Texas Sets A New Record In Early Voting In 2016

Early voting is now over in Texas, but even in this red state (which most believe is sure to go for Trump) there is a lot of interest -- enough to set a new early voting record. The charts above were made with information from the office of the Texas Secretary of State (which supervises voting in the state).

The top chart shows the number of early voters in the largest 15 counties of the state, and the bottom chart shows the percentage of registered voters who cast an early vote in those counties. Note that both the number of voters and percentage of voters easily eclipsed the 2008 figures (the year in which the previous record was set).

These 15 counties have 9,759,797 of the state's 14, 238,436 registered voters (about 68.6% of all Texas registered voters). Looking at them can be a very good gauge of what's happening statewide.

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Here in Potter County, 18,415 people voted early -- about 33.5% of the 55,011 registered voters. That is a record turnout.

Randall County also had a record turnout with 40,637 people voting early -- about 50.5% of the 81,190 registered voters. A record turnout.

NOTE -- The city of Amarillo is in both Potter and Randall counties.

Amarillo Has Record Turnout For First Day Early Voting

It looks like there's going to be a big voter turnout here in Amarillo for the 2016 election. The city, which is in Potter and Randall counties, say a record turnout for the first day of early voting on Monday.

Over 5,000 people voted in the two counties combined. Randall county had 3,311 voters cast a vote (about 3.88% of the county's 81,190 registered voters), and Potter county had about 1,700 voters cast a vote (about 3.09% of the county's 55,011 registered voters).

That's the largest first day turnout in early voting for both counties.

Early Voting In Texas

Early voting has started in Texas, and will go through November 4th. The map above is of the early voting locations here in Potter County. Here is the schedule for the sites:

Main Location: Santa Fe Building, 900 S. Polk

• Oct. 24-28             8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

• Oct. 29                   7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.

• Oct. 30                   12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

• Oct. 31-Nov. 4      7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. 

Branch Hours:

• Oct. 24-28             12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

• Oct. 29                    12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

• Oct. 30                   12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

• Oct. 31-Nov. 4      12:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Mobile Voting:

• Oct. 31, 12:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.     Bivins Village, 3201 Tee Anchor Blvd.

• Nov. 1, 12:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.     Canyons Retirement, 2200 SW 7th    

• Nov. 2, 12:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.     Park Central, 1300 S. Harrison

• Nov. 3, 12:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.     The Craig, 5500 SW 9th

NOTE -- If any of you Potter County voters would like to meet me, I will be working the Coffee Memorial Blood Bank voting site October 28th through November 4th.

Potter County Democratic Convention

The Potter County Democratic Party held its county convention in Amarillo at 2:00pm on Saturday (yesterday). The convention was chaired by Abel Bosquez, and I was elected to serve as convention secretary.

It wasn't a huge turnout, and a majority of the delegates to the county convention were Sanders supporters. A lot of them were selected to be delegates to the state convention in San Antonio -- and I hope that encourages them to stick with the party in the future, and continue to participate.

We selected 17 delegates and 9 alternates. And I wound up screwing myself. In my effort to make sure everyone got a fair chance to be a delegate, I forgot to put my own name in to be a delegate. By the time I realized that, the delegates had been chosen. I did get my name on the alternates list, and hopefully, I can get elevated to delegate status at the state convention (because there are always a few delegates who don't make it to the convention).

The majority of the delegates chosen were Sanders supporters. I hope they understand that won't make much difference as far as the delegation to the national convention goes. Party rules give our Senate District (#31) two national delegates, and because of the way the county voted in the primary, one must be a Clinton delegate and the other a Sanders delegate. As a whole, the state delegation to the national convention will reflect the percentages for each candidate in the March 1st primary.

On the whole, the convention went very smoothly -- and we were done by 3:30pm. And no one left mad (which is very good). I have hopes the Sanders and Clinton supporters in Potter county can come together in the November election.

Dem Primary Results For Potter/Randall Counties (Amarillo)

(This image is from realestateresusitation.blogspot.com.)

