Texas Democratic Party and Republican Party Primary Election Early Voting started Monday for county and statewide office contests. Early voting will continue through Friday, May 25. Voters can finally pick their party's nominees after a four-month delay caused by extended court battles over redistricting, which, by the way, aren't finally settled yet.
The four-month primary election delay has resulted in voter apathy, which creates a challenge for candidates to get out the vote. Voter apathy can spell trouble for some Republican incumbent candidates facing opposition from Tea Party conservative activists, and create an opportunity for very well organized newcomers.
The first problem incumbent candidates face in this primary is just getting word out about the election. Texans are accustomed to voting on Primary Super Tuesday, which this year was on March 6. The early date is designed to give Texans an early role in choosing presidential nominees. But this year, drawn out court battles over the new redistricting maps pushed primary election day from its usual first Tuesday in March date to Tuesday May 29.
The second problem with having the primary election in late May is that Mitt Romney has all but won the Republican party's nomination and there never was any drama over who will be the Democratic presidential nominee. Without a big national race in the balance, primary voters tend not to show up. This year the biggest undecided statewide race is to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
The third challenge is that the May 29 primary date is the Tuesday after the three day Memorial Day holiday weekend and the same week as schools close for summer vacation - a popular week for people to prepare to depart for their annual vacation. And that leads to the importance of early voting, which started on Monday, May 14.
Winning the primary election this year, even more so than other years, is all about campaigns Getting Out The Vote for their candidate. GOTV is something that incumbents usual don't have to worry about in a presidential election year, but this year well organized newcomers can have the edge. And where the incumbent has decided to not run again, the contest between primary contestants can be hot.
When Obama and Hillary Clinton were neck-and-neck in the 2008 primary, more than 2.8 million Democrats voted, compared to 1.3 million Republicans. And yet, that still represented only 33 percent of registered voters, according to data from the Texas Secretary of State's office.
In comparison, the 2010 primary did not include a presidential race, and the biggest contest was Hutchison's challenge to Gov. Rick Perry. In that race, 1.48 million Republicans cast ballots, compared to only 680,000 Democrats.
This year Democratic turnout will likely run low again. Obama faces no serious challenger and the U.S. Senate nomination pits former state Rep. Paul Sadler against 32-year-old party activist Sean Hubbard. Donations are an indicator of voter enthusiasm and so far Sadler reports raising $77,800 and Hubbard $16,971.
The top three Republican candidates for Sen. Hutchison's seat, by comparison, have raised between $5 million and $7 million. They will now spend much of that to encourage supporters to vote, since in recent elections early voters made up more than 40 percent of turnout.
For front-runner Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the goal is to win the May 29 primary with more than 50 percent of the vote, any less and he will face a July 31 runoff. Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz are each spending millions on television ads hoping to force that runoff, and if they succeed, they could have a chance to win.
In Collin Co. a few Republican candidates are spending a considerable amount of campaign money and volunteer hours to Get Out The Vote. This is particularly true for State House District 67 with Republican candidates John Pitchford, Roger Burns, Jeran Akers, Jeff Leach, and Jon Cole trying hard to get out the vote. The Jon Cole campaign reportedly sent out a 10,000 piece Vote By Mail application mailer targeted to likely senior voters, which cost a tidy little bit of money.
State House District 70 with Republicans Scott Sanford and Bracy Wilson, State House District 33 with Republicans Jim Pruitt and Scott Turner, State Senate District 30 with Republicans Craig Estes and Jim Herblin, and Collin County Commissioners Court Precinct 3 with Republicans Ray Eckenrode and Chris Hill all add up to a lot of campaign effort to chase Republicans out to vote during primary early voting.
Propositions vary by party, and the Republican ones include letting parents use state education money to send their children to private schools, repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act — dubbed Obamacare by opponents — and allowing the Texas legislature to redraw precinct and district boundaries that are “court-imposed.”
The GOTV effort that local Republican candidates are putting forth for their particular districts is reflected in which early polling locations are getting heavier voting traffic.
