Politex

Republicans to knock on area doors this weekend

The primary's over. Time for Texas Republicans to start rallying the troops for November.

They start Saturday, when Texas Victory, the state GOP's coordinated election effort, will hold "Walk to Win" events around the state.

Here's the plan: volunteers will drive to assigned neighborhoods, knock on the doors of of people who voted Republican in 2004 or 2006, wait for said door to open, and ask, "so...are you still a Republican?"

"By gathering this information now, our Party and our individual candidates will be able to run more effective and efficient [Get out the vote] efforts in the fall," according to a GOP Party press release.

Weatherford car dealer and former secretary of state Roger Williams, who now heads Victory 2008, will be joining the grassroots walkers at the Tarrant County Republican headquarters in Fort Worth, bright and early at 8 a.m.

Then on Tuesday, he'll be in Arlington for a Texas Victory 2008 organizational meeting.

For local Politex readers, here's the Tarrant County locations for Saturday's walk events:

 

-Tarrant County GOP hdqtrs. (8 am)

1415 Ballinger

Fort Worth, TX  76102

-Shaw Insurance (8 am)

3100 Southlake Blvd.

Southlake, TX  76092

-Home of Martha and Cruz Hernandez (9:30 am)

117 NE McAlister

Burleson, TX 76028

-Aman Batheja

Former district clerk employees file lawsuits

The feud between Tarrant County District Clerk Tom Wilder and former employee and political opponent Pete Hinojosa has now gone federal.

Hinojosa and Bobby Don Cook, a former manager of accounting in Wilder's office, each filed federal lawsuits this week against the district clerk, accusing Wilder of political payback and violating their civil rights when he eliminated their jobs.

The suits seek the reinstatement of Hinojosa and Cook to their jobs, as well as back and future pay for them, and punitive damages.

The background: Hinojosa(pictured left) ran against Wilder(pictured right) for the District Clerk post in 2006, and Cook, a colleague, supported Hinojosa. After Wilder defeated Hinojosa in the March 2006 Republican primary, Wilder submitted a budget that eliminated their jobs.

Wilder has always insisted the cuts were for cost-cutting purposes and planned well before the election.

Hinojosa says some key details regarding the layoffs have yet to be made public. “We’ll litigate it in court and there will be some interesting things that will come out,” Hinojosa said. “The public will really get to see the real Tom Wilder.”

In response to the suits, Wilder said, "Just because lawsuits are filed with allegations therein doesn’t mean that they’re true. We’ll be filing an answer in due course and we’ll take it from there.”

Click here to check out Hinojosa's suit and here for Cook's suit.

For the full story that ran in Thursday's paper, click here.

-Bryon Okada and Aman Batheja

Cleaning woman wins city council seat

Martha Lopez cleans homes for a living. She does it without a staff.

She also has a cosmetology license but currently mostly just does hair for members of her family.

She was on the ballot today for a seat on the Westworth Village City Council.

She said she thought it was time for a change.

Her opponent was Tony Yeager, a former city council member and  businessman, a man who Lopez said she knew little about.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Lopez beat Yeager with 55 percent support, 136 votes to Yeager's 111.

-Aman Batheja

Updated tallies for hot local races

--Fort Worth School Board President: Ray Dickerson and Chris Hatch appear likely headed to a runoff with neither garnering 50 percent support with 96 percent of precincts reporting. Fans of the outgoing prez have already released a tribute video.

--Fort Worth School Board,  District 1 trustee: Carlos Vasquez officially beat incumbent Camille Rodriguez with 64 percent of the vote.

--City of Fort Worth bond - 68 percent support with 93 precent of precincts reporting. It's done.

--Mansfield Mayor - Talk about a squeaker! David L. Cook just barely pulled it out with 50.86 percent of the vote against three opponents. That's the final tally.

--Arlington ISD, two open seats - Former reality star Bowie Hogg and Peter Baron (not a reality star) both appeared headed to victory with 90 percent of precincts reporting.

--Southlake proposition - Still no election day returns but early voters overwhelmingly voted against allowing state law to replace city policy for hiring, promotions, salaries, disciplinary matters and other personnel issues for police and firefighters. Stay tuned.

--Irving Mayor - With 53 of 69 precincts reporting, Mayor Harold Gears was continuing to best two challengers with an even 54 percent support.

--Carrollton Mayor - As we just noted, this race has suddenly become incredibly close. The current precentage breakdown is Miller leading with 50.57 percent support. There's still 17 precincts left to report.