You cannot report the election results of Amarillo without reporting the results from both Potter and Randall counties. That's because the city is in both counties, with the northern half being in Potter county and the southern half being in Randall county -- and the bulk of voters in both those counties are from the city of Amarillo. Here's how the two counties voted in the March 1st Democratic primary:

POTTER COUNTY

Hillary Clinton...............1,490 (56.6%)
Bernie Sanders...............1,091 (41.4%)

RANDALL COUNTY

Hillary Clinton...............1,586 (51.1%)
Bernie Sanders...............1,479 (47.7%)

COMBINED VOTE FOR BOTH

Hillary Clinton...............3,076 (54.5%)
Bernie Sanders...............2,570 (45.5%)

I suspect that the Randall county totals were closer because that county is the home of West Texas A & M University (and a lot of college students seem to be "feeling the Bern"). Be that as it may, Amarillo voters followed the lead of the rest of Texas and picked Clinton as their preferred nominee (although by smaller percentages).

NOTE -- Congratulations are in order for Gentry Powell (who was elected Potter County Democratic Chair) and Mariah Strong-Woods (who was elected Randall County Democratic Chair).

Potter County Democratic Convention Is Set

This post is for you residents of Amarillo (at least those living in the northern half of the city).

The Potter County Democratic Party will hold its county convention on Saturday March 19th at 2:00pm. Registration will begin at 1:30pm. Delegates to the state convention will be chosen at this gathering (and will be apportioned according to the primary results).

The location is the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union Hall at 1505 W. 7th Street in Amarillo.

Any Potter County resident who voted in the Democratic primary on March 1st is eligible to attend.

First Same-Sex Marriage License Issued In Amarillo

Yesterday, I informed you that Amarillo clerks (Julie Smith of Potter County and Renee Calhoun of Randall County) had loaded the new marriage license forms in their computer, and were ready to follow the Supreme Court decision and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Now the ice has been broken.

On Wednesday afternoon at about 12:30pm, Potter County issued the first same-sex license. The recipients (pictured) were Jimmy Healy (47) and David Miller (55). The couple said they were surprised that they were the first, figuring some others had already done it. They have been a couple for about six years.

I congratulate the happy couple -- and I hope they have a long and very happy marriage.

Amarillo Is Ready To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

There's been a lot of talk in the last few days about whether County Clerks in Texas counties will issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Attorney General caused some consternation with his rather muddied opinion saying individuals could refuse to issue licenses if it violated their religious beliefs, but most clerks now understand that someone in each office must issue those licenses (or the office will be subject to legal action and fines).

And that includes the clerks serving the city of Amarillo. Amarillo is in two separate counties. The northern half is in Potter County and the southern half is in Randall County. The clerks of both counties say they took Monday to download the new license forms from the state, and had worked out any glitches by late Tuesday. Both Potter County Clerk Julie Smith and Randall County Clerk Renee Calhoun say they have not yet had any licenses requested, but they stand ready to issue the licenses when asked to do so.

Amarillo is in one of the reddest areas of Texas -- an area that votes overwhelmingly Republican. So, many of us wondered how these clerks would react to the court decision. It is gratifying to see that they were not willing to waste taxpayer money by getting the counties engaged in silly lawsuits.

Early Voting Starts In Texas And I Will Vote For . . .

I'm actually a day late with this post. Early voting started yesterday (Monday) in the state of Texas. I encourage all of my readers to vote in this election, and vote how your conscience tells you -- not how others want you to vote or who you think will win. This is your chance to have a voice in how you are going to be governed for the next couple of years. Don't pass up this chance. Don't let others make this decision for you.

