I visited seven different polling locations Sunday plus the Katy Tea "What's on Your Ballot" rally. Even with reduced hours and being on a Sunday, early voting in Harris County remained strong, with 14,915 voters making it out to the polls, officially surpassing the number of early votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. On a percentage basis, the traditional minority polling locations fared better than their suburban counterparts, although in actual votes they remain well behind. Four of the top five locations based upon percentage of total votes vs 2008 are in areas with a strong Tea Party presence. And the good news for Republicans - party insiders say that three out of every four votes cast by traditional primary voters are from those that vote Republican.

Here is the breakdown by polling location:

And the ranking by votes cast at each location:

And here is something new. Marc Campos of Campos Communications came up with an interesting comparison. Basically, he took the 2008 early vote and compared it on a percentage basis to the 2010 vote by polling location. Interesting idea because it clearly shows the lack of enthusiasm in the traditional minority locations as compared to the Obama wave in 2008. I liked it so much that I stole the idea, added it to the sheet, and then sorted by gain/loss. It really highlights the Tea Party effect - four of the top five polls are those with very a strong Tea Party presence:

And it also shows something else. The Tea Parties that aligned themselves most closely with Republicans, i.e., those on the North and Northwest side, haven't had as big of an impact at getting people to the polls. I think that is because they have concentrated on other areas of the process - but in the end, if you don't get people to the polls, have you made the difference you think you have made? Hey, I think it is interesting. And even though it doesn't look like much, if you add them all up, it is about a 25% swing.

I visited seven polling locations: Bayland, Franz Road, Moody, Ripley, Galena Park, Pasadena, and Clear Lake. There were lines out the door at the first two, a few voters straggling in at Moody, no one at Ripley, no one at Galena Park, a few stragglers at Pasadena, and a steady flow at Clear Lake. I didn't make it to Pasadena until just after 5, and Clear Lake around 5:45, just before the polls closed. But the numbers for the day go along with what my eyes saw. Kudos to these candidates:

• Bayland: Sarah Davis, David Farr, Patricia Kerrigan
• Franz Road: Lance Dean (for Sheri Y. Dean), Martha Hill Jamison
• Katy Tea Rally: Sheri Y. Dean, Paul Simon (Democrat), Jacqueline Lucci Smith, Jeff Williams, Lydia Smyth (for Don Smyth), James Lombardino, Chris Daniel, and Analia Wilkerson had a rep.
• Moody: Fernando Herrera, Jessica Farrar, Juliet Stipeche, John Faulk, and Roy Morales had reps.
• Ripley: Herrera, Farrar, Stipeche, and Morales had reps.
• Galena Park: Stipeche had a rep.
• Pasadena: Sylvia Garcia had a rep.
• Freeman: Sheri Y. and Lance Dean were there.

Again, nothing means much if YOU don't get out and vote, as well as telling your family, friends, and neighbors to go vote.

Just do it!

Equal means they voted equal number of times in a Republican and Democrat Primary. As you can see, the people that gave me the 3-1 info are WAY off. While I do "hope" that the Indies are leaning heavily Republican, that is all it is: hope.

Now GO VOTE!