In early returns, California's initiative to raise cigarette tax is narrowly ahead; Update: Now losing

With about 1.3 million votes counted (about 9 percent of the expected total), Proposition 29 is currrently leading by five points, 52.5 to 47.5.

Update: With 98 percent of precincts partially or fully reporting, Prop. 29 is now losing by nearly 60,000 votes, 49.3 to 50.7.  If this initiative fails, as now seems likely, it will be a defeat for the nanny state politicians who endorsed it, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.