Here's more from Arlington, Mansfield,and Arlington ISD.

UPDATE: Ask and you shall receive. The latest on the County Water Board race: The three incumbents appeared to be hanging on - with each getting between 25 and 28.5 percent support, and challenger John Basham attracting just 20 percent support. That's with 94 percent of precincts reporting.

-Aman Batheja

School board candidates say it's been a mean, mean race

With 40 percent of the vote in, Carlos Vasquez is still crushing Fort Worth ISD board trustee Camille Rodriguez with 62 percent of the vote.

Both candidates claim their opponent's campaign was unusually vicious. Here's an example of one of the flyers slamming Vasquez that was distributed by a group called Voters for the TRUTH.

It is, indeed, very harsh.

Click on the images for a closer look (at both the flyer and my messy desk!)

 

-Aman Batheja and Diane Smith

Who's winning in some hot local races

Some early vote trends:

--Fort Worth School Board President: Ray Dickerson is leading Chris Hatch and William Winnett with 48 percent, but Hatch leads the Election Day voting.

--Fort Worth School Board,  District 1 trustee: Carlos Vasquez is leading incumbent Camille Rodriguez with 61.56 percent.

--City of Fort Worth bond - breezing by with 67 percent support.

--Mansfield Mayor - David L. Cook is leading three opponents with 54 percent support.

--Southlake proposition - Early voters overwhelmingly voted against allowing state law to replace city policy for hiring, promotions, salaries, disciplinary matters and other personnel issues for police and firefighters. The prop is losing by 75 percent.

--Irving Mayor - Mayor Harold Gears was leading challengers with 53 percent of the early vote.

--Carrollton Mayor - Mayor Becky Miller is leading challenger Ron Branson with 55 percent of the early vote but keep in mind, the story about her fuzzy past broke toward the end of early voting. Today's vote could have trended very differently.

Check out more details on local results from Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Southlake, and Keller.

-Aman Batheja

Several local races too close to call

The following races are pure nail-biters, according to the early vote:

Board of Directors Tarrant Regional Water District (For three out of four seats)
John Austin Basham 23.73% (1,460 votes)
Jack R. Stevens 28.78% (1,771 votes)
Hal S. Sparks III 24.07% (1,481 votes)
Vic Henderson 23.42% (1,441votes)

Azle ISD, School Board Trustee, Place 1
Kinny Pack 52.63% (440 votes)
Gary Hann 47.37% (396 votes)

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, School Board Trustee, Place 7
Paul R. Jacobs 47.65% (345 votes)
Donna K. Webb 52.35% (379 votes)

Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, Trustee, Place 7
Mia Green 49.55% (550 votes)
Jorge Rodriguez 50.45% (560 votes)

Northwest ISD, School Trustee, Place 7
Mel Fuller 49.81% (128 votes)
Brent Stephens 50.19% (129 votes)

City of Arlington, Council Member, District #7
Jimmy Bennett  43.65% (1,993 votes)
Robert Martin 12.77% (583 votes)
Michael Glaspie 43.58% (1,990 votes)

City of Watauga, Council Member, Place 7
Jerry Adams 50.00% (44 votes)
James Kimmerle 50.00%(44 votes)

City of Westworth Village, Council, Place 4
John Hearon 48.89% (22 votes)
George Davis 51.11% (23 votes)

-Aman Batheja

Former Apprentice star may end up on local school board

Bowie Hogg, who was on the first season of The Apprentice in 2004, is leading with 39 percent of the vote in the race for the place 6 seat on the Arlington school board.

If he maintains that amount through the night, he'll likely end up in a runoff with Carla Crow, who has 31 percent of the early vote. win outright because he doesn't need 50 percent to declare victory.

-Aman Batheja

Can you stand the Election night excitement?

  Polls close in 30 minutes. We'll be live blogging throughout the night so come back for updates on the returns as they come in.

While today's local races don't exactly have the sexiness of the March primary, there's still plenty of drama, controversy and uncertainty.

The early voting results should be up by about 7:15. In the meantime, maintaining a Politex election night tradition, here's some links to keep you entertained.

--For those who think Obama supporters are a little too high on hope (refresh the page a few times to get the gist).

--For those who want to debate as to whether Mike Gravel or Obama Girl comes off as more desperate for attention.(Our verdict: it's a toss-up.)

--For those who wish Ron Paul supporters would just go off on their own.

--For those who want to relive the Florida recount.

