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Incumbent Del. William Fralin, R-Roanoke, made a brief victory speech at the Sunnybrook Inn, where party faithful gathered Tuesday night.

He said his challenger, independent Alex Ballin, 23, had made "a very nice phone call" to him conceding the race. Fralin called for a round of applause for Ballin, and thanked his supporters during the three-minute speech.

The victory was sealed early. With 12 of 30 precincts in, Fralin led with 6,283 votes to Ballin's 1,826.

Democrat Eric Ferguson took typically-Republican Floyd County in the race for the vacant 9th district house of delegates seat that also represents Pittsylvania and Franklin counties.

But Republican Charles Poindexter roared back in Pittsylvania with a damaging victory there, and he leads with 47.6 percent to 39.3 percent.

Poindexter was still cautious, though.

"All of the votes have to go to Richmond and back, so we're in for a long night," he said.

Using a huge personality he built from years as Blacksburg's police chief, Bill Brown won his first political race tonight, defeating incumbent Steve Spradlin for a Montgomery County board of supervisor seat.

Both men were well-liked in the district, which includes McCoy, Longshop, Merrimac, Price's Fork, and Wake Forest, and Brown, a Democrat, beat Spradlin, a Republican and the current supervisors' chairman, by less than 100 votes. Brown, who retired last year as police chief, won the race using what's usually taboo for a politician -- he said he'd consider raising taxes to improve the pay of law enforcement officers and teachers.

We've posted our first video analysis of tonight's results at roanoke.com.

It appears there will be a new Giles County sheriff as election results are close to being fully reported in one of the hottest races in the New River Valley.

Independent challenger Morgan Millirons, who now works for the Virginia Tech Police Department, has 60 percent of the vote with a majority of ballots counted. The Giles race turned in recent weeks as several dozen law enforcement officers took out public advertisements criticizing incumbent Bryan Altizer for mismanagement and bad decisions. That included Altizer allowing a jail inmate to do work on the personal vehicles of several county employees, which Altizer, also an independent, acknowledged.

In another closely watched NRV race, challenger Erica Williams appears to be on her way to upsetting two-term Montgomery County Circuit Court Clerk Allan Burke -- with the now well-known "Burke for Clerk" campaign slogan.

Williams, a Democrat and courthouse employee, leads Burke, a Republican, 408 votes, according to the most recent vote tally.

A cheer went up from an otherwise subdued crowd at 22nd senate district candidate Ralph Smith's headquarters around 8:30 p.m. when returns showed the Republican ahead with most of the votes counted.

Smith held 52 percent of the vote to Democrat Mike Breiner's 48 percent with 74 percent of the precincts in. Smith took both Roanoke and Botetourt counties.

Despite the apparent good news, the crowd of 100 at the Sunnybrook Inn in North Roanoke County was less festive than the crowd at Breiner's HQ earlier in the evening. People sipped coffee, iced tea and nibbled on confections. House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith and Roanoke Sheriff Octavia Johnson were on hand.

Asked about Democratic Party Chairman Richard Cranwell's comment earlier in the night that Virginia would be blue from border to border soon, Griffith said:

"I think he's right. Because we have the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Oh, was he talking politics? You always have to be careful with a Cranwell quote and look for the hidden meaning."

Incumbent Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry, who was appointed to the post in the wake of the corruption scandal that rocked the department this year, appears to be cruising to his first full term in the post.

With about two-thirds of the precincts reporting, Perry had 63 percent of the vote, while his opponent, Mike McPeek had 37 percent.

Danville building contractor Don Merricks appeared to be on his way to election to the Virginia House of Delegates. In early returns, Merricks had garnered more than twice the votes as Andy Parker, a member of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, in a contest for the vacant 16th District seat. The district covers parts of Henry and Pittsvylvania counties.

The vote was 7,123 to 3,402 at 8:25 p.m., with 22 of 37 precincts reporting.

A three-way contest for the Catawba District seat on the Roanoke County School Board was one of the evening's nail biters. With only the absentee ballots remaining to be counted at 8 p.m., a mere nine votes separated the top vote getter from the bottom. Challenger David Wymer, running as an independent but supported by the county's Democratic Party, had the lead with 1,328 votes. Only three votes behind him was incumbent Marion Roark, also running as an independent but endorsed by the Republicans. She was followed by Susan Arnold with 1,319. Each of them had slightly over 33 percent of the total.

Returns from four precincts in Franklin County show Chief Deputy Circuit Court Clerk Teresa Brown gaining what appears to be a strong lead over Franklin General District Court Jackie Brubaker, 2030 to 1046.

The most watched race, for Franklin County Sheriff, remains closer, with Democratic front runner Billy Overton leading closest competitor Republican Ewell Hunt by 316 votes.

In Bedford County, in the board of supervisors race for the Montvale District, independent Annie S. Pollard, widow of long-time Supervisor Bobby Pollard, is trouncing her two opponents, independents Andy Dooley and Tom Dooley. Pollard has more than 60 percent of the vote with 3 of 5 precincts tallied.

Democrat Eric Ferguson is maintaining a strong lead over Republican Charles Poindexter in the race for the 9th district house seat, while independent Jerry Boothe is making a strong showing with better than 16 percent of the vote.

Ferguson handler and Democratic operative Joe Stanley suggested Boothe is pulling Republican votes because of negative campaigning by Poindexter.

The scene at Ferguson headquarters in Rocky Mount was festive as returns in Ferguson's favor rolled in. Just a few blocks away, in a different store-front headquarters, things were quieter among Poindexter's supporters.

But just 17 percent of precincts have been counted.