Here is how I will be voting:

U.S. SENATOR
David Alameel (Democrat)

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 13
Mike Minter (Democrat)

GOVERNOR
Wendy Davis (Democrat)

LT. GOVERNOR
Leticia Van De Putte (Democrat)

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Sam Houston (Democrat)

COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
Mike Collier (Democrat)

LAND COMMISSIONER
John Cook (Democrat)

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER
Kenneth Kendrick (Green Party)

RAILROAD COMMISSIONER
Steve Brown (Democrat)

SUPREME COURT, CHIEF JUSTICE
William Moody (Democrat)

SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE PLACE 6
Lawrence Edward Meyers (Democrat)

SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE PLACE 7
Gina Benevides (Democrat)

SUPREME COURT, JUSTICE PLACE 8
RS Roberto Keolsch (Democrat)

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS, JUDGE PLACE 3
John Granberg (Democrat)

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS, JUDGE PLACE 4
Judith Sanders-Castro (Green Party)

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS, JUDGE PLACE 9
George Joseph Altgelt (Green Party)

STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 31
Steven Gibson (Libertarian)

STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 87
Abel Bosquez (Democrat)

Texas County/Senatorial Conventions To Be Held Saturday

In the past, Texas Democrats held a precinct convention at their polling place right after the primary voting ended (where they elected delegates to the next step -- the county / senatorial district conventions). But the rules have changed. Now any person who voted in the Democratic primary can attend the county / senatorial conventions.

If you live in an urban county with more than one senatorial district in your county, then you will attend a senatorial district convention. If your county lies completely in a single senatorial district, then you will attend a county convention. It is at these conventions that delegates to the state convention will be selected. It is there also that the party's platform and resolutions will begin to take shape.

I urge Democrats living anywhere in this state to take part in these conventions. If you don't like what's happening to your state (or your party), this is where you can make your views known -- and your views are just as important as anyone else's.

For those of you living here in Amarillo, you will need to go to either the Randall County or Potter County conventions (depending on which county you actually live in). Here are the times and places for those conventions:

POTTER COUNTY CONVENTION
March 22nd from 12:30pm to 4:30pm
Travis Middle School
2815 Martin Road
Amarillo 79107

RANDALL COUNTY CONVENTION
March 22nd from 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Amarillo High School
4225 Danbury
Amarillo 79109

Remember -- The only requirement for attending these conventions is to have voted in the March 4th Democratic primary.

Early Voting Up In Amarillo - Down In 15 Biggest Counties

Amarillo is different than most fairly large cities in that it rests in two different counties. The southern half of the city is in Randall County, and the northern half is in Potter County. I'm not sure why, but both of these counties are bucking the trend in voting set by the 15 largest Texas counties.

According to records from the Texas Secretary of State, the 15 largest Texas counties are showing a drop in early voting this year. While more mail-in ballots have been cast, the cumulative total is down. It's no surprise that the early vocal totals would be less than in 2012, since off-year elections usually produce fewer voters -- but the 2014 totals are even below the totals recorded in 2010. Here are the early voting totals for the 15 largest Texas counties for the last three primaries:

2010
mail-in total...............42,627
cumulative total...............491,116

2012
mail-in total...............63,981
cumulative total...............565,538

2014
mail-in total...............77,586
cumulative total...............470,723

The 2014 total is only through the 27th and early voting goes to through the 28th, so one more day needs to be added. It is possible that the 2014 totals could equal those of 2010. Even so, that is a disappointment -- because the governor's race is wide open this year (without an incumbent running), and I would have thought that would encourage more voters to cast a ballot. That doesn't seem to be happening though.

But things are different here in Amarillo -- both in Potter and Randall counties. Both of these counties are showing a big increase in early voting -- and I'm talking about a big increase over 2012 numbers (not the off-year 2010 numbers). With one day left to report in the 2014 totals, the numbers look like this:

2012
Potter County total...............2,006
Randall County total...............5,136

2014
Potter County total...............4,098
Randall County total...............7,846

That's a 104.3% increase in early voting for Potter County, and a 52.8% increase in Randall County -- with one day left in early voting. Potter County has received 1,032 mail-in ballots (about 25.2% of the total early votes), and Randall County has received 1,398 mail-in ballots (about 17.8% of the total early votes).

Texas Secessionists

The map above shows the counties in Texas that had people who signed the petition to let Texas secede from the United States. On the whole, only a very tiny percentage of Texans signed the petition -- only the craziest teabaggers in the state. But the map does have one use. It shows you where those crazy people are located in the Lone Star State. The darker the color, the more people in that county signed the petition.