-Aman Batheja

JPS meeting with county commissioners postponed

Those hoping for a confrontation between JPS Hospital Network and Tarrant County Commissioners will have to cool their heels a little longer.

County Judge Glen Whitley said last week that JPS executives and board members had been invited to answer questions from county commissioners on Tuesday regarding issues brought up in recent Star-Telegram series about the public hospital network. It's even on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting.

County officials have now delayed the meeting with JPS Health Network administrators and board members because some key JPS representatives will be out of town.

Whitley said he expects to schedule a public work session with JPS officers within a few weeks.

-Aman Batheja

Whitley says Cecero's retirement package was probably too high

That's just one of the opinions County Judge Glen Whitley expressed on JPS Thursday after the Republican Forum luncheon at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth.

After the luncheon, Whitley spoke at length about JPS Health Network and Chief Executive David Cecero, who announced his retirement Wednesday after a tenure marked with seven-year multimillion-dollar budget surpluses and escalating criticism that the public hospital was failing its mission of providing quality care for the indigent.

Early voting ends Tuesday

Early voting ends Tuesday for the May 10 elections. If you need information about any of the dozens of candidates running in municipal and school board races, check out our database. You can search for candidates by name or by your community and type of election. When you do your search, click on the details and you'll find background information about candidates who responded. It's easy to use.

JPS heads to face county commissioners

A showdown is coming.

Tarrant County Commissioners have asked JPS board members and officials to appear at their next county court meeting on Tuesday to address questions raised by a Star-Telegram series running this week on the public hospital district.

“We are concerned there from a commissioner’s court standpoint about what we read about conditions and about things that are going on at John Peter Smith,” County Judge Glen Whitley said while speaking at a Republican Forum lunch at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth Thursday.

While he recognized that problems must be addressed, Whitley also took time to praise JPS’ staff for continuing to provide quality care for its patients.

"I have left very explicit instructions with my wife that if ever in an accident where I need a trauma department, JPS is the hospital of choice," Whitley said. "It is the place to go for care and I believe that as much today as I did six months ago or a year ago."

UPDATE: Some JPS representatives are out of town so the meeting with county commissioners has been postponed.

-Aman Batheja

JPS blocks employees from visiting Star-Telegram web site

In case you've missed it, the Star-Telegram began running a six-part series focusing on the JPS Health Network, Tarrant County's public hospital system, on Sunday. The first three parts can be read here, here and here.

But JPS employees won't be able to read the rest of the series online - not at least while they are at work.

JPS Chief Executive David Cecero and Chief Financial Officer Gail Gale Pileggi decided to block internet access to the Star-Telegram.com site.

"It was a decision that was discussed with the administration, being Mr. Cecero and Gail Pileggi, and how to deal with news issues and how many people have the right to read and do things during the work day," said JPS spokesman Robert Earley, senior vice president of public affairs and advocacy.

Despite JPS' censorship, dozens of blog postings on the stories were made by people identifying themselves as JPS employees.

JPS Board Chair Steve Montgomery called the move "stupid."

-Anthony Spangler

Investigation into controversial flier hits deadend

Remember last November's bogus flier brouhaha?

Five months later, local officials still don't know who was behind it or who even was the target.

A local political firestorm erupted on November 5 when a flier with the wrong Election date was found in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of Rosemont and Worth Heights in south Fort Worth.

Assistant District Attorney Anne Diamond said Friday that county investigators found no suspects and have only identified one or two people who can say they received the flier.

The bogus flier urged voters in English and Spanish to vote Nov. 10. Election Day was Nov. 6. It specifically mentioned the state’s constitutional amendments and the Fort Worth City Council race.

Many assumed the flier was an attempt to lower Hispanic turnout. Others went further and guessed it was distributed specifically to hurt Fort Worth school trustee Juan Rangel's chances of winning the City Council race, as he was expected to do well among Hispanics.

Rangel came in second to Joel Burns. The two competed in a runoff in December which Burns won.

Click here to see the flier.

-Aman Batheja

Wilkinson wins by 20 votes

You read that right.

Melody Wilkinson beat Mike Hrabal for the Republican nomination for the 17th district court by just 20 votes.

We called Hrabal for a response. He said he had no comment but pointed out the results on the county's web site are still unofficial. (They have to be canvassed by county commissioners later this month.)

Hrabal wouldn't say whether he would request a recount.

County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said unless there's an exact tie, a candidate has to pay for his or her own recount. Raborn couldn't say offhand how much that would cost.

