The Dallas Morning News reports this afternoon that recently re-elected Senator John Cornyn is the new chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

Via the Dallas Morning News' Trailblazers blog, we see Texas Governor Rick Perry heaping praise upon former Vice Presidential candidate and current Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the run-up to the Republican Governors Association meeting that begins today:

Yes, they've already started up the slime machine. It's never too early to lie about the next Democratic administration, after all.

Of course, we won't have all the details until the RNC reports all its expenditures and contributions, but more and more information about Sarah Palin's makeover beyond the original $150,000 spending spree courtesy of the Republican National Committee has been coming out — and it's not a pretty picture.

The composition of the Texas State House of Representatives will be 76-74 or 75-75 pending the counting of provisional ballots in State House District 105 in Irving.

According to the Dallas Morning News' Trailblazers blog, the word on the street is that Republican incumbent representative Linda Harper-Brown thinks she will be on the losing end of the election once the provisional ballots are counted.

Need a quick summary of yesterday's national and state Election Day results? You've come to the right place.

CNN, AP, and all the major networks have called it: Illinois Senator Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States.

We're keeping tabs on the hottest races in Texas right here at the Blue.

Over 42% of registered Texans voted early. This means two things: The election is nearly guaranteed to shatter all previous turnout records, and lines in many places may be shorter than you think. Never a better time to vote on Election Day!

Some Harris County voting locations are observing that as many as two of every three voters are in the wrong voting location. So look up your voting location before heading out to vote. You can often find out your voting location at your county's elections website, or you can try one of the links in our handy-dandy "Where Do I Vote?" section.

Dallas trial lawyer and Democratic luminary Fred Baron passed away today of complications from bone marrow cancer. Baron was 61.