Collin Co. Early Voting Counts:
Early Voting Location | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thur | Fri | Total | ||||||
Dem | Rep | Dem | Rep | Dem | Rep | Dem | Rep | Dem | Rep | Dem | Rep | |
Allen Municipal | 10 | 205 | 20 | 198 | 15 | 204 | 16 | 185 | 20 | 251 | 81 | 1,043 |
Carp. Rec. Ctr. | 7 | 98 | 19 | 91 | 11 | 71 | 11 | 94 | 14 | 98 | 62 | 452 |
CC McKinney | 3 | 37 | 1 | 45 | 5 | 20 | 2 | 32 | 9 | 33 | 20 | 167 |
CC Preston Ridge | 10 | 73 | 8 | 127 | 3 | 91 | 5 | 125 | 7 | 102 | 33 | 518 |
CC Spring Creek | 10 | 31 | 7 | 26 | 7 | 26 | 8 | 23 | 11 | 36 | 43 | 142 |
Celina ISD Admin | 2 | 20 | 1 | 44 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 30 | 4 | 164 |
Collin Ctr. Higher Ed. | 0 | 20 | 1 | 22 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 26 | 8 | 99 |
Collin Co. Elections | 9 | 299 | 22 | 231 | 12 | 215 | 12 | 218 | 17 | 232 | 72 | 1,195 |
Farmersville City Hall | 3 | 20 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 21 | 13 | 99 |
Fire Station #7 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 43 | 0 | 25 | 4 | 34 | 1 | 28 | 7 | 159 |
Frisco Senior Ctr. | 7 | 22 | 3 | 38 | 9 | 18 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 31 | 110 |
Haggard Library | 17 | 138 | 10 | 116 | 13 | 103 | 18 | 103 | 15 | 117 | 73 | 577 |
Harrington Library | 13 | 77 | 15 | 99 | 21 | 71 | 7 | 64 | 11 | 113 | 67 | 424 |
John & Judy Gay Lib. | 7 | 118 | 5 | 140 | 7 | 151 | 10 | 122 | 18 | 153 | 47 | 684 |
Maribelle Davis Lib. | 8 | 48 | 4 | 58 | 10 | 53 | 4 | 49 | 12 | 77 | 38 | 285 |
Melissa City Hall | 3 | 27 | 1 | 22 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 91 |
Murphy City Hall | 3 | 28 | 8 | 42 | 4 | 43 | 4 | 33 | 7 | 51 | 26 | 197 |
Old Settlers Rec. Ctr | 1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 36 |
Parr Library | 3 | 48 | 6 | 60 | 4 | 57 | 3 | 46 | 3 | 61 | 19 | 272 |
PISD Admin Blvd | 12 | 135 | 12 | 132 | 23 | 110 | 11 | 94 | 14 | 137 | 72 | 608 |
Renner-Frankford Lib | 10 | 84 | 14 | 100 | 15 | 95 | 14 | 78 | 10 | 99 | 63 | 456 |
Wylie Municipal | 9 | 42 | 17 | 55 | 5 | 40 | 7 | 34 | 9 | 48 | 47 | 219 |
Daily Total | 148 | 1,607 | 180 | 1,711 | 173 | 1,476 | 146 | 1,446 | 192 | 1757 | 839 | 7,997 |
Accumulated Daily | | | 328 | 3,318 | 501 | 4,794 | 647 | 6,240 | 839 | 7,997 | . | . |
On Saturday 319 people voted in the Democratic primary and 1788 people voted in the Republican primary in Collin Co.
