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Alright, alright alright! It is that time again my friends!
This post will be short and sweet because this election for most of us, is an easy one HOWEVER - it is not to be dismissed as unimportant.
The July 14th election is a runoff election which in it's most basic of explanations means, this is a tie breaker. Our vote is needed to decide who will officially be on the ballot for some of the positions on the: US. Senate, US House of Representatives, Railroad Commissioner, State Board of Education, Texas Senate, and the Texas House of Representatives. Please be aware that based off of which party you voted for in March, you may or may not be electing between the final candidates in any of the races with "too close to call" races.
And as we've all seen in the past few weeks, knowing who our representatives are at a National, State, and Local level is of the utmost importance so be sure to take some time to do your research.
I am going to list out a basic set of instructions as well as links so you can find your candidates and do all the prep work you need and get ready to make a well-informed vote!
STEP ONE - Before you vote:
1) Confirm you registered: https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do
With corona virus taking its toll on literally everything, some of you may not have gotten your voter registration processed yet, so check your status before you start anything.
2) Find your assigned districts https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home
There's a pretty long list on this runoff if you lookup who is actually on the ballot BUT you are not voting for everyone listed, you are only voting for those pertinient to your district. The link above makes it easy to figure out your district based off of your address. **NOTE: That means multiple districts by the way. You'll have a US Congress, Texas House, Texas Senate, etc. etc. positions so jot down which district you are in for each of those.
3) Find your early voting and/or general election location https://www.harrisvotes.com/WaitTimes
Simple enough!
STEP TWO - So who are we voting on?
1) If you are a Democrat: We are voting on a final candidate for the Senate seat race against Republican incumbent John Cornyn. The candidates are:
Mary MJ Hegar: https://mjfortexas.com/
Royce West: https://www.roycewest.com/
Helpful articles comparing the two:
2) Based off of your party, you will have a US House District runoff if you live in any of the below :
Democrats in: District 3 (Sean McCaffity vs. Lulu Seikaly), District 10 (Pritesh Gandhi vs Mike Siegel), District 17 (David Anthony Jaramillo vs Rick Kennedy), District 24 (Kim Olson vs. Candace Valenzuela) , District 31 (Donna Imam vs. Christine Eady Mann)
Republicans in: District 13 (Ronny Jackson vs Josh Winegarner) , District 15 (Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez vs Ryan Krause) , District 16 (Irene Armendariz-Jackson vs Sam Williams), District 17 (Pete Sessions vs Renee Swann), District 18 (Robert M. Cadena vs Wendell Champion) , District 20 (Gary Allen vs Mauro Garza) , District 22 (Troy Nehls vs Kathaleen Wall), District 23 (Tony Gonzales vs Raul Reyes), District 35 ("Guillermo" William Hayward vs Jenny Garcia Sharon)
3) Ahh haa! One of my favorites. Democrats - you are voting for the runoff candidate for Railroad Commisioner. What the heck is the Railroad Commissioner you may ask? Well, they get to head the agency that regulates activity within the oil and gas, natural gas, pipeline transportation, and coal and uranium mining industries. So yea, if you care about the enviornment at all, pay attention!
We are choosing between:
Roberto "Beto" Alonzo https://alonzo4txrrcommissioner.com/
Chrysta Castañeda https://www.chrystafortexas.com/meet/
Comparison Articles:
4) State Board of Education:
Democrats in District 6, your runoff election is between
Kimberly McLeod https://www.drkim4tx.com/
Michelle Palmer https://palmerfortexased.com/
Republicans in District 5, your runoff election is between
Robert Morrow - honestly, you can look this one up yourself I'm not even going there but just in case, the whole party is against this dude:
Lani Popp https://www.lanipopp.com/
5) And finally, for those of you Democrats in Texas Senate District 19 or 27 you also have runoff elections:
District 19:
Roland Gutierrez https://rolandfortexas.com/
Xochil Peña Rodriguez https://www.votepenarodriguez.com/
District 27:
Sara Stapleton Barrera https://sarastapletonbarrera.org/
Eddie Lucio, Jr.Incumbent http://www.senatoreddielucio.com/
STEP THREE - Prepare, do your research, VOTE!!!!
So it goes without saying, do your research on your candidates before heading to the polling station. You are allowed to use a post it or a note card in the booth so take an hour or so and do your research on these candidates.
Consider the moment we are in as you read each of their bio's. This is a crucial time for us all and we must choose strong canidates that are going to fight for our rights and our communities now more than ever unless we plan on seeing another dismal 4 years of a Republican led Senate and Presidency.
Finally, keep in mind that with the easy excuse of the corona virus pandemic, now more than ever it's easy to create instances of voter supression so if you can, make sure to go early vote. If you can't then prepare for very long lines. Wear comfortable shoes and if possible go ahead and bring a lawn chair because well, you'll need it.
As always, feel free to shoot me a message with any questions and #VOTEORDIE & #BEMIGHTY my friends!
Additional Helpful Sources:
