MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR:
ANSWERS TO THREE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RUNOFF ELECTION

The April 11 runoff election is very, very important. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. We still have work to do to fill out the Democratic ticket for this fall’s elections. We have to have candidates who can and will carry the Democratic message capably and passionately, and represent the Democratic Party effectively and well in every quarter of this state.

And there’s a state legislative district runoff election which will decide who represents the citizens of that district in the state legislature for the next two years. Folks, this is serious and vital (to the voters, the party and the state of Texas) stuff . So here are some answers to some of the questions which may be lingering out there about the runoff election.

1) Who Can Vote in the Runoff? It is NOT – repeat, not – necessary that you voted in the March 7 primary to be entitled to vote in the April 11 runoff. All that is required is that you be a registered voter in the district on April 11 (and have been for 30 days) and that you not have voted in the Republican primary on March 11 or signed a nominating petition for a candidate of another party (or an independent) in this election cycle. To be blunt, if you signed a nominating petition for Kinky Friedman or Carol Keeton McClelland Rylander Strayhorn, or if you signed a petition for a Republican judge last fall (or, come to think of it, for Tom Delay) or if you voted in the Republican primary on March 7, then (a) shame on you! and (b) you can’t vote in the April 11 Democratic runoff election. Otherwise you can (and should) do so, even if you did not vote in the March 7 primary.

If you have any questions about this, please call the Harris County Democratic Party headquarters at (713) 802-0085.

2) Where Do You Vote? Because the expected voter turnout outside state representative district 146 is expected to be very light, voting location have been consolidated even more substantially than in the primary. Early voting (which starts Monday, April 3, and goes thru Friday, April 8) will be at all the same places as early voting occurred for the March 7 primary. In state representative district 146, voters will also return to the same voting locations for the runoff that they voted at on the March 7 primary (except that voters in precinct 276 will be voting at Grimes Elementary School, rather than being consolidated with precinct 240 as they were in the primary.

In the rest of the county, there will be two or three voting locations in each state legislative district, many of which will be in “early voting” locations. The total number of voting locations for the runoff will be 76, of which 27 are in state representative district 146.

It is important to note that even though we are using early voting locations on election day, each precinct will be assigned to a specific polling location (even if that is a location which was used as an early voting location during early voting). You cannot vote at an early voting location on election day (April 11) unless that is the voting location assigned for your particular precinct. Voters must check the newspaper, county clerk’s web site, or the HCDP web site or office on election day for a listing of election day polling places.

To see the full list of voting locations, click on Election Day Voting Locations above.

3) Who Does the Harris County Democratic Party Support and Endorse in the Runoffs? The Harris County Democratic Party and its chair have a longstanding policy of not endorsing either Democrat when two Democrats oppose each other in a race for elective office. If you have received any flyer, brochure, handout, slate card, door hanger, or whatever that suggests or implies otherwise, it is not authorized and not correct if it says or implies that the HCDP or its chair favor any candidate in any race in this runoff.

The Harris County Democratic Party and its chair do urge all Democrats to consider carefully whether a particular candidate will actively campaign in the upcoming fall general elections. One candidate for our party’s nomination for United States Senate has not done so at all in this primary and has not indicated an intention to do anything other than be listed on the ballot in November. The HCDP chair has urged Democrats to cast ballots for a Senate candidate who will strengthen the party’s ticket by active participation in the upcoming race (though I will not identify that person by name in this article).

Other than that (and it is limited to the United States Senate race, and these exceptional circumstances only) the chair of the Harris County Democratic Party does not take sides in this runoff election and supports all Democratic candidates equally. We need a unified party to win in November, and the HCDP and its chair will do everything in their power to avoid undermining our ability to achieve that result.

Now, GO VOTE!

Gerry Birnberg
Chair, Harris County Democratic Party
March 27, 2006

Archive of Gerry Birnberg's Messages

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