Regular readers will have heard me say many times that I live in one of the reddest areas of a red state. I think this map shows I was telling the truth. Note that the Panhandle has 5 of the 9 darkest purple counties, showing they have a lot of crazy teabaggers. If you will note, three of those dark purple counties are in a row. They are Oldham, Potter, and Carson counties (from left to right). I live in Potter County, the one in the middle. It just goes to show that I'm surrounded by a lot of crazy and truly scary people.

NOTE -- For another interesting and very entertaining take on the Texas secessionists, I urge you to go over and read the post by Glenn W. Smith at firedoglake.

Early Voting Is Up In Potter & Randall

It looks like there is a lot of interest in voting in the 2012 election -- at least here in Amarillo. The county clerks of both Potter and Randall counties (about half of the city lies in both counties) are reporting that the early voting totals for the first four days have topped the early voting totals for that same period in 2008. For Potter county the early vote is up about 9.5%. Randall county is doing even better, with a jump in early voting of about 15% over 2008. Here are the four day totals for both counties:

POTTER COUNTY
2008..........4,342
2012..........4,756
up 9.53%

RANDALL COUNTY
2008..........10,098
2012..........11,641
up 15.28%

GOP Candidate Seeks Pardon From Perry

As I reported in an April 29th post on this blog, the Republican candidate, Fabian Tankesly (pictured above) for the Precinct 2 Commissioner's seat in Potter County is a convicted felon. In fact, he's been convicted of four different felony charges (one of which was for Unauthorized Use Of A Motor Vehicle and another was for Theft). He's also served a two year term in a State Jail  facility for at least one of those convictions.

Tankesley is the only Republican who has filed for the seat, so unless he is officially removed from the ballot by the Republican Party of Potter County at least 30 days before the general election, he will be their candidate on the November ballot. So far, the county Republican Party has taken no action -- saying they are waiting for official records of Tankesly's criminal history to get back from Austin.

Even if Tankesly was allowed to remain on the ballot, and somehow was able to get elected in November, he could not serve as the county commissioner -- because Texas state law prevents any convicted felon from holding elective office unless that candidate has received an official pardon for all convictions. Evidently Tankesly either didn't know of the law or didn't think anyone would find out (since on his candidate application he signed a statement saying he had not been convicted of a felony).

Now most people would have been embarrassed by the tumult created by this already and withdrawn their candidacy. But we are dealing with a Republican here, and most Republican candidates don't seem to have a sense of shame (just look at the policies they support). Tankesly is no different. He says he has now hired an attorney and is trying to get pardoned for his four convictions (which he terms as "minor", even though they are felonies).

It will be interesting to see how the Republican leadership in Austin responds to the request for pardons. Texas does have a Republican governor (Rick Perry), and the Board of Pardons & Paroles (who would have to make a recommendation) are all Perry appointees. Normally, the chances of getting a pardon are very slim. In 2010, the Board received 430 pardon applications. They investigated 183 of them, and recommended approval of 33. Perry only pardoned 9 out of that 33 (about 2.09% of all applications submitted).

But none of those people were running for office as a Republican. Will Governor Perry make an exception for a fellow Republican candidate, and grant him an expedited pardon? We'll just have to wait and see. I wouldn't bet against it.

GOP Candidate Is A Convicted Felon

The person pictured above is Fabian Tankesly, the lone Republican candidate for the Precinct 2 Potter County Commission seat in east Amarillo (the only seat on the County Commission generally considered to be a safe seat for Democrats). While Republicans were initially happy to have a candidate in the race, it now looks like Tankesly will not be on the November ballot.

That's because state law bars convicted felons from running for public office (unless they have been officially pardoned) -- and Tankesly is a convicted felon. And not just once -- he has been convicted of felonies four times, with the last being in 2002 (and at least two of those convictions were for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle). The Republican county chair said he is investigating the matter, and will remove Tankesly from the ballot if he is a convicted felon who has not been pardoned.

Tankesly admits he is a convicted felon and has not received a pardon, but says he will continue to run for the seat until told by the county party he is ineligible. He says he was not trying to hide his past, although he submitted the necessary paperwork with his signature below the paragraph saying he was not a convicted and unpardoned felon.

He said he had turned in the paperwork on a form printed in Spanish (a language he is not fluent in) and didn't realize what the paragraph had said. That seems a little suspect, since the forms are readily available in both English and Spanish.

An Appeal To Potter County Democrats

I'm concerned. We're still a month and a half away from the state primary, and more than seven months away from the general election -- and it's starting to look like Potter County Democrats just don't care. Either that or they have simply given up.

There was a precinct chairs meeting yesterday. It was an important meeting, because we needed to finalize arrangements for the county convention to be held in just another 9 days (April 21st). Three people showed up -- the county chairman and two precinct chairs. Folks, that's just pitiful.

And it doesn't stop there. Potter County has 25 voting precincts, and only 9 people have filed so far to be a precinct chair for the next couple of years. That means we won't be having precinct chairs in even half of the precincts in the county. I hear other Democrats talk about taking the county back from the Republicans, but this certainly isn't the way to do that.

Democrats are outnumbered by Republicans in Potter County right now. That is just a fact. But that can't be changed until people start caring -- and caring doesn't mean you just call yourself a Democrat and show up to vote in a primary every two years. Caring means you are willing to work for the party, and even take a leadership position when necessary (like precinct chair).

The county convention will be held in just over a week. Here are the particulars:

POTTER COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
April 21
2.:00 pm
701 S. Pierce
Amarillo

This would be a good place to start caring. Anyone who is willing to say they are a Democrat and is registered to vote (or will be registered 30 days before the primary on May 29th) can be a delegate to the county convention. All you have to do is show up.

And while you're there ask the county chairman, Toby Lankford, if your precinct has a chair. If it doesn't, that would be a good time to volunteer. We can make Potter County blue again. All it will take is enough people caring enough to work for it. Do you care?

Chavez-Thompson Coming To Amarillo

It looks like the Democrats in the Texas Panhandle are already in campaign mode for the upcoming November elections. This coming Saturday they are holding a political rally at Memorial Park on Washington Avenue here in Amarillo. There will be several candidates at the rally to meet the public and everyone is welcome to attend.

Potter County Democratic chairman Toby Lankford said of the event, "It should be a good rally. We're expecting a few hundred people. We're getting more and more people interested in our party." According to Lankford the event will be held from 1pm until 5 pm, and he encourages all area residents to come out and meet some of the Democratic candidates running for office this year.

One of the most high-profile candidates appearing is the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor -- Linda Chavez-Thompson. Ms. Chavez-Thompson is a former union leader and one of the state's leading progressives. This will be her first visit to the Panhandle since garnering the party's nomination last March. The Crosby county native says that although West Texas and the Panhandle have been voting Republican for a while now, she believes Democrats can now compete in those areas.

Chavez-Thompson (pictured) said, "The Hispanic vote will be the key. The Hispanic population is growing, and they and African-Americans and a good number of whites identify more with the Democratic Party because we stand for the average working family."

She is right about the demographics of this area. As young whites move to other areas and old whites die off, the Hispanics are the only group that is growing. As this trend continues, and there is no reason to believe it won't, it is just a matter of time before the area begins to vote much like South Texas -- solidly Democratic. It's not a question of whether this will happen -- only when.

Hopefully, she is also right about people realizing that it is the Democratic Party that represents the interests of ordinary Texans. Congressional Republicans have made it clear with recent actions that they represent the interests of the rich -- ignoring job stimulus efforts to concentrate on extending Bush's tax cuts for rich people.

Abel Bosquez, former head of the Potter County Democratic Party, will also be at Saturday's rally. Bosquez is running for the vacant Texas House District 87 seat. He believes it will be new voters that will put Democrats over the top in 2010 and he is looking forward to meeting many of those voters Saturday.

It will not be easy to wrest the Panhandle from the Republicans in 2010 since they are currently in control and have plenty of money, but it is doable. I urge Panhandle voters to come to Saturday's rally and meet all the candidates.

According to the Amarillo Globe News there will be another statewide candidate at the rally -- "Blue Dog" Bill White, candidate for governor.

Randall County Healthier Than Potter County ?

Potter and Randall counties share a border and a large city. The northern half of Amarillo is in Potter county and the southern half of the city is in Randall county. Considering that, I would've thought that the two counties would be very similar healthwise. But evidently I am wrong.

The University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute has conducted a survey of 3,000 counties nationwide. The report they recently released compares the counties within a state rather than to counties nationwide. They surveyed 221 out of Texas' 254 counties, and it looks like Randall county came out a lot better than Potter county did.

Each county was rated twice -- for Health Outcomes and for Health Factors. Out of the 221 counties surveyed, Randall came out looking pretty good. Randall ranked #20 in Health Outcomes and #8 in Health Factors. Meanwhile, Potter county ranked #203 in Health Outcomes and #202 in Health Factors.

That just blew me away! How could these two counties be so radically different in health, especially considering they share the same large city?

Another thing I found interesting was the percentage of uninsured residents. Randall county has 21% of its citizens without any health insurance, while Potter county has a 22% uninsured rate. While that's slightly better than Texas as a whole (26%), it's still a lot of uninsured people in the two counties. That's over a fifth of each county. Using 2008 estimated population figures, that would mean about 26,601 Potter county residents and 24,054 Randall county residents do not have health insurance.

With those kind of figures, I find it amazing that both counties vote solidly Republican (and like good Republicans oppose any real health care reform). Obviously, the 78% or 79% in each county that has insurance doesn't realize that the large number of uninsured pushes up the cost of health care and health insurance for everyone. It drives the cost of things like hospital care up and the insurance must then pay those higher costs (resulting in higher premiums).

These folks may not realize it, but they are already paying for the health care of those without insurance. It would be cheaper for them if there was a public health insurance option that would not only cover the uninsured, but would create a downward pressure on health premiums for everyone.

But have you ever tried to reason with a Republican -- it ain't easy!

Gas Explosion In Potter County

Things got a little dicey here in Potter County early Thursday morning. A gas pipeline ruptured at a pumping station near the rural community of Bushland (about 14 miles east of Amarillo), resulting in a huge explosion and a 700 foot high fireball.

The explosion was heard and rattled windows in Amarillo. At least three people were injured and one house was completely destroyed. It took nearly two hours to get the main gas pipeline shut down and control the fire.

The lucky thing was the explosion happened in a rural area, and injuries and property damage were kept to a minimum. What if this had happened in the middle of a highly populated urban area?

The people of Fort Worth should consider this as a warning for what could happen to their city in the future. I have posted before about how the citizens of that city are signing leases that will let the gas companies drill within the city limits of the urban area. Even if the drilling goes without a calamity happening, it will leave miles of pipelines and pumping stations within the city.

If (or when) this happens in Fort Worth, there will be a lot more than one house burned down or three people injured.

More Bad News In Potter County

Potter County has had more than its share of bad news in the last few months. The county jail failed its last inspection, the county sheriff was convicted of a felony, two county prisoners were found dead, fees have fallen creating in deficit in the county budget, and the KKK is trying to recruit new members in the county. The county really didn't need more bad news, but it looks like it's here anyway.

The bad news is that the county is one of the leading counties in reported cases of STDs. According to 2006 figures (the last year with official figures), Potter County is second in the state in the rate of gonorrhea and third in the state in the rate of chlamydia.

It seems to be a county thing rather than an area phenomena, because neighboring Randall County has rates below the state average.Unfortunately, the provisional figures for 2007 don't look any better.

Area health officials are trying to figure out what the cause is, but so far have not had any luck. If they can isolate an area of town, a demographic, a local hangout or something along those lines, they would be able to target treatment, prevention and education and hopefully get the rate down. But they have not been able to identify anything so far.