Today is election day. Thousands of Amarilloans, millions of Texans, and hundreds of millions of Americans will have their ballot counted today and tune in to see the results. Before the polls close however, many people make predictions, and certain predictions tend to accurately inform us viewers on how tonight will go. In this story, I will provide my own insight and predictions into this year’s general election.

Amarillo, Texas, will hold elections on a list of 5 different propositions. Voters will decide first on the most controversial proposition: Prop A. Proposition A intends to adopt an ordinance to make Amarillo a “sanctuary city for the unborn.” With the national political environment surrounding abortion policy, this proposition unsurprisingly became a hot-button issue in our local politics. Mayor Cole Stanley reportedly opposes the proposition because of the travel provisions, even though he calls himself a pro-life mayor. Many conservatives opposed to the proposition view it more as government overreach than a legitimate policy on abortion. Other propositions on the ballot include expanding the city council, or lengthening and staggering city council terms.

Amarilloans will not only vote on these propositions though. Just like millions of fellow Texans and Americans, Amarilloans will also cast their ballot for the President of the United States and the United States Senate. When it comes to these federal elections let’s look mainly at Texas as a whole. Kamala Harris has exhibited increased attention towards the Lone Star State, for example, her visit to Houston in October. Harris’ rally and Representative Colin Allred’s huge haul of campaign cash show that Democrats are serious about competing for Texas’ 40 electoral votes and Senate seat in this year’s election. In reality, though, the path to victory for Democrats in the primarily Republican and pro-Trump state proves to be steep. In 2020 Donald Trump won the state by 5.6%, and according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll he leads Vice President Harris by a 10% margin. Allred seems to be in a slightly easier race against incumbent Ted Cruz but is still behind. According to 538’s average of polls in the senate race, Sen. Cruz still maintains a 3.4% lead on Rep. Allred.

Now for my predictions: When it comes to the propositions on Amarillo’s ballot, I predict all five will go down in flames on Tuesday night. Amarillo will also see easy re-election of our U.S. Representative, Ronny Jackson, and both Republican candidates for the state house will cruise to victory. On the U.S. Senate race: I predict Sen. Cruz will narrowly win re-election over Rep. Allred by a margin of 2%. Of course most notably the Presidential race, which I predict Donald Trump will win in the state of Texas by a margin of 4.8%. Nationally, however, Vice President Kamala Harris is my predicted winner for the Presidency, winning alongside a new Republican Senate majority, and a new Democratic House majority.

Ultimately, predictions and polls do not matter. What does matter is that those who can vote, do. Exercise your right to vote in this election, that will truly decide the winner, not who I predict will.