 

Here's our full story on today's run-offs.

-Aman Batheja

Still waiting on four crucial precincts

Usually when we've got 99.37 percent of precincts reporting, we know who the winner is.

But when Mike Hrabal is leading Melody Wilkinson by just 30 votes, we still can't say anything for sure.

So we're still waiting on four precincts. Are they in Guam??

-Aman Batheja

Hrabal leading by 25

This 17th district judge race is getting me seasick. With 98.75 percent of precincts reporting, Mike Hrabal is now leading Melody Wilkinson by 25 scant votes.

It all comes down to these final eight precincts.

-Aman Batheja

Wilkinson pulls ahead

With 84 percent of precincts reporting, Melody Wilkinson has pulled ahead of Mike Hrabal in the Republican primary for the 17th District Court seat. She's now leading by 45 votes out of about 9,000.

In the other crazy-close runoff of the night, Republican constable precinct 1, Jerry Crowder has pulled ahead of Andy Bryant by 90 votes.

I can see the finish line.

-Aman Batheja

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs peaks at seven weeks

Things aren't looking good for Texas' most famous write-in candidate, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

If you don't recall, Sekula-Gibbs served in the US House for seven weeks between the end of Republican Tom Delay's final term and the start of Democrat Nick Lampson's first term representing District 22.

Sekula-Gibbs was hoping to use her name recognition from her brief stint to springboard herself to the GOP nomination and then unseat Lampson in November.

Alas, with 30 percent of precincts reporting, Pete Olsen appears to be trampling Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in the Republican primary with 66 percent support.

Politex didn't yet exist when Sekula-Gibbs was a congresswoman. Other bloggers had plenty of fun at her expense, including the unusual ways her supporters misspelled her name when voting for her (we can't print the nuttiest misspelling on this blog, and it's definitely not safe to be seen reading during work. If you still want to know what it was, click here. You can't miss it.)

-Aman Batheja

Local constable race may be won by one vote

We noted that Andy Bryant was beating Jerry Crowder by one vote for the Republican precinct 1 constable race.

Well now 9 percent of the votes are in. Fifty votes were added to the final tallies.

Three guesses how those 50 votes were split. The first two don't count.

The current state of the race: Bryant continues to lead Crowder 373 to 372.

My crystal ball sees a recount in the near future.

-Aman Batheja

Early voting: local judicial candidates are neck and neck

Mike Hrabal and Melody Wilkinson, the two Republican candidates for the 17th judicial district court, are within 59 votes of each other, according to the early voting returns.

Hrabal has 51 percent of the support with 2,065 votes and Wilkinson has 49 percent with 2,006 votes.

If you think that's close, check out the precinct 1 constable Republican runoff. According to early returns, Andy Bryant is beating Jerry Crowder by 1 vote.

The other two local races are less tight:

In the heated 213th judicial district primary race, incumbent Louis Sturns was handily beating prosecutor Lisa Callaghan, according to early returns. Sturns has 60 percent support with 2,492 votes. Callaghan has 40 percent support with 1,638 votes.

In the Democratic Precinct 8 constable race, Chester "Chett" Luckett was leading Michael Campbell with 69 percent of the vote.

-Aman Batheja

Runoff results on the way

We'll be blogging this evening as the runoff results come in.

Early voting results will be in at 7 p.m.

Word is that turnout today was just plain sad meaning no one's got a good handle on who's going to win.

Check back to find out what's happening in local races that have gotten interesting as well as races in Dallas and around the state.

-Aman Batheja

Afternoon fun: catch your coworker in a lie

Today's word of the day in political circles is "abysmal," as in the abysmal early vote turnout for today's run-off elections.

Just 3,683 Republicans and 955 Democrats voted early. Compare that to the more than 100,000 Tarrant residents who voted early in the March 4 primaries.

If you're hoping to up those numbers by harassing your friends and coworkers, don't be swayed by their claims that they already voted early. Trust but verify.

Click here to see everyone who voted early in the local Republican run-off.

Click here for a list of all the Democratic early voters.

These lists used to only be easily accessible to people who paid for it (i.e. local consultants and campaigns). Now it's available for the rest of us political junkies to devour.

So go ahead. Look up all your friends and neighbors and publicly shame them if they told you they already voted.

Consider it your civic duty.

-Aman Batheja

Bad Hair Day

When a poll is taken, political scientists say it gives a "snapshot" of what people are thinking at the time.

If that is the case, judicial candidate Lisa Callaghan is working hard to explain why she's had what is the equivalent to a "bad hair day" in the Tarrant County Bar Association's Judicial Candidates Qualification Poll. She is running in today's runoff for the 213th District criminal court against Judge Louis Sturns.

Callaghan, dismisses the poll's findings in which Sturns was considered qualified by 95 percent while Callaghan, a local prosecutor, was considered qualified by 51 percent, and unqualified by 49 percent.

"That rating is not independent, but is influenced by attorneys who do not want a tough prosecutor as judge," Callaghan's mailer said. It landed in mailboxes in the closing days of the runoff campaign.

(Read that to mean defense attorneys too heavily influenced the poll.)

In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Callaghan said that many of her friends in the Tarrant County District Attorney's office are not bar members. "Therefore, they are not elgible to vote in the bar poll and I think many of the respondents have clients who I have sent to prison over the years."

But Callaghan is not the only candidate to diss the poll this year.

Skip Reynolds, who lost in the March primary for the 17th District Court, said it was rigged because a relative small number of attorneys participated and they were Democrats at small firms. Reynolds, by the way, was rated as unqualified by 67 percent.

But Trisha Graham, executive director of the bar, said they go to a lot of trouble to make sure the poll is fair. The bar has about 2,600 attorney members and about 660 voted in this year's poll.

An independent company conducts on-line version of the poll. While the bar knows who has cast ballots, their actual votes are encrypted. Similar security steps are taken for the casting of paper ballots.

Then, it takes two different poll officers with different passwords to unlock the poll, kinda like the double keys that are used to engage a missle on a nuclear sub, Graham said.

What might be making a bigger difference in Callaghan's case is that she has not constantly been a member or the bar while Sturns, a former president, has been a member since 1975.

Max B. Baker 

 

Eppstein predicts Clinton/Obama ticket

Republicans usually pay thousands of dollars for Bryan Eppstein’s political advice.

The consultant gave it away for the price of lunch Thursday, addressing the monthly meeting of the Republican Forum at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth.

Among his predictions: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will share the Democratic presidential ticket.

Want to date a candidate? Here's your chance.

Here's a new take on a political fundraiser. The Mid-Cities Democrats are hosting a speed candidate forum Saturday in Colleyville. A bunch of Democratic candidates will sit at different tables talking up their campaigns. At the ten-minute mark, they'll all switch to different tables. They'll keep switching every ten minutes until they've sat at every table.

It's modeled on speed dating, except hopefully a lot less awkward.

The candidates scheduled to take part include Rep. Rick Noriega (who is challenging Sen. John Cornyn), former Fort Worth City Councilwoman Wendy Davis (challenging State Sen. Kim Brimer), and Jerry Lee Phillips (challenging county commissioner Gary Fickes).

It's hard to say how this will go. When I thought about mixing speed dating with politics, this old SNL skit is what immediately came to mind (Is anyone planning on screaming "WRONG" at each of the candidates? Is Dana Carvey even invited?):

 

-Aman Batheja

Tarrant County vs. Harris County: election edition

Early voting for April 8 runoffs start Monday. In Harris County, the Elections Administrator is worried voters might get lost because so many polling locations have been changed from the March 4 primary. Her recommendation: vote early.

We asked local Elections Administrator Steve Raborn if anything that confusing is going on in Tarrant County. His emailed response:

"Nothing on that scale here.  A total of 8 polling place changes from March 4 (when there were 216 polling places) to April 8 (we will use 210 polling places for the runoffs).  Most of the changes are because those sites were unavailable for April 8."

You can look up all the early voting and election day polling locations here.

If you have no idea whose on the ballot in the runoffs, click here if you're a Democrat and here if you're a Republican.

-Aman Batheja

Barton praises imaginary earmark

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, made an odd argument in defense of earmarks at Thursday's unveiling of JPS' new patient tower in Fort Worth.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Barton pointed at the brand new five-story tower and said, "There is a reason that they're good and you're looking at it right here."

One problem: the patient tower was not the beneficiary of any earmarks.

JPS spokesman Robert Earley confirmed Friday that Barton at one point tried to get an earmark for the seven-level parking garage that was part of the patient tower project. In the end, neither the tower nor the parking garage received any federal funding.

-Aman Batheja

Former JPS board chair gets her day

Thursday was a historic day for John Peter Smith Hospital. Not only was the long-awaited patient tower finally unveiled, but Erma Johnson Hadley stepped down from the public hospital’s board. Hadley had been on the board since 1999, serving as chairwoman in 2006 and 2007.

County Commissioner Roy Brooks read a proclamation declaring Thursday Erma Johnson Hadley Day in Tarrant County.

As a child growing up poor in East Texas, Hadley said, she saw a dentist only when a tooth ached so much that it had to be pulled. She said she felt blessed to have helped increase access to health care through her work on the hospital board.

“As I leave here, I am leaving a part of me,” Hadley said.

The Rev. Ralph Emerson Jr. of Rising Star Baptist Church was sworn in as her replacement.

-Aman Batheja

Former Apprentice star running for Arlington school board

Bowie Hogg was on the first season of Donald Trump's reality/vanity show in 2004. The comb-over king told Bowie "You're fired" in the fourth episode.

Bowie's now a health care executive running for the place 6 seat on the Arlington City Council school board. Here's his campaign web site.

Anyone care to offer an Apprentice-themed campaign slogan for Hogg or one of his competitors? Let us know in the comments.

And read more local school news nuggets at our Extra Credit blog.

-Aman Batheja

A Christmas Mountains surprise

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson made a surprising announcement this week about the Christmas Mountains.

Speaking to a Fort Worth Republican club on Friday, Patterson suggested that officials at Big Bend National Park do not want to add the pristine mountains to the park’s inventory.

“Big Bend National Park doesn’t want it,” Patterson told the Republican Forum at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth.

What’s perhaps most surprising about the comment is that it’s not true. The National Park Service has proposed — in writing — to add the property to Big Bend. The proposal has been acknowledged previously by Patterson and the General Land Office. The top official at Big Bend and a spokesman for the National Park Service both agreed Friday that the proposal stands.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s an open-ended offer,” said Big Bend Superintendent William Wellman.
Patterson has been at the center of a very public controversy after pushing to sell the state-owned property to private interests. The 9,269-acre range was donated to the state in 1991 by conservationists with the general agreement that it would remain in public hands. The School Land Board — over which Patterson also presides — rejected two private bids for the mountains after months of outcry.

Results coming in slowly

As of 10:30 p.m., 519 Republican precincts had reported their primary election results. Democratic precincts reporting? 236.  Apparently this is due to the long lines and many of the Democratic election judges participating in precinct conventions instead of immediately dropping off their poll results (like the Secretary of State said they are required to do).
-Aman Batheja

Police called to Southlake polling place

This election news comes via the police scanner.

Officers have been called to a polling place in Southlake where a person has been reported harassing a polling judge. Police say they are on the scene talking to an "irate man."

No word yet on what caused the man to become upset.

-- Melissa Vargas

Southwest Arlington polling place problem-free

No lines, no problems in Southwest Arlington.

Voters from four precincts could cast ballots at the Cliff Nelson Recreation Center in southwest Arlington. As of 8:55 a.m., 57 Republicans had voted.

“We knew it would be busier over there,” one poll worker commented, nodding toward the large room where Democrats were set up.

Republicans’ digs were less impressive: a few booths set up down a long hallway that leads to a preschool area.

-- Sarah

More poll workers needed

Doreen Geiger, a local Democratic activist and Obama volunteer, just sent out this email to some local Democrats:

"The Tar. Co. Elections Adm. is desperate for some additional people who can help at the polls TODAY.  If you can help, please go a.s.a.p. to the Elections Adm. Ofc. at 2700 Premier St., F.W. 76111.  Pls. call Ann McClure, our Dem. representative working at the Elections ofc., to let her know you can help.  Her # is 817-838-4659.

Thank you,

Doreen"

UPDATE: S-T Reporter Jessica DeLeon says at the Metroplex Academy in Euless, Democratic poll worker Helen Garcia said she didn’t have all the workers she needed. "I didn’t have anybody,” she said.

-Aman Batheja

Learning about voting and then doing so

At the polling place at North Crowley High School in far south Fort Worth, teachers brought in a class of Government/Economics students to observe how the polling place worked and an election judge told them about the process.

Two of the students were old enough to vote and did so.

About 150 people have voted there so far in the Democratic primary and 40 voters have cast ballots in the Republican primary so far.

At South Hills Elementary off of McCart and Interstate 20, voting was heavy even though the polling place was hard to find. There, about 60 Democratic ballots had been cast and the Republicans had had about 40 so far.

-- Martha Deller

Arlington church has 5 precincts, steady voting

Fielder Road Baptist Church, home to five precints -- 2513, 2403, 2401, 2147 and 2168 -- had as of 9:20 a.m., 24 voters cast ballots in the the Republican primary and the Democratic side had 70 voters cast ballots so far.

-- Paul Bourgeois

Voting irregularity?

A reader to webfeedback@star-telegram.com writes, and we answer:

"My precinct 3333 on  Maplewood Church in North Richland Hills at 7:15am had a line going to the door.

"It wasn't until the line went out the door and people were standing in the cold that a polling volunteer came out. He said there was no waiting in the Republican line.

"When I reached the sign-in tables, I noticed that the polling place was divided with five volunteers on the Republican side and no waiting.

"There were only two volunteers on the Democratic side to handle the long lines.

"After I was handed my ballot and headed to vote, I remembered no volunteer stamped my registration card for the caucus this evening.

"The reply was, 'You didn't ask for it to be stamped.'

"The precinct captain stepped in from the Republican side and told the Democratic volunteers they are supposed to stamp every registration card without asking.

"I wondered how many Democratic voter cards had not been stamped for caucus participation from 7am until 7:45 (the time I reached the table).

"Does this mean a Republican advantage in the caucus this evening? Or does it not matter at all?"

Answer: It doesn't matter. You can vote without your voter registration card as long as you show another form of ID -- on the back of the card it says, "You may vote without your certificate by showing another form of identification" At the precinct conventions, the precinct leaders will have a list provided by the election judge of who voted in the primary. Only people who voted in the primary can participate in the precinct convention.

It's explained here.

-- Richard Stubbe

The key is get in the correct line

Make sure you get in the correct line, Republican or Democrat.

I didn't at first and started in the wrong one, but workers at the Calvary Cathedral polling place at Yucca and I-35W quickly guided me to right one.

At 8:15 a.m., the lines were short and the workers helpful. No problems.

-- Mark Lowry

Walk right in

My wife just voted at the Keller Lions Club, Pct. 3040, at 8:30 a.m. and she says there was absolutely no line. No one.
--Paul Bourgeois

Elaborating on: In Arlington, a glitch?

Polling helpers at Wimbish Elementary got so many people going to the Republican table when they meant to go to the Democratic one and vice versa, they started asking each voter which party they want to vote in today.

"I have two signs and they're still getting it wrong," one helper said.

Voters not going to new polling sites should be aware that some streets near schools are one-way during drop-off and pick-up times. Apologies to the long line of cars at Wimbish Elementary in Arlington. And to the crossing guard who had to sort it out.

_Eva-Marie Ayala

Lines long at southeast Fort Worth polling places

Polling places in southeast Fort Worth and Forest Hill were doing brisk business in the Democratic primary.

At the Forest Hill Community Center, 6800 Forest Hill Drive, it was so busy that people were having to wait for parking spaces. At the Democratic polling place, a line had formed to register at the desk and to place ballots in the machines.

By 8:15 a.m., two voters had cast ballots there in the Republican primary.

At the Griffin subcourthouse on Miller Avenue, 35-40 people were waiting when workers opened the polling place at 7 a.m., and at the Fort Worth Public Library on East Berry, the parking lot was full of cars of voters casting ballots.

-- Martha Deller

Paper ballot machine doesn't work at polling place

Democratic polling place workers at Victory Temple in the Meadowbrook area of Fort Worth were waiting for an answer. Republican workers were waiting for voters.

At 7:15 a.m. there was a steady stream of Democratic voters at the polling place. Voters who cast their votes on paper ballots were being asked to put their ballots in the side of the one paper ballot machine at the precinct. It wouldn't accept the ballots and workers were calling the Tarrant County Elections Department to find out what to do. At 10 a.m., it still wasn't working.

Meanwhile at the Republican polling place, workers had a different problem. They were still waiting for voters to show up.

-- Martha Deller

Haltom City voters line up to cast ballots

Election officials have forecast a heavy turnout and for Warren Davenport, assistant election judge at the polling place at W.G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City, that prediction is becoming a realization.

A long line of voters greeted polling place workers there.

"This is the first time we've had more than 10 people vote before 10 o'clock in the morning," said Davenport, 76, who said he has worked at that polling place for 20 years.

-- Ron T. Ennis

Arlington Heights polling place not ready to go

The eight to 10 voters who were in line to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary in Precinct 4345 at Arlington Heights High School when it opened this morning at 7 found a polling place with one worker and no voting machines turned on.

