Wow. Let me just say Wow to begin with.

Not a single Democratic seat was lost in the State House. Four Republican seats were picked up, with a fifth still possible. Say Hello to State Reps Valinda Bolton, Paula Hightowner Pierson, Alan Vaught, and (woo hoo! hot damn! yahoo!) Ellen Cohen. Let's also give a special shoutout to the the Dems who held the three at-risk open seats: Joe Farias, Solomon Ortiz, Jr, and the man of the night, who did the nobody-thought-he-could-do-it, Joe Heflin.

With one precinct still not counted, Juan Garcia trails by 24 stinking votes. If he wins, the State House becomes 81-69 GOP; if not, it's 82-68. Either way, we may have seen the last of Tom Craddick as Speaker.

Nick Lampson won a majority of the votes cast in CD22, and was the lead votegetter in all four of the counties that comprise that district. There will be a runoff in CD23, and though I fully expect Henry Bonilla to win, the proof of concept has been achieved. Given the right opponent, Bonilla is a dead man walking.

Dems did not win any countywide races in Harris, but the gap was narrowed significantly - Mary Kay Green got 49.40% while winning a majority of Tuesday's votes, and no Democratic judicial candidate did worse than 46.92%. Bill Connelly also won a majority of the votes that were cast on Tuesday.

And did I mention that Jim Sharp carried Harris County? If Dems don't put together a full slate of well-funded judicial candidates in 2008, they're crazy. In Dallas County, the Dems won all 47 races in which they competed, despite predictions of a GOP revival. Harris County is next.

In Galveston, Dems held the line at the county level, while Fort Bend Dems fell short. Not for lack of trying on their part, that's for sure, but they still have a way to go.

Though Dems did not win any new Congressional seats beyond CD22, there was progress made. Consider:

- Joe Barton in 2004 - 66.02% (Morris Meyer, 32.70%). In 2006, Barton wins 60.46 to 37.07

- John Culberson in 2004 - 64.11% (John Martinez, 33.30%). In 2006, Culberson wins 59.19 to 38.46.

- Mike McCaul ran unopposed in 2004, and was named on about 67% of the ballots in a district that was about 62% GOP. In 2006, McCaul wins 55.42 to 40.37. That leaves 4.31% for Libertarian Mike Badnarik, by the way, and is not far off from the poll result.

- Ron Paul ran unopposed in 2004, and like McCaul was named on about 67% of the ballots in a district that was about 64% GOP. In 2006, Paul wins 60.95 to 39.05, with some boxes in Galveston not reflected in that total. Yes, I was hoping for a better result in this race. It's still progress.

- Kenny Marchant in 2004 - 63.98% (Gary Page, 34.22). In 2006, Marchant wins 59.87 to 37.11 against the same opponent.

- Michael Burgess in 2004 - 65.75% (Lico Reyes, 32.71). In 2006, Burgess wins 60.10 to 37.35.

- John Carter in 2004 - 64.76% (Jon Porter, 32.45). In 2006, Carter wins 58.40 to 38.89.

I call all of that progress. May we see more of it in 2008.

I haven't mentioned the Governor's race yet. Obviously, I'm disappointed. Will Rick "39%" Perry learn to play well with others, or does he believe he still has a mandate? We'll see. In the meantime, consider this: If you voted for Valinda Hathcox but not Chris Bell, congratulations. You helped give Rick Perry four more years.

Finally, on a national note, we aren't yet sure how big the Dems' margin in the House is yet, and there's still some doubt in the Senate where the Dems have leads in Montana and Virginia but will face recounts, but no matter how you slice it, they won big. No Democratic seat in either chamber flipped - that's a historic result for the House, where even in 1994, the Dems flipped five seats. And I leave you on the following note:

South Dakota abortion ban: Rejected.

Arizona gay marriage ban: Rejected.

Missouri stem cell initiative: Passed. Thank you, Michael J. Fox.