By Eleni Himaras

After a long, tumultuous campaign season, voters get to stop listening and start talking Tuesday.

Lake Travis residents will decide if Lake Travis Fire and Rescue will receive one percent of the sales tax to fund additional firefighters, emergency medical personnel, new equipment and infrastructure.
“Fire and EMS calls in ESD 6 have increased by 25 percent since 2005, and the total number of calls responded to have increased by 41 percent,” Travis County Emergency Services District 6 Fire Chief Jim Linardos told the Lake Travis View earlier this year.
Voters approved the measure last November but a competing election by the City of Lakeway nullified the vote by approving a half-cent sales tax for property tax relief.
In the race for the District 27 seat in the Texas House, Republican Donna Keel will attempt to take on incumbent Democrat Valinda Bolton. Bolton earned the Freshman of the Year award from the Bi-partisan Legislative Study Group but Keel believes her experience as a government performance auditor with the Comptroller’s Agency makes her the right person for the job during the economic downturn.
Democrat Karen Huber has launched a massive advertising campaign in an attempt to take down Republican incumbent Gerald Daugherty in the race for Travis County Commissioner of Precinct 3. Daugherty has handily carried his previous two elections.
The race is also up in the air for Precinct 3 in the County Constable race where Republican Mike Varela hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Richard Theodore McCain.
On the national front, local voters will get to decide on the future of incumbent house representatives District 10 Republican Lamar Smith and District 25 Democrat Lloyd Doggett. Smith faces a challenge from Libertarian James Arthur Strohm while Doggett is up against Republican George L. Morovich and Libertarian Jim Stutsman.
In the U.S. Senate, junior Senator John Cornyn will face off against democrat Richard J. Noriega and Libertarian Yvonne Adams Schick.
Finally, voters will get to end the long and drawn out battle between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and his running made Delaware Senator Joe Biden and the Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain and his V.P. pick Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin.
Early voting ends Friday at 7 p.m. The local early voting places are Flagship Randalls at Westlake Hills, 3300 Bee Caves Road; Randalls Lakeway, 2301 RR 620 South; and Bee Cave City Hall, 4000 Galleria Parkway.
Polling places for local voters by precint are as follows — Precinct 220: Fire Station 31, 5507 FM 2222, 974-0150; Precinct 303: Oak Hill Primitive Baptist Church, 11408 FM 1826, 288-4994; Precinct 306: Lakeway Justice Center, 104 Cross Creek Drive, 314-7590; Precinct 308: Briarcliff POA Community Center, 22801 Briarcliff Drive, 830-693-2253; Precinct 312: Travis County Sheriff’s Office at Hudson Bend, 3800 Hudson Bend Road, 854-9728; Precinct 314: St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 8724 Travis Hills Drive, 288-0128; Precinct 315: Villages Amenities Center, 12006 Gatling Gun Lane, 282-78748; and Precinct 316: Travis County Parks Office, 14624 Hamilton Pool Road, 263-9114.
All polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a complete list of Travis County Polling places or for more information visit www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/election/default.asp.