Anticipation filled the air at the Blanco County Courthouse on Tuesday evening. There were eight different precincts that voted in the county – and as each of their results were posted, it was clear that the vast majority of Blanco County residents opted to stray from the national opinion and voted for Republican John McCain and Sarah Palin as their 44th President of the United States. A television tuned into Fox News had been rolled into the hall to allow those awaiting the local results the opportunity to follow along with the national results simultaneously.

In Blanco County, 2,587 people submitted early ballots. A total number of registered voters were not immediately available for the purposes of this article. 762 votes were cast as straight Republican tickets. 307 votes were cast as straight Democrat tickets. 10 votes were cast as straight Libertarian tickets.

According to Christine Schulze at Blanco County precinct 201 in Johnson City, the actual voter turnout was really low, however she believes this is because “a lot of folks participated in the early voting process.”

One young man who did turn up to vote however was first time voter, LBJ High School senior, Philip Linsey, age 18. This was Philip’s first presidential election and he was excited that he was finally able to exercise his right to vote.

“My Economics teacher, Mrs. Normand, really helped us be informed for this election,” Linsey said. “We had several projects that we did and she let us discuss both sides of the issues so we could make our decision before we went to the polls.” For Linsey, the economy and the war were his two main issues of concern and he did extensive research online outside of school to gather further information. “I came out to vote, because if I didn’t – then I wouldn’t have any place to complain and be critical,” of the job the incoming President was doing, Linsey stated.

Another first time voter at Precinct 201 was Shayna Butler, age 18. Butler graduated from LBJ High School last year and is now attending UTSA. “I came out to vote because I needed to prove my politics teacher wrong,” Shayna stated. “He claims that young voters just don’t care enough to vote in a Presidential election.” Butler arrived to vote with fellow Johnson City residents Barbara Chavez, and Christy Crossley. Chavez and Crossley gathered the majority of their information on the Presidential candidates from watching the debates and reading newspapers. When asked what their reason for turning up to vote was, Crossley stated “If you don’t pick a president – then you’re allowing everyone else the opportunity to pick for you.” The economy and war were the two key issues that these ladies were the most concerned with.

As of 9:45 pm the final tally at the Blanco County courthouse was posted. According to the printout of combined regular and absentee ballots – a total 4,992 ballots were counted in Blanco County.

The Republican party won by a vast majority in every category with the exception of County Tax Assessor-Collector, Hollis Boatright, who is registered as an Independent and Precinct 1 County Commissioner, John Wood, who is also listed as an Independent. The County Commissioner Precinct 3 race was won by Chris Leismann with 792 votes over Ray Kunkel with 88 votes.

The closest race was actually between District 45, State Representative candidates Matt Young and Patrick Rose. Although Rose is the incumbent, his affiliation to the Democratic Party hurt his chances in Blanco County and voters ultimately selected Republican Matt Young as their choice for state representative. In the end, Young received 2,374 votes to Rose’s 2,319 votes. Across Texas, Rose remained undefeated with 43,891 votes over Young with 27,706 votes.

Although things seemed promising for the Republican party within Blanco County – the national scene painted a much different picture. After a number of key states turned in their ballots – Senator John McCain conceded the race to President Elect Barack Obama.

Obama greeted a league of supporters that included Oprah Winfrey and Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago, Illinois. His basic message was that they had a lot of work to get done – but America is capable of great things. Every time he stated his catch phrase “Yes, We Can” the crowd chanted it back at him.

President Elect Obama will be sworn into office on January 20th, 2009.