The Lite Guv primary was an interesting race. One candidate, Ronnie Earle, had a decent amount of name recognition, a base of support in a vote-rich area, with likely secondary support in other populous counties, and electoral experience. He didn’t have a lot of money or establishment backing, however. Another candidate, Linda Chavez-Thompson, was able to raise enough money to run some TV ads, most likely in South Texas, and she had a base of support with Labor. She was also a first-timer whose name wasn’t particularly well known; if she had anything resembling a campaign here in Harris County, I didn’t observe it. And there was Mark Katz, about whom there isn’t much to say. How did they do around Texas?
– Chavez-Thompson won a majority of the vote in 86 counties, and where she won, she won big – in 46 of those counties, she got 60% or more of the vote. In particular, she did well in some heavily Democratic counties like Webb, El Paso, Cameron, Hidalgo, and Bexar – in fact, those five counties alone provided nearly one third of LCT’s vote total. She won pluralities in Dallas and Tarrant Counties, falling just short of 45% in each.
– Earle, not surprisingly, had his best showing in his home county, Travis, where he got a bit more than 68%. He won a majority in 38 counties, including such Travis neighbors as Bastrop, Burnet, Williamson, and Hays. He won a plurality in Harris County, primarily on the strength of three State Rep districts, HDs 134, 146, and 147, which accounted for nearly all of his 5,000 vote margin. He actually won 14 of the 25 districts, but many of them were close; 11 districts were decided one way of the other by less than 100 votes. Curiously, one place where I thought Earle would have done strongly was Fort Bend, where he helped put Tom DeLay out of business, but that wasn’t the case, as LCT took a plurality. Anyone want to explain that?
– Katz came in second in Live Oak County, and tied for second in King County, in which all of 14 votes were cast. He did not top 29% in any county. Why was he running again?
I’ll have a look at the Ag Commish and Land Commish races next. As always, feedback is appreciated.
We do appreciate the analysis. You provide the most comprehensive look into Texas Politics I know of. I repost regularly, with full accrediation and links, and I, for one, use your site to get the word out. Our emphasis is on criminal justice and certain elements of politics impacts our overall efforts and in that light I have to be selective. However, when time permits, I do like to read even those items that do not apply to my situation.
I have access to information on this site that is not available on another in my sphere of reference. I do see references on other blogs as I cruise for articles. As a late bloomer in the arena of politics, I was aware of very llittle but thanks to you and other sites I have a little more understanding. Thank you for what you do.
Jan Logsdon
Pingback: Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round Up « TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas