay and term limit caps on the city manager; and empowering city employees to participate in political activity.
9:40 p.m. CBS: Ted Cruz projected to win Texas
CBS projects Ted Cruz will win reelection over U.S. House Rep. Colin Allred, capping the year’s most expensive Senate race.
9:30 p.m. Ted Cruz speaks in Houston
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, leading Democratic challenger Colin Allred in a tight race that has yet to be called, expressed confidence that he would be reelected while speaking from his hometown of Houston. Reiterating his key campaign points, he promised to work to secure the border, "unleash Texas energy" and protect his constituents' "God-given rights."
“This isn’t just about politics—it’s about preserving a way of life that has made Texas a last, best hope for freedom of mankind," Cruz said.
He leads Allred, 53.8% to 44.2%, with 68% of Texas precincts reporting.
9:20 p.m. AP: Tony Gonzales (R) projected to win U.S. House District 23
The Associated Press is projecting Republican Tony Gonzales to win the seat for U.S House District 23 as he has almost a 25-point lead over his Democratic opponent Santos Limon.
9:00 p.m. AP: Chip Roy (R) projected to win U.S. House District 21
The Associated Press is projecting Chip Roy as the winner of the U.S. House District 21 race, beating Democrat Kristin Hook to claim reelection to his seat. So far, he has 61% of the vote.
Roy has received about 61% of the vote, Hook has received about 37% and King (L) received almost 2% of the vote as almost 70% of the precincts have been reported.
8:20 p.m. SA City Council salaries raised and limits on city manager removed as voters pass Prop C and Prop E
San Antonio City Charter proposals to raise City Council members' pay and remove limits on the city manager are in position to pass early on. There are six ballot propositions in total that seek to update the city charter in one way or another.
8:00 p.m. AP: Donald Trump wins Texas
The Associated Press announced that Donald Trump will win the State of Texas and its 40 electoral votes as he earned almost 54% of the vote.
7:40 p.m. AP: Greg Casar (D) wins U.S. House District 35
The Associated Press has called the race for U.S. House District 35 as Democrat Greg Casar earned more than 70% of the vote, beating out Republican Steven Wright.
7:30 p.m. Ted Cruz and Colin Allred are neck and neck early in their election night battle for Cruz's Senate seat
Per Associate Press estimates, Cruz, the Republican incumbent, leads his Democratic challenger 49.4% to 48.7% with more than 4 million votes counted.
It's setting the stage for another close contest for Cruz's seat; in 2018 he needed every one of his 4.26 million votes to defeat Beto O'Rourke, a race decided by just 215,000 ballots.
7:00 p.m. Election Day votes are being counted as polls officially close
As polls close across the state, Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen gives an update on voting numbers as early ballots have now been counted.
Callanen announced that after early voting numbers were counted, 146,021 people showed up to the polls giving Bexar County a 58% turnout before the Election Day votes are counted in full.
She wanted to remind voters to stay patient on results as Election Day ballots will take at least a few hours to count, but she is hoping to get the final report before the end of the night.
"If we get that final report and it says November 5th, boy we will be doing a dance of joy. But I am afraid it's going to rollover to Nov. 6," said Callanen.
See her full remarks here:
5:00 p.m. 56.1% of Bexar County has voted with two hours left
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen gave an update on the voting numbers two hours before polls close.
Callanen said that 116,849 people have casted ballots on Election Day, which means 56.1% of Bexar County residents have voted with only two hours left to do so.
She also wanted to inform voters that even though the polls close at 7 p.m., officials will mark the last person in line at the time of closing to allow everyone to cast their ballots. This will leave some locations counting votes for a few hours after the final ballots are casted.
Callanen did say officials expect to get final numbers on early and mail-in ballots out to the public around 8:15-8:30.
See her full remarks here:
3:00 p.m. Things going smooth since tech issues this morning
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen gave an update on how things are going with four hours until the polls close.
Callanen says that more than 92,000 people have voted on Election Day so far. That's about 12,000 an hour. She says that 54.2 percent of Bexar County voters have voted.
She says the biggest confusion have been voters who have recently moved from other counties that have not changed their addresses. Those people who fall under that category can only vote on a "limited ballot" during early voting. About 1,600 people filled out limited ballots during the early voting period. Some people have driven back to their registered counties to exercise their right to vote.
See her full remarks here:
2:15 p.m. Nearly 85,000 have voted so far
The Bexar County Elections Department said in a social media post that 84,790 people had voted in person as of 2 p.m. That brings the total in person votes including early voting to 659,418.
1:30 p.m. Texas withdraws request
Texas has withdrawn its request to have a federal judge block the U.S. Justice Department from monitoring the state’s election.
The move follows an agreement reached late Monday between the federal agency and the Texas attorney general’s office. The DOJ agreed their monitors in eight Texas counties will remain outside and at least 100 feet away from polling and central count locations. It also agreed to refrain from interfering with any voters attempting to cast ballots, following its usual practice.
12:30 p.m. Results at 7 p.m.?
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen says final results will not be available right at 7 p.m. She explained where the ballots go after the poll sites close.
"I'm sorry to say I don't think we will have results at seven o'clock," Callanen said in her mid-day update. "I think they will still be voting, I think the numbers will still go up. When the poll sites close, every site is assigned to one of five places. We have what is called 'regional sending sites.' So instead of all going to one place, we have regional sites around the country,"
11:20 a.m. No lines at northeast-side polling location
KENS 5 received a phone call from a poll worker at the Morgan's Wonderland voting location at 5222 David Edwards Drive. It is a new location this year and the poll worker said there is currently no line or wait time.
11 a.m. Some tech issues this morning
Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen gave an update on how things are going at the polls. She said voter turnout has exceeded 50 percent of the registered voters in the county. That includes early voting, the Election Day voters so far, and mail in ballots that have been processed.
Callanen also said they have had some tech issues this morning, but that there are teams of technicians deployed all over the city to respond quickly to resolve any issues.
See her full remarks below:
9:30 a.m. Lines forming, no phones
Lines are forming at several polling locations in Bexar County. Elections officials are reminding everyone that they cannot wear anything related to political campaigns within 100 feet of the polling locations. You also cannot use your phone within 100 feet and you must have a hard copy of your ID rather than a screenshot on your phone.
7 a.m. Polls now open
Polls open across the San Antonio area. There are 302 voting sites across San Antonio and more than 2,500 voting machines, according to the Bexar County elections administrator.