What the Hell? Day 3 of Early Voting

I think it's safe to say the early vote numbers are just a little whacky this year.

With the data (in-person and mail) from 2 full days of voting, Bexar County turnout is up.  It's that in-person voting that is just confounding. Think about this:

1. Overall statewide turnout so far is up from 2010 (4.07% versus 3.79%; 365,347 versus 315,917)
2. In-person voting is down from 2010 (114,323 versus 121,395)
3. Mail ballots are up by a large amount from 2010 (137,402 versus 76,752)

Anyways...

For day 3 of in-person voting in Bexar, the Top 10 voting early voting sites in Bexar continue to be the usual suspects.

1. Brookhollow Library: 900
2. Cody Library: 623
3. Parman Library @ Stone Oak: 605
4. Great Northwest Library: 582
5. Semmes Library: 575
6. Wonderland of the Americas: 572
7. Shavano Park City Hall: 563
8. Tobin Library @ Oakwell: 561
9. Maury Maverick Library: 546
10. Lion's Field: 533

One site has surpassed the 2,000 mark, and will undoubtedly pass the 3,000 voter mark tomorrow:
Brookhollow Library: 2,749

17 sites have now surpassed 1,000 voters (in order of largest # of voters: Wonderland of the Americas, Semmes Library, Great Northwest Library, Maury Maverick Library, Parman Library @ Stone Oak, Cody Library, Lion's Field, Tobin Library @ Oakwell, Shavano Park City Hall, John Igo Library, Bexar County Justice Center, University City City Hall, McCreless Library, Encino Park Community Center, Windcrest Takas Park, Leon Valley Conference Center, and Northside Activity Center.

Checking in with our 4 higher education voting sites, another 514 votes were added today for a 3 day total of 1,423.

After Day 2 of Early Voting

As previously suggested, the proof was in the mail ballots.

While in-person voting saw a drop off from 2010, the mail ballots saw a dramatic increase.  Think about these numbers...

For the top 15 counties:
2010 mail ballots after Day 1 of early voting: 61,104
2014 mail ballots after Day 1 of early voting: 127,035

Harris 2010: 24,273
Harris 2014: 41,520

Dallas 2010: 11,464
Dallas 2014: 16, 180

Tarrant 2010: 549
Tarrant 2014: 15,925

Bexar 2010: 4,899
Bexar 2014: 12,942

The unknown is who is driving this mail ballot turnout.  Wendy Davis is from Fort Worth/Tarrant, but is she driving this large number?

Getting back to Bexar, we can now say that we did see an increase in turnout from 2010.  Combined in-person and mail from 2010 was 19,571.  In 2014 that number is 26,378.  

For Day 2 in Bexar County it was steady as she goes.

The Top 10 voting sites were mostly the same:

1. Brookhollow Library: 944
2. Wonderland of the Americas: 656
3. Maury Maverick: 633
4. Semmes Library: 618
5. Great Northwest Library: 512
6. Tobin Library @ Oakwell: 578
7. Cody Library: 577
    Shavano Park City Hall: 577
9. Parman Library @ Stone Oak: 569
10. Lion's Field: 554

For the 4 college sites, there was an increase: 482

In total, we now have 12 early voting sites that have passed the 1,000 voters mark:

Brookhollow Library: 1,849
Wonderland of the Americas: 1,336
Semmes Library: 1,229
Maury Maverick Library: 1,200
Great Northwest Library: 1,200
Lion's Field: 1,165
Parman Library @ Stone Oak: 1,136
Tobin Library @ Oakwell: 1,131
Cody Library: 1,097
Shavano Park City Hall: 1,085
John Igo Library: 1,050
Bexar County Justice Center: 1,011

Overall the number of in-person voters was up from yesterday: 13,899.  What'll be interesting to see is the mail ballot numbers from today.  As of right now though, in-person voting is still down from 2010.

After 1 Day of Early Voting...

The first day of Early Voting has come and gone...

Unless the numbers are adjusted, in-person turnout in Bexar County is down from 2010.

On the first day of Early Voting in 2010 (Oct. 18), Bexar County saw 14,672 people vote.  This year 13,436 people went and voted on the first day.  We're down by 1,236 voters or 8.4% if I did the percentage correctly.  We don't yet have the mail ballot numbers, so maybe they saw an increase.  In terms of totals votes on the first day of Early Voting remember 19,571.  That's the total of in-person and mail ballots on the first day in Bexar County.  Unless the in-person numbers get adjusted, we'll need 6,136 mail in ballots to surpass 2010.

