Early voting opens today across Texas. The GOP primary for lieutenant governor is the most-watched contest across the state. Incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst takes on three challengers. The Tatler went one-on-one with all four candidates over the past few months. Take a look at all our interviews with them below. The interviews are listed in the order in which they were conducted.
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson:
Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples:
If no candidate picks up 50% of the vote, we’ll head to a run-off.
We also interviewed Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Abbott has a commanding lead over radio host and Tea Party activist Lisa Fritsch, and is expected to win the Republican nomination for governor. Fritsch may be one to watch in the future, though.
Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn also faces a primary challenge from Rep. Steve Stockman. The only question about that race at this point is whether Cornyn will avoid a run-off, by failing to get 50% of the primary vote. A Human Events poll has Cornyn leading, 43% to 28% — comfortable, but not comfortable enough to avoid that run-off. That poll found much room for manuever, with 29% unsure of which candidate they will back.
Democrats have not won a statewide races in Texas in a generation, and there are no signs of that changing in 2014. They are expected to nominate state Sen. Wendy Davis for governor and state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte for lieutenant governor.
For Texans unsure about which races you’ll vote for at the district level, plug your address in at this site, choose which election you’re unsure of, and you’ll be on your way, or you can start here and drill down. For local elections, start here and choose either the GOP or Democratic primaries. To find your early voting location(s), go here. Bring your photo ID. About 70% of Texans have long backed voter ID, and it’s now the law of the state. The media will probably come up with more horror stories about how awful voter ID. Those stories will not be the full story.
Texas early voting runs through February 28, and the primaries will be held on March 4.
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