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Democrats are taking the early lead in major races in Guilford County with more than half of the expected vote total counted.

Those early vote totals were released when polls closed here at 7:30 p.m. and are expected to make up the majority of all ballots counted at the end of the day. Early voting ran Oct. 16 to Nov. 1 in Guilford County. These votes do not include Election Day results, which are currently being tallied.

Among local issues, all but one Greensboro city bond is losing among early voters, while a quarter-cent sales tax appears headed for another failure.

The Greensboro street improvement bond has 59 percent approval among early voters. A city parks and recreation bond held favor with 57 percent of those voters, and 58 percent of early voters approved housing bonds for city projects.

However, a bond for improvements to the Greensboro War memorial Auditorium was losing, with 57 percent of voters voting against the referendum.

Early voters accounted for more than 147,000 ballots cast in the county, and 65 percent of those voted for the Democratic presidential ticket - presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain took 28 percent of the county's early voters.

Guilford county's elections director, George Gilbert, had previously said that after the 147,919 early votes, he expects another 115,000 to 120,000 to have voted in today's Election Day. The early voters account for more than 41 percent of the 355,073 registered voters in Guilford County. All votes are unofficial results until verified in the Nov. 14 canvass.

Kay Hagan, with 67 percent of early voters' support, also appears to be the early winner for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Elizabeth Dole.

In local races, Democrats Paul Gibson and John Parks are also staking an early lead for at large seats on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners over Republicans Larry Proctor and Wendell Sawyer, and Libertarian Paul Elledge.

In District 4, Democratic incumbent and current Board of Commissioners Chairman Kirk Perkins took 69 percent of the 17,455 early votes cast from his district, a commanding lead over Republican challenger Eddie Souther.

A quarter cent sales tax appears to be headed for its second loss in a year, as 69 percent of early voters voted against the referendum. It lost in May by a nearly a three to one margin.

Of those who early voted, more than 91,000 chose to take a straight ticket for the rest of their votes, and 71 percent of those went to Democrats. In North Carolina, voters choose presidential candidates separately from the rest of the ballot.

Gubernatorial candidate Democrat Bev. Perdue, with 64 percent of early votes, holds the lead over Republican Pat McCrory.

Democrats led among Guilford County early voters for all Council of State seats, lieutenant governor and two congressional districts belonging to Brad Miller and Mel Watt.

But Rep. Howard Coble, the Republican whose congressional district includes Guilford County, gained 58 percent of early voters in his district that covers southern portions of the county. Democrat Teresa Sue Bratton held 42 percent of early voters