Texas Primary Turnout by Percentage of Registered Voters Top 15 Cumulative Republican Vote Counties as of Thursday 5/17/2012 | |||||||
County | Reg Voters | Party | Cumulative In-Person Voters | Cumulative % In-Person | Cumulative By Mail Voters | Cumulative In-Person And Mail Voters | Cumulative Percent Early Voting |
Montgomery | 251,513 | Rep | 5,505 | 2.19% | 2,053 | 7,558 | 3.01% |
Galveston | 179,501 | Rep | 4,193 | 2.34% | 614 | 4,807 | 2.68% |
Williamson | 239,222 | Rep | 4,261 | 1.78% | 1,307 | 5,568 | 2.33% |
Fort Bend | 321,792 | Rep | 4,842 | 1.50% | 2,324 | 7,166 | 2.23% |
Collin | 433,258 | Rep | 6,188 | 1.43% | 886 | 7,074 | 1.63% |
Denton | 364,555 | Rep | 4,612 | 1.27% | 1,216 | 5,828 | 1.60% |
Tarrant | 922,805 | Rep | 8,529 | 0.92% | 4,366 | 12,895 | 1.40% |
Harris | 1,908,042 | Rep | 13,464 | 0.71% | 12,450 | 25,914 | 1.36% |
Bexar | 872,742 | Rep | 8,768 | 1.00% | 2,002 | 10,770 | 1.23% |
Nueces | 185,058 | Rep | 1,477 | 0.80% | 657 | 2,134 | 1.15% |
Travis | 594,254 | Rep | 3,947 | 0.66% | 1,045 | 4,992 | 0.84% |
Dallas | 1,124,964 | Rep | 6,589 | 0.59% | 2,628 | 9,217 | 0.82% |
Cameron | 174,077 | Rep | 1,008 | 0.58% | 65 | 1,073 | 0.62% |
El Paso | 371,321 | Rep | 2,018 | 0.54% | 188 | 2,206 | 0.59% |
Hidalgo | 291,724 | Rep | 1,344 | 0.46% | 103 | 1,447 | 0.50% |
Total | 8,234,828 | Rep | 76,745 | 0.93% | 31,904 | 108,649 | 1.32% |
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Texas Primary Turnout by Percentage of Registered Voters Top 15 Cumulative Democratic Vote Counties as of Thursday 5/17/2012 | |||||||
County | Reg Voters | Party | Cumulative In-Person Voters | Cumulative Percent In-Person | Cumulative By Mail Voters | Cumulative In-Person And Mail Voters | Cumulative Percent Early Voting |
Hidalgo | 291,724 | Dem | 15,064 | 5.16% | 626 | 15,690 | 5.38% |
Cameron | 174,077 | Dem | 6,137 | 3.53% | 160 | 6,297 | 3.62% |
El Paso | 371,321 | Dem | 9,702 | 2.61% | 165 | 9,867 | 2.66% |
Nueces | 185,058 | Dem | 1,556 | 0.84% | 379 | 1,935 | 1.05% |
Bexar | 872,742 | Dem | 6,497 | 0.74% | 1,685 | 8,182 | 0.94% |
Travis | 594,254 | Dem | 3,639 | 0.61% | 746 | 4,385 | 0.74% |
Dallas | 1,124,964 | Dem | 5,841 | 0.52% | 1,421 | 7,262 | 0.65% |
Harris | 1,908,042 | Dem | 6,317 | 0.33% | 5,875 | 12,192 | 0.64% |
Galveston | 179,501 | Dem | 899 | 0.50% | 46 | 945 | 0.53% |
Tarrant | 922,805 | Dem | 3,034 | 0.33% | 1,522 | 4,556 | 0.49% |
Fort Bend | 321,792 | Dem | 971 | 0.30% | 84 | 1,055 | 0.33% |
Williamson | 239,222 | Dem | 503 | 0.21% | 27 | 530 | 0.22% |
Collin | 433,258 | Dem | 642 | 0.15% | 48 | 690 | 0.16% |
Denton | 364,555 | Dem | 419 | 0.11% | 51 | 470 | 0.13% |
Montgomery | 251,513 | Dem | 232 | 0.09% | 63 | 295 | 0.12% |
Total | 8,234,828 | Dem | 61,453 | 0.75% | 12,898 | 74,351 | 0.90% |
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