John Girardi with Bill Pantele's mayoral campaign has been roving the polls since they opened this morning. By noon, he expresses renewed confidence based on informal exit polling in the campaign beyond the 1st, 2nd and 4th districts, which were presumed by many as solid Pantele territory.

“Bill's looking real good in the 5th right now,” Girardi says. “It would be dangerous to assign numbers to it, but I won't say it's surprising.”

Across town at Toad's Place, the scene of this evening's planned Obama and Virginia Democratic rally, the scene is disarming. The front door is open, but doors to the club where tonight thousands likely will gather remain locked. Nobody is around save a few construction workers who are doing renovations in office space on the second floor of the club. -- Chris Dovi

We've hit the 33 percent mark for Virginia election returns. So far, it's McCain with 53.02 percent; Obama with 44.25 percent.

What about locally? Richmond precincts have yet to report.

Winners are marked with asterisks.

Mayor
Paul Goldman (dropped out)
Robert J. Grey Jr.
*Dwight C. Jones*
William J. "Bill" Pantele
Lawrence E. Williams Sr.

City Council

District 1
*Bruce W. Tyler (uncontested)*

District 2
Tyron K. Bey
Patrick D. Kjellberg
*Charles R. Samuels*

District 3
Jonathan D. Davis
*Chris A. Hilbert*

District 4
*Katherine C. Graziano (uncontested)*

District 5
Mark E. Brandon
*E. Martin "Marty" Jewell*
S. Lee Shewmake

District 6
*Ellen F. Robertson (uncontested)*

District 7
Clarence Kenney
*Delores L. McQuinn*

District 8
C. Allen Barrett
Eric W. Hunter Sr.
*Reva M. Trammell*

District 9
*Doug G. Conner Jr.*
Eugene A. Mason Jr.
Adrian R. Preston

School Board

District 1
*Kimberly M. Bridges (uncontested)*

District 2
*Kimberly B. "Kim" Gray*
Alice O. "Lisa" Dawson

District 3
*Norma H. Murdoch-Kitt (uncontested)*

District 4
Bert J. Berlin
John T. Lloyd
Jonathan C. Mallard
*Adria A. Graham Scott*

District 5
*Betsy B. Carr*
Otis E. Mallory

District 6
Art L. Burton
*Chandra H. Smith*

District 7
Ronald L. Bond
*Donald L. "Don" Coleman*
Torey J. Edmonds

District 8
*Dawn C. Page*
Charles D. Willis

District 9
*Evette L. Wilson (uncontested)*

At Carver Elementary School on Leigh Street in Richmond's 2nd City Council District, poll workers braced for unprecedented turnout, and with good reason.
Only about a thousand voters were registered in that precinct before this election cycle began. Now 3,500 people are. The crowd outside the building at 6 a.m. had somewhat dwindled to fill only about half the school's auditorium by 12:15.
The faces were mostly young, white and appeared to be Virginia Commonwealth University students. As of 12:15, more than 700 people had voted in the precinct. -- Chris Dovi

Whoever becomes the new mayor will be dealing with a virtually identical City Council to the one that Mayor Wilder butted heads with.

With the results from most Richmond precincts in, it appears that all the incumbents will retain their seats, with one exception. In District 2, Charles R. Samuels seems to have a lock on the race, ahead of candidates Tyron K. Bey and Patrick D. Kjellberg. It was the only open seat