The top 10 Early Voting sites follow their usual pattern:

1. Brookhollow Library: 905
2. Wonderland of the Americas: 680
3. Semmes Library: 611
    Lion's Field: 611
5. Great Northwest Library: 588
6. Maury Maverick Library: 567
    Parman Library @ Stone Oak: 567
8. Tobin Library @ Oakwell: 553
9. Bexar County Justice Center: 549
10: Cody Library: 520

The Early Voting sites at the colleges (UTSA, Northwest Vista, Palo Alto, SAC) saw a total of 427 voters.

I would have been shocked if Brookhollow and Semmes weren't in the Top 5, let alone the Top 10.

Wendy Davis is going to UTSA tomorrow, so it'll be interesting to see if there is an uptick in their numbers. 

Our 2014 Ballot Choices for Bexar County

Voting starts tomorrow, so who will we be voting for?

U.S. Senate: David Alameel (D)
U.S. Rep, District 20: Joaquin Castro (D) (essentially unopposed)
U.S. Rep, District 21: Anyone But Lamar
U.S. Rep, District 23: Pete Gallego (D)
U.S. Rep, District 28: Henry Cuellar (D) (essentially unopposed)

Governor: Wendy Davis (D)
Lt. Gov: Leticia Van de Putte (D)
Attorney General: Sam Houston (D)
Comptroller: Mike Collier (D)
Land Commissioner: John Cook (D)
Agriculture Commissioner: Jim Hogan (D)
Railroad Commissioner: Steve Brown (D)
Chief Justice, Supreme Court: William Moody (D)
Supreme Court, Place 6: Lawrence Meyers (D)
Supreme Court, Place 7: Gina Benavides (D)
Supreme Court, Place 8: RS Roberto Koelsch (LIB)
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3: John Granberg (D)
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4: Quanah Parker (LIB)
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9: William Strange (LIB)
SBOE, District 3: Marisa Perez (D)
Senate District 25: Daniel Boone (D)
State Rep, District 116: Trey Martinez Fischer (D) (unopposed)
State Rep, District 117: Philip Cortez (D)
State Rep, District 118: Joe Farias (D) (unopposed)
State Rep, District 119: Roland Gutierrez (D) (unopposed)
State Rep, District 120: Ruth Jones McClendon (D) (essentially unopposed)
State Rep, District 121: Jeff Carruthers (LIB)
State Rep, District 122: James Holland (LIB)
State Rep, District 123: Mike Villarreal (D) (essentially unopposed)
State Rep, District 124: Jose Menendez (D) (unopposed)
State Rep, District 125: Justin Rodriguez (D) (essentially unopposed)

Chief Justice, 4th Court of Appeals: Irene Rios (D)
45th District Court: John Bustamante (D)
144th District Court: Paul Vasquez (D)
150th District Court: Edna Elizondo (D)
186th District Court: Mary Green (D)
187th District Court: Stephanie Boyd (D)
224th District Court: NO VOTE
225th District Court: Peter Sakai (D)
226th District Court: NO VOTE
227th District Court: Tony Jimenez (D)
285th District Court: Raymond Villareal (D)
288th District Court: NO VOTE
289th District Court: Carmen Kelsey (D)
290th District Court: Jennifer Pena (D)
436th District Court: Eddie Bravenec (D)
437th District Court: NO VOTE

District Attorney: Nico LaHood (D)
County Judge: Nelson Wolff (D)

County Court 1: Al Alonso (D)
County Court 2: Jeanette Burney Sullivan (D)
County Court 3: David Rodriguez (D)
County Court 4: Alfredo Ximenez (D)
County Court 5: Brenda Levenstein (D)
County Court 6: Rochelle Acevedo (D)
County Court 7: Michael De Leon (D)
County Court 8: Liza Rodriguez (D)
County Court 9: Carlos Quezada (D)
County Court 10: Tina Torres (D)
County Court 11: Carlo Key (D)
County Court 12: NO VOTE
County Court 13: Rosie Gonzalez (D)
County Court 14: Ernest Acevedo (D)
County Court 15: Michael LaHood (D)

Probate Court 1: Barbie Scharf-Zeldes (D)
Probate Court 2: NO VOTE
District Clerk: NO VOTE
County Clerk: Suzanne de Leon (D)

County Commissioner, Pct. 2: Paul Elizondo (D) (essentially unopposed)
County Commissioner, Pct. 4: Tommy Calvert (D)

JP, Pct. 1, Place 1: Bobby Tejeda (D) (unopposed)
JP, Pct. 1, Place 2: Ciro Rodriguez (D) (unopposed)
JP, Pct. 3, Place 1: NO VOTE
JP, Pct. 3, Place 2: Jason Pipoly (LIB)
JP, Pct. 4, Place 1: Roger Lopez (D) (unopposed)
JP, Pct. 4, Place 2: Yolanda Uresti (D) (unopposed)

For those NO VOTE races...

224th District Court: The Democratic nominee Lauro Bustamante is an embarrassment of a candidate and the poster child for bringing back smoke-filled rooms to nominate candidates. He was replaced as a candidate in 2008 and should be barred from ever running and winning elective office.  We will not vote for the Republican, so we're skipping this race.

226th District Court: By all accounts Sid Harle is a good Republican judge that a lot of Democrats like.  He was rumored to have been contemplating a primary challenge to D.A. Susan Reed.  Once again though, we're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

288th District Court: While we were inclined to vote for the Democrat, new information about his student loan debt has caused us to withhold our vote.  Like Sid Harle, Sol Casseb seems to be a Republican that a lot of Democrats like. But once again though, we're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

437th District Court: We're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

County Court 12: We have been inclined to vote for the Democrat given his previous service to Bexar County, but after hearing from friends, we don't believe he has the judicial temperament needed.  We're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

Probate Court 2: We didn't vote for Rickhoff when he was opposed by a Democrat.  He's unopposed, but we're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

District Clerk: Once again we a Democratic candidate who is a poster child for bringing back smoke-filled rooms.  There was a far and away better choice in the primary.  We're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

JP, Pct. 3, Place 1: We're not voting for a Republican, so we're skipping this race.

For those (LIB) races...

Supreme Court Place 8, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 4 & 9: We've already said we're not voting for a Republican.  If the Libertarians can achieve 5% of the vote in a statewide race, they automatically get to be on the ballot at the next election.  Libertarians seem to take more votes from Republicans, so we feel it's good to keep their place on the ballot.

District 121 & 122: Straus and Larson are going to win, but at least we register a protest vote.

JP, Pct 3, Place 2: Wentworth is going to win and unfortunately for Texas he's no longer in the Legislature.  Again he's a Republican who you can do business with when an election is over. But we'll go ahead and register a protest vote.

Other notes...

Agriculture Commissioner: Again, we have a poster child for smoke-filled rooms.  Hogan is an embarrassment of a candidate, but at the very least he's a protest vote and he helps Democrats get a good idea of their baseline vote with even terrible candidates.

New Bexar County Judges

The Express-News has coverage from the swearing-in ceremonies that took place today for our new judges.

The Bexar County website as already been updated.  And who says government isn't efficient?

Even the 4th Court of Appeals website has been updated to reflect the electoral changes.

Who Wants to be Pct. 3 JP?

Under nearly everyone's radar, Bexar County is playing host to its own version of American Idol.  In place of contestants singing their way into contention, we have politicos vying to be the last one standing in the game of Who Wants to be Pct. 3 JP?

Instead of the crusty and irascible Simon Cowell we have Commissioner Kevin Wolff.  Standing in for Randy Jackson, pre-gastric bypass, we have Commissioner Paul Elizondo; for Randy Jackson, post-gastric bypass, we have County Judge Nelson Wolff.  Rather than Paula Abdul, we have Commissioners Chico Rodriguez and Tommy Adkisson.

Who will they pick?

Democrats have a 4-1 majority on the court...but the vacancy comes in Precinct 3 which is heavily Republican and is mostly Kevin Wolff's area.  Will the Democrats pick a Democrat for the sake of adding another Democratic official...even though said official is likely going to lose (if they run for election) next time the seat is up?  Will Democrats defer to Kevin?  Will Democrats pick a Republican placeholder?  Or how about a Republican who won't seek higher office?

Ooooo the intrigue...

Who are the contestants?