Former Houston Mayor Bill White defeated six other candidates Tuesday March 2, 2010 to become the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, giving the party its best hope in years at again putting a Democrat in the Texas Governor's Mansion.
2010 Primary Early Vote Totals
Through Friday Feb. 26 | |||
County | Party | Cumulative
In-Person Voters | Cumulative
In-Person & Mail Voters |
Collin | Rep | 27,078 | 28,068 |
Collin | Dem | 2,658 | 2,699 |
Adding in the Election Day vote tally to early voting totals -- the Collin County Republican party topped its 2008 record turnout, albeit with a large number of Democrats crossing over to vote against Rick Perry. An additional 29,471 people turned out to vote in the Collin County Republican primary on election day to boost the final Republican primary total to 57,539 votes cast.
An additional 3,528 people turned out in Collin County for the Democratic Primary on election day bringing the final Democratic Party of Collin County vote tally to 6,227 votes cast. For chair of the Collin Co. Democratic Party incumbent Shawn Stevens received 3,880 (79.01%) votes and his opponent Yasin R. Ali received 1031 (20.99%) votes.
Governor - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Perry | 757,461 | 51.09% |
Hutchison | 449,632 | 30.33% |
Medina | 275,604 | 18.59% |
Governor - D | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
White | 516,621 | 75.99% |
Shami | 87,268 | 12.84% |
Alvarado | 33,708 | 4.96% |
Aguado | 19,556 | 2.88% |
Glenn | 9,852 | 1.45% |
Dear | 6,574 | 0.97% |
Locke | 6,298 | 0.93% |
Lt. Gov. - D | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Chavez-
Thompson | 314,725 | 53.15% |
Earle | 205,057 | 34.63% |
Katz | 72,367 | 12.22% |
Land Comm. - D | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Uribe | 292,486 | 51.72% |
Burton | 273,034 | 48.28% |
Ag. Comm. - D | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Gilbert | 310,762 | 52.32% |
Friedman | 283,249 | 47.68% |
Railroad Comm. - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Porter | 732,065 | 60.70% |
Carrillo | 474,067 | 39.30% |
Supreme Court of Tx Pl. 9 - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Guzman | 720,861 | 65.27% |
Vela | 383,642 | 34.73% |
Supreme Court of Tx Pl. 3 - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Green | 212,642 | 18.94% |
Lehrmann | 204,466 | 18.22% |
Moseley | 203,548 | 18.13% |
Simmons | 202,426 | 18.03% |
Brown | 187,639 | 16.72% |
Strange | 111,718 | 9.95% |
State Board of Ed. Dist. 9 - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Ratliff | 58,388 | 50.37% |
McLeroy | 57,528 | 49.63% |
U.S. House Dist. 4 - R | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Ralph Hall | 38,543 | 57.23% |
Clark | 20,091 | 29.83% |
Cooper | 3,616 | 5.37% |
Hall | 3,134 | 4.65% |
Gigliotti | 1,021 | 1.52% |
Kowert | 939 | 1.39% |
Texas House Dist. 66 - R
House Dist. 66: Runoff | ||
Pcts - 100% | Votes | %Votes |
Jackson | 5,616 | 41.05% |
Taylor | 4,581 | 33.48% |
Richard | 3,485 | 25.47% |
Election results were delayed Tuesday night in Collin County, where officials reported extremely heavy voting county wide. People waited in line more than an hour to vote in the Republican Primary after the polls closed at 7 p.m., according to reports from election officials.When the 2010 Collin County primary voter turnout data is fully analyzed, we will likely find that one quarter to one third of the Republican primary votes will have been cast by voters with a Democratic Party voting history, as was the case in the first week of early voting in Travis County:
Voter turnout in Collin County’s primary elections Tuesday was twice what officials expected, leading to long lines, a slow count and frustration among voters and candidates. (More DMN)
In the largest Republican counties, the GOP turnout through Sunday February 21 was more than 5,000 votes higher than in the 2008 presidential primary when the GOP set its record 1.3 million voter turnout. Turnout was up in Harris, Tarrant, Travis, Collin, Denton and Williamson counties, but down in Dallas, Bexar, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties from the 2008 vote.Why did so many Democrats vote in the Republican Primary this year? The most common comment heard from Republican voting Democrats was that most believe Bill White had a lock on winning the Democratic Primary against Farouk Shami, so they decided to hedge their bet with a vote against Rick Perry. Most Democrats seem to have the idea that they could keep Perry off of the November 2010 General Election Ballot by helping KBH defeat Perry in the primary.
