Time to vote in primary

Avalanche staff

Interest and enthusiasm are building for next Tuesday's Democratic and Republican primary elections. And using the foot traffic at the Brewster County elections office as a gauge, early voting has been steady and strong. By the way, Friday is the last day to vote "early," or as some old-timers used to call it, vote absentee.

This year, the two major political parties are holding joint primary elections at eight polling places throughout the county (see box inside). Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Although the presidential primaries appear to be getting all the publicity - you can't turn on your TV without seeing a pundit pontificating about one of the candidates or a political ad - of most interest in the Big Bend area are the county and state races.

Two of the most heated races are on the Democratic ticket - incumbent Frank Brown running against Jesse Gonzales Jr. for district attorney in the 83rd Judicial District, and incumbent Betty Jo Rooney facing Megan Elizabeth Antrim for county tax assessor-collector.

Incumbent Pete Gallego, a Democrat from Alpine, is running unopposed for state representative from District 74 in the primary. In the November general election, he likely will face Thomas "T.C." Kincaid Jr., who is on the GOP ticket and is unopposed.

Ciro D. Rodriguez, also a Democrat, has no primary opposition in his race for re-election as U.S. Representative for District 23.

Brewster's Republican Ballot

The Republican primary in Brewster County

NATIONAL

President

Hugh Cort

John McCain

Alan Keyes

Mike Huckabee

Duncan Hunter

Uncommitted

Ron Paul

Hoa Tran

Rudy Giuliani

Mitt Romney

Fred Thompson

U.S. Senator

John Cornyn

Larry Kilgore

U.S. Rep., District 23

Quico Canseco

Lyle Larson

STATE

Railroad Commissioner

Michael L. Williams

Chief Justice, Supreme Court

Wallace Jefferson

Justice,

Supreme Court, Place 7

Dale Wainwright

Justice,

Supreme Court, Place 8

Phil Johnson

Judge, Court of

Criminal Appeals, Place 3

Tom Price

Judge, Court of

Criminal Appeals, Place 4

Robert Francis

Paul Womack

Judge, Court of

Criminal Appeals, Place 9

Cathy Cochran

State Rep, District 74

Thomas "T.C." Kincaid Jr.

Justice, 8th Court

of Appeals District, Place 3

Kenneth R. "Kenn" Carr

COUNTY

County Commissioner,

Precinct No. 1

Asa "Cookie" Stone

Constable, Precinct No. 1

Henry Ogletree

County Chairman

Hal Craig

PARTY REFERENDUM

(Vote yes or no)

Immigration

Federal, state, and local officials should be required to enforce U.S. immigration laws in order to secure our borders.

Photo ID

The Texas Legislature should make it a priority to protect the integrity of our election process by enacting legislation that requires voters to provide valid photo identification in order to cast a ballot in any and all elections conducted in Texas.

Controlling

Government Growth

Every governmental body in Texas should be required to limit any annual increase in its budget and spending to the combined increase of population and inflation unless it first gets voter approval to exceed the allowed annual growth or in the case of an official state of emergency.

Brewster's Democratic Ballot

Candidates on the ballot for the Democratic primary in Brewster County

NATIONAL

President

Hillary Clinton

Christopher J. Dodd

Barack Obama

Joe Biden

John Edwards

Bill Richardson

U.S. Senator

Ray McMurrey

Rhett R. Smith

Gene Kelly

Richard J. "Rick" Noriega

U.S. Rep., District 23

Ciro D. Rodriguez

STATE

Railroad Commissioner

Mark Thompson

Art Hall

Dale Henry

Chief Justice,

Supreme Court

Jim Jordan

Justice,

Supreme Court, Place 7

Baltasar D. Cruz

Sam Houston

Justice,

Supreme Court, Place 8

Susan Criss

Linda Reyna Yanez

Judge, Court of

Criminal Appeals, Place 3

Susan Strawn

Judge, Court of

Criminal Appeals, Place 4

J.R. Molina

State Rep., District 74

Pete P. Gallego

Chief Justice,

8th Court of Appeals District

David Wellington Chew

Justice, 8th Court

of Appeals District, Place 3

David C. Guaderrama

Guadalupe "Lupe" Rivera

District Judge,

394th Judicial District

Antonio Rodriguez

Kenneth D. DeHart

District Attorney,

83rd Judicial District

Frank Brown

Jesse Gonzales Jr.

COUNTY

County Attorney

Steve Houston

Sheriff

Ronny Dodson

County Tax

Assessor-Collector

Megan Elizabeth Antrim

Betty Jo Rooney

County Commissioner,

Precinct No. 1

John R. "Bit" Robertson

Constable, Precinct No. 1

Cornelio Vega

County Chairman

Dale B. Christophersen

Poetry Gathering and Trappings

For Nelson, the life is poetry on the range

Time to vote in primary

Avalanche staff