The Evening Brief: Nov. 6, 2012

Culled:

•   Galveston County voting extended two hours (Houston Chronicle): "A Galveston County judge has ordered that polls remain open one hour and 54 minutes after the normal closing time because of problems with voting machines, the Galveston County Clerk's Office said."

•   Election could set stage for gridlock in Texas Legislature (The Associated Press): "Texas voters may be setting the stage for gridlock when the Legislature meets next year, replacing moderate Republicans with conservatives and Democrats. No one really questions whether Republicans will lose their supermajority in the Texas House after Tuesday's election; the only question is by how much? Republicans hope to limit their losses to six seats. Democrats hope to win more than eight."

•   Cruz is already looking beyond his presumed victory (Houston Chronicle): "Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz told a group of supporters at Galleria-area polling location around noon that he is looking toward tomorrow, confident in cruising to victory Tuesday night. 'The hard work starts tomorrow,' Cruz said 'At this point, it's all about turnout.'"

•   Democrats in red states stress Obama's popular vote, local campaigns (The Hill): "Democratic officials in conservative parts of the country aren't predicting victory for President Obama in their states — but they are focused on winning the national popular vote and races at the local level. … 'The [Texas Democratic Party] is focused on turning out Democrats throughout the state for every race, from school board to the presidency,' Texas Democratic Party Communications Director Tanene Allison told The Hill in an emailed statement."

•   Granger says Congress will go to work on nation's fiscal issues (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): "Regardless of who wins the presidential election, Rep. Kay Granger says she thinks Congress will go back to work in the coming weeks and begin coming to grips with the U.S. government's short-term financial problems. The looming 'fiscal cliff' of big tax increases and budget cuts that would take effect January 1 will be worked around, Granger said, likely with short term, stop gap measures at first to give Congressional leaders of both parties times to work negotiate longer term deals."

New in The Texas Tribune:

•   Cruz Poised for Big Win as Election Day Arrives: "Barring a historically shocking upset, Tea Party darling Ted Cruz will become Senator-elect Ted Cruz on Tuesday night, and former state Rep. Paul Sadler will join a long line of Texas Democrats who have failed to break the GOP stranglehold on statewide politics. … He said he was 'exclusively' focused on making the case that he’s the best candidate for the U.S. Senate, and he predicted there wouldn’t be an opening anyway. 'I fully expect in 2016 that we will be seeing a campaign for the re-election of Mitt Romney, and I intend to do everything I can to support that re-election,' he said."

•   Interactive: Last Look at Federal Candidates' Campaign Finance Totals: "On Oct. 25, federal candidates filed their pre-general reports, the last campaign finance reports before the Nov. 6 general election. These reports are our last look at how much money each candidate had on hand before the big day. Use our interactive to view the contribution, expenditure, cash on hand and outstanding loan totals for each candidate."

•   Amid Texas Power Market Changes, Little Talk of Impact on Ratepayers: "Ongoing efforts to fix the strained Texas power market will almost certainly have an effect on the monthly power bills for ordinary Texans. But there has been little discussion, or study, of the impact on ratepayers."

•   Updated Interactive: Mapping Women's Health Program Providers: "As Texas continues a legal battle to keep Planned Parenthood out of the Women's Health Program, this interactive map shows where the program providers are in relation to the women who could be eligible."