The female polling place worker made several phone calls before reaching someone who told her they'd be there as soon as possible. Some voters were asked if they would like to be deputized to help get the polling place going.

Voters were told it would be about a half-hour before they could vote. The Republican polling place was set up and ready to go on time.

-- Domingo Ramirez Jr.

And they're off!

Polls are open. This is Thomas Auditorium in Haltom City.

The roads are clear. The countdown to 7 p.m. (when polls close) is on. But it may not be that simple, if the fretting officials are to be believed. BTW, if you're looking for info on where to vote, what all the fuss is about, what the candidates actually have to say, look here. And of course check back on the blog all day - we're up and running, too.

A cold, icy start for some on primary day

Voters heading to the polls early today in some parts of the Metroplex were greeted with frigid temperatures and ice-slick roadways.

Overpasses on Texas 114 in Southlake and Grapevine reportedly had some ice that slowed motorists and caused at least one accident, according to radio reports. And, in Collin County and north Dallas, early voters were greeted with snow and ice on the ground and some roadways closed because they had iced up.

-- Lance

Geren airs his own TV ad

Four days before March 4, State Rep. Charlie Geren is airing his own TV ad. We just saw it on NBC. Geren's facing a tough primary fight against optometrist Tom Annunziato, who's airing his own TV ad slamming Geren.  Geren's commercial is completely positive, focused on Geren's accomplishments and his support from Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. If anyone knows where the ad is online, let me know and we'll post it.

-Aman Batheja

Stunning end to early voting

Early voting is now over. In Tarrant County, 123,352 people voted early, according to unofficial totals provided Friday evening by Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn. Of that number, 86,594, or about 70 percent, voted in the Democratic primary.

Long lines of voters at 7 p.m. forced several early voting locations to remain open late Friday. The Euless Public Library stayed open the latest - until 9;15 p.m. - allowing more than 100 additional voters to cast ballots after 7 p.m., Raborn said. A total of 1,746 votes were cast after 7 p.m. Friday, Raborn said.

-Aman Batheja 

Unprecedented early voting turnout in Tarrant County

From County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn:

At 1:30 PM today, approximately 103,000 Tarrant County voters have voted in person during the early voting period.  We have almost 6 hours of voting remaining, and we are currently receiving about 2,100 voters per hour countywide.  If that trend continues through the day (and it most likely picks up in the evening hours) we are on track to have a total of 22,500 voters today, which would give us a grand total of 114,500 voters over the entire period.

We have never seen this kind of early voting turnout in a Primary Election.

Early Voting for this election has been more like our non-Presidential general elections when we have the Governor’s race on the ballot.  In the 2006 General Election, Tarrant County had approximately 120,000 in-person early voters.

 Approximately 70% of the early voters have been voting in the Democratic Party Primary.

-Aman Batheja

Brief power outage at early voting location

Rumors are circulating about problems at a early voting location that lost power. Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn gave us the lowdown in an email:

"Power was lost at the Southwest Community Center (6300 Welch) but has been restored.  The voting equipment is on a UPS backup system.  We dispatched extra batteries and a generator to the site, but while setting these up the power came back on.

 A clerk was stationed outside the site to let voters know that voting was still in process.  I’m not aware of anyone who didn’t get to vote."

 

UPDATE: And this was likely the cause.

-Aman Batheja

Annunziato blasts Geren in TV ad

Optometrist Tom Annunziato is airing a TV ad against his primary opponent, state Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth. We had heard that the ad was airing on cable but we saw it on NBC around 7:30 a.m. this morning.

We noted the intense bitterness in this race as seen in Annunziato's negative mailers in this story earlier this month. If you scroll to the bottom of that story, you'll see Geren's response to the charge that he's soft on illegal immigration, which Annunziato makes again in this commercial.

You can see some of Annunziato's mailers for yourself here.

(The unintentionally funny part of the clip comes at the 22-second mark, when it looks like Annunziato's campaign is saying that his plan to get tough on illegal immigrants is to check them for cataracts).

-Aman Batheja

Wendy Davis needs a vacuum cleaner

Despite her high-profile battle to stay on the ballot, Democrat Wendy Davis has kept pretty quiet during this otherwise newsy primary season.

Of course, Davis isn't facing a primary opponent in her bid to unseat Republican State Sen. Kim Brimer of Fort Worth in November. In fact, she's just now setting up her campaign office and, according to an email sent out by her campaign this morning, is in need of some office furniture and supplies. From the email: