Voters at Kanwaka Township Hall, Douglas County Precinct No. 56, fill the hall shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Polls closed at 7 p.m Tuesday in Douglas County. Results are starting to come in.

As we have reported, Douglas County set a new record when it came to advance ballots cast. Traditionally, Douglas County election officials are in a position to count those returns relatively quickly, and because the advanced ballots usually are a good cross sample from precincts across the county, they can be a good indicator of how the night will go.

We will be covering all the local races, but there are a few drawing quite a bit of attention. There is an open seat up for grabs on the three-member Douglas County Commission. Michelle Derusseau, a Republican is battling Democrat Bassem Chahine for Republican Jim Flory’s seat on the commission.

The other Douglas County Commission race also is drawing considerable attention as Commissioner Nancy Thellman, a Democrat, seeks to fend off a challenge from Independent Jesse Brinson Jr. The county commission campaigns have produced much discussion about a potential $30 million jail expansion project that the next County Commission likely will be asked to take a position on.

Statehouse Bureau Chief Peter Hancock also will be following about a half-dozen statehouse races in this area, and also will be watching for signs of whether moderate Republicans and Democrats gain enough seats to form a new governing coalition in the state Legislature, wresting control from conservative Republicans.

And finally, we’ll also be keeping an eye on judicial retention races, as an active effort is underway to change the composition of the Kansas Supreme Court before it is set to rule on school finance and other cases.

— By Chad Lawhorn

Unofficial results (9:40 p.m.)

? For more results from Douglas County precincts, click here.