The signs are coming down and the votes are going up.

Months of campaign signs, candidate forums, mailers and door knocking came down to one moment Tuesday night: 7 p.m., when polls closed across Maricopa and the vote-counting began.

The first unofficial results are expected shortly after 8 p.m., giving voters an early look at where the races stand. Those numbers will largely reflect early ballots returned before Election Day. Ballots cast today at polling places across Pinal County will be processed overnight, with more results expected through the week.

But before the county starts crunching the numbers, InMaricopa readers already had their say.

In our informal reader poll, challenger Tena Dugan led the field for Maricopa City Council with 36% of the popular vote, followed by Councilmember Henry Wade at 26%. Vice Mayor Vincent Manfredi garnered 24% of the support, while challenger Chrystal O’Jon received 14%.

Nicolas Yendrzeski took the top spot in the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board race with 30% of votes, closely followed by Board President Patti Coutre at 28%. Loraine Conely trailed at 15%, followed by Latrinda Williams (14%) and Lisa Garcia (13%).

The political crystal ball extended beyond City Hall and the school board, showing readers favored incumbents in most district and state races.

Rep. Teresa Martinez led reader polling for the Arizona House of Representatives with 40% of votes, closely followed by Rep. Chris Lopez (33%) and Julia Gusse (24%).

Sen. T.J. Shope topped the state Senate race over challenger Elaine Aldrete by 21 percentage points. Rep. Eli Crane came out 12 percentage points ahead in the race for U.S. House District 2 over former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, and challenger Andy Biggs narrowly led Gov. Katie Hobbs by a mere 3 percentage points.

Of course, a reader poll isn’t a ballot box. The real verdict is still being counted.

Meanwhile, we’ll be making a late-night coffee while tracking the numbers, checking in with candidates and watching to see which campaigns will have reason to celebrate in the coming days.

– Monica D. Spencer

Vincent Manfredi is the owner of InMaricopa.