Here's what two different people sent in from the CWE

On the near south-side (wards 8 and 6) lines run outside polling places and around the corner.  Those hoping to zip in early (like me) were astounded to see a very motivated crowd of a hundred, merry and spirited, most with coffee.

If this scene is being played out in other parts of the city and St. Louis County and continues through the day, it should lift any close state-wide races in the direction of the Democrats.

They've rented every cab in the City of St. Louis for Tuesday. Call a cab, go to the polls. Pretty amazing.

Steve Eagleton who lost to James Trout last night in the Democratic primary for the 15th District is asking for a recount. According to the Secretary of State website, Eagleton received 5,130 votes to Trout's 5,165.

Here's the statement:  The hotly contested 15^th State Senate Democratic Primary came down to the wire last night.  The unofficial results have Steve Eagleton trailing his opponent by 35 votes out of over 10,000.  The Eagleton campaign will file for a recount immediately to insure that every vote is counted correctly.  "I owe this district, my supporters, and the Democratic Party the peace of mind that every vote was counted correctly," said Eagleton from his campaign headquarters Wednesday.

Here is the summary and here is the ward-by-ward breakdown.

I haven't had a chance to look at them and probably won't get to it until tonight, so have at it.

Here's a sample from across Missouri:

"Battle out here."

"Always anxious. very low turnout."

"Turn out very low. But we r getting good feed back at the poll sites"

"No idea. Hot out though."

"Turnout is bad, but should still be ok"

1/2 cent sales tax passes.

One savvy staffer told me last night - lots of people came out against it, but none of them actually worked against it.

In Western Missouri, Clinton and Obama split the Kansas City region with Obama taking the city 66% to 33% and Clinton took Jackson County 54% to 43%.

According to the Saint Louis County Board of Elections, voters casting Democratic ballots outnumber their Republican neighbors.

With 61% of precincts counted, Prop S is ahead 55% to 45%.

It's awfully early, but boy there may be a shocker.  I've written about this for my MOScout subscribers. Here's the story.

There are three special elections tonight for vacated state representative seats. One is a clear Democratic seat - 65-RD, Fred Kratky resigned, being replaced by his wife. She's unopposed.

Two are clear Republican seats: 16-RD in St. Charles. Carl Bearden resigned to pursue a lobbying career. And 158-RD in the bootheel where Nathan Cooper is in jail for crimes relating to immigration fraud.

16-RD is a 54-ish RPI (Republican Performance Index) and 158-RD is 60 RPI, maybe even more. No problem, right? Wrong.

The Democrats are more energized by their presidential candidates. In the primary states previous to Super Tuesday, Democratic turn-out for voting has eclipsed Republican turn-out. And the strong Dem turn-out may also be the result of independents voting Democratic.

So the theory goes, more Democratic voters turning out confronted with two largely unknown names (because these are special elections, no incumbent is running) and they'll vote the party they just chose for president.

In 158-RD there are actually a few more factors helping. Republicans put up a 79 year old former state representative who hasn't done any work, while the Democratic challenger, Mike Keefe, has knocked on 5,000 doors. There's still the stench of scandal from Cooper. And Keefe won the Missouri Right to Life endorsement.

Will this add up to an upset?

Watch the Secretary of State's numbers. So far in St. Charles there are more Democratic ballots (for presidential preference) coming in than Republican. And with 2 of the 14 precincts reporting in 16-RD, the Democrat Tom Fann is holding a slim lead.

158-RD is tougher. More Republican ballots than Dems, but with 12 of 17 precincts in, Keefe is showing well down only 300 votes.

Currently I am staking out the watch party at the Royale on South Kingshighway.

The open thread on the sales tax issue seems to have stirred up a good discussion. 

The nature of an issue like the sales tax is that a lot of hands are involved in passing it through to the voters, but in essence there are only two places in City Hall that count. The bill, Board Bill 362, was introduced by Ald. Conway, ward 8, and Board President Reed. It was approved by the public safety committee. Upon returning to the main body, the bill passed unanimously (pdf). The only "aye" lacking on the final vote (pdf) was Ald. Bosley, Jr. who was absent. The Mayor then signed the bill. 

The proposal has been endorsed by the Mayor who is looking for a way to fund the pension system whose problems proceed the Slay and a number of the current board members. The Mayor highlights an endorsement of Prop S by the St. Louis Business Journal on his website.

The Comptroller has also endorsed the idea of a sales tax, but in a press release on her website she says the version before the voters is not what she would have approved. She has also been a regular critic of the tax-abatement strategies used to lure new business (or entice existing businesses) to the city that seem to fall like confetti around the city. 

Is the sales tax the best method to address the shortfall? Perhaps. While the city residents obviously bear the brunt of the tax, it also takes advantage of the volume of people living outside the city who commute into the city for work or entertainment. The backlash against property taxes is in full swing, and there may be similar resistance to a bond issue. 

That said, sales taxes are inherently regressive and hit the poor disproportionally hard. Even for the 50-odd percent of city households making more than $25k a year, every little bit counts when inflation surpases economic growth. 

The lawsuit was the city's last hope to fend off the impending fiscal calamity. Now it's up to the voters to decide if they want to accept the solution proposed by the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen.