News
Runoffs set for Dec. 18
Gov. Rick Perry chose Dec. 18 for a runoff election for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, rejecting a request by Tarrant County election officials.
The Fort Worth City Council set Dec. 11 as the date for its District 9 runoff more than a month ago. County election officials had asked Perry to schedule a runoff for the House District 97 race on the same day to save taxpayer money and simplify matters for voters, some of whom live in both districts.
The governor’s office notified Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief of the runoff date Monday.
“We worked closely with the city and the county to determine a permissible election day to allow adequate time for the campaigns to rev back up and educate voters on the candidates who were running,” said Krista Moody, a spokeswoman for Perry.
Asked whether an election day closer to Christmas might hurt turnout, Moody said, “We surely hope not.”
Several county officials were expecting Perry to pick Dec. 11. The elections office had reserved five early voting locations and 63 polling places for that date, said Gayle Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the elections office. Holding the election a week later shouldn’t cost the county more money, though staffing may be more difficult, she said.
When asked Monday how election officials felt about Perry’s decision, Fort Worth City Secretary Marty Hendrix said: “That’s his prerogative. We still get to hold a joint election, which will allow us to save money.”
Early voting is scheduled for 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Dec. 10-14.
The candidates in the runoffs were decided Nov. 6. Running for the House seat are Democrat Dan Barrett and Republican Mark Shelton. Joel Burns and Juan Rangel are in the nonpartisan City Council District 9 runoff.
Barrett’s campaign released a statement saying Perry chose the date to help Shelton. Shelton said the announcement will allow his runoff campaign to start in earnest.
Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Art Brender predicted last week that Perry would pick Dec. 18 to reduce turnout.
“He considers low turnout to be advantageous to Republicans, but I think he’ll be surprised,” Brender said.
Stephanie Klick, chairwoman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, said a later election date will give the campaigns more time to reach voters. Runoff elections always yield low turnout, she said.
“It’s not necessarily about Democrats and Republicans. It’s about turnout and who turns their people out,” Klick said.
After Perry’s announcement, the Fort Worth City Council approved the Dec. 18 election date for the District 9 race.
Both Burns and Rangel said they were concerned about the election dates. Burns said he was concerned that the date near Christmas would hold down turnout. Rangel said he was more concerned that there won’t be any Saturday voting—the early voting dates are Monday to Friday.
“I’ve already gotten some calls from people upset that working-class folks won’t be able to vote on a Saturday,” he said.