Almost 28 percent of the voters in the Republican primary in Travis County during the first week of early voting also voted in the 2008 primary election between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to figures from Democratic pollster Jeff Smith of Opinion Analysts Inc. [Statesman.com]
Democrats picked up this "defeat Perry now" narrative from many sources over the last few months. Here is an excerpt from a post in the The Prairie Fire Journal blog:
Texas Democrats have an opportunity to give Rick Perry an eight-month head start on his packing. If enough Democrats will crossover and vote in the Republican Primary on March 2, there's an excellent chance that Rick Perry will be knocked out of the 2010 governor's race before it even begins.This blog originally started hearing this defeat Perry now narrative plant some time ago separately from Hutchison supporters and Shami supporters. The idea for Hutchison was that she could boost her numbers with Democratic votes without being seen to publicly court the Democratic vote. Overtly courting Democrats for their vote would have created problems for KBH as she tried to actively court conservative and tea bag voters. Shami also benefited from the cross over vote because Democrats who are more likely to cross over to vote in the Republican primary are the Democrats who are more likely to vote for Bill White. Suppressing the Bill White vote in the Democratic Primary improved Shami's chances to win against White -- although it seems not by very much.
Democrats can do this. Knockout Perry at the get-go and that will dishearten his far-right base. If Hutchison wins the Republican Primary, the right won't be as enthusiastic about getting out the vote in November. By using this strategy, whether the Republicans win or the Democrats win the governorship, we will know for certain that Rick Perry will be gone.
[DBCC Editors note: Now that Perry has won the primary with 52% of the vote on the first round, after so many Democrats cross over to vote against him, will the right be more energized than ever and will Democrats be the ones feeling demoralized. No! -- I think Texas Democrats will be ready for a fight come November 2010.]
The dubious defeat Perry now strategy has failed. Perry, Texas' longest-serving governor, had 51 percent of the vote compared to Hutchinson's 31 percent. GOP party activist Debra Medina, a favorite among many tea party voters, had about 18 percent. This is after Rasmussen polling had Perry pretty close to that 50% goal line just before election day.
A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Republican Primary voters found Perry leading Senate Kay Bailey Hutchison 48% to 27%, with Tea Party activist Debra Medina earning 16% of the vote. Nine percent (9%) of Texas GOP voters remain undecided.Everyone should remember that Perry and KBH have been campaigning for the governor's office for more than a year now. Bill White has only been running for the governor's office since early December 2009. White is well funded and he has put together one of the best statewide Democratic campaign organizations since Ann Richards ran for governor. White has an excellent chance to easily overtake Perry between now and November 2010.
The Rasmussen survey of likely voters also showed Rick Perry leading Bill White 47% to 41% in a head to head match up, while KBH led Bill White 47% to 38% in a gubernatorial match up. Three weeks ago, KBH had a 49% to 36% lead against White.
White, who earned high marks for his city's response to the Hurricane Katrina evacuation, wisely spent the prime season listening to voter's real concerns about the future of Texas as the Republican Primary candidates chased each other to the extreme right. He used the time to air television ads introducing himself to a statewide audience and generally kept his campaign on a positive path. White has been running a well managed general election campaign since he announced for governor in early December.
Collin Co. Cumulative Early Vote Totals | ||||||
Early
Vote Day | Date | Daily
Hours of Voting | Daily
Rep Early Vote Total | Cumulative
Rep Early Vote Total | Daily
Dem Early Vote Total | Cumulative
Dem Early Vote Total |
Mon |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tue | 2/16/2010 | 9 | 1,727 | 1,727 | 149 | 149 |
Wed | 2/17/2010 | 9 | 1,581 | 3,308 | 187 | 336 |
Thu | 2/18/2010 | 9 | 1,595 | 4,903 | 172 | 508 |
Fri | 2/19/2010 | 9 | 1,927 | 6,830 | 187 | 695 |
Sat | 2/20/2010 | 12 | 2,320 | 9,150 | 231 | 926 |
Sun | 2/21/2010 | 5 | 781 | 9,931 | 99 | 1,025 |
Mon | 2/22/2010 | 12 | 1,976 | 11,907 | 199 | 1,224 |
Tue | 2/23/2010 | 12 | 2,269 | 14,176 | 214 | 1,438 |
Wed | 2/24/2010 | 12 | 2,713 | 16,889 | 257 | 1,695 |
Thu | 2/25/2010 | 12 | 3,547 | 20,436 | 374 | 2,069 |
Fri | 2/26/2010 | 12 | 6,642 | 27,078 | 589 | 2,658 |
Total |
|
| 27,078 |
| 2,658 |
|