Texas gubernatorial candidates encourage voters to cast ballots early

By Anna M. Tinsley

atinsley@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — Texas’ gubernatorial candidates hit the road Monday, urging voters to head to the polls and lock in their votes for the Nov. 4 ballot sooner rather than later.

Democratic nominee Wendy Davis cast her own ballot early Monday in Fort Worth — on the first day of early voting — telling supporters she was “so excited to have finally arrived at this day” before she headed to Beaumont for a block walk with her volunteers.

Republican nominee and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott spent the afternoon traveling to Nacogdoches, Beaumont and other communities launching his own get-out-the-vote tour as his wife, Cecilia, visited phone banks in Fort Worth and Dallas.

The battle between Davis and Abbott to become the state’s 48th governor has become heated and costly as they each hope to replace Rick Perry in leading the state. Libertarian Kathie Glass and Green Party candidate Brandon Parmer also are on the ballot.

In this race, Davis is the underdog in a long-shot bid for governor against Abbott, who started and is ending the race with more name recognition and campaign money than Davis.

“If our voters show up and vote, we will win,” Davis, the Democratic state senator from Fort Worth, told a crowd gathered to cheer her on Monday morning. “There’s no question about that.

“I want everyone to understand how important their voice at the ballot box is going to be.”

Abbott, who plans to early vote Thursday, also took his message to the voters Monday.

“Our campaign is making unprecedented efforts to get out the vote in every corner of Texas, from traditional phone banks and block walks across the state to deploying innovative tactics to reach voters online,” Abbott’s spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said in a statement.

The candidates’ message of voting early must have been working.

By late Monday afternoon, more than 10,800 voters had cast ballots — surpassing the first day of early voting tally of 9,773 in 2010, according to Tarrant County election records.

Early voting runs through Oct. 31. Election officials are encouraging voters to take their time and look at sample ballots online before heading out to vote.

Voting in Fort Worth

Early Monday as nearby roosters crowed, Davis rallied with more than 50 supporters — including state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, Justice of the Peace Sergio De Leon and Senate Districtg 10 candidate Libby Willis — outside the Charles Griffin Sub-Courthouse.

She blew kisses to some and hugged others as U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, told the crowd that “these next two weeks of early voting are so crucial.”

And she smiled as Tarrant County Commissioner Roy C. Brooks told the crowd that Monday was a great day to vote and a “great day to make a change for the future of the state of Texas.”

“I am so excited to have finally arrived at this day … when Texans across this state will cast their vote for the future of Texas,” Davis told the crowd. “Texas will go down two starkly different paths depending on the outcome of this election.

“We will either elect someone who will fight every day for hardworking Texans or someone who has shown time and time again that he’s an insider looking out for other insiders.”

Republican rebuttal

Abbott’s campaign sent out a statement Monday saying that Davis didn’t vote in the election earlier this year to fill her former District 9 City Council seat.

“Apparently union rallies and fundraisers were more important to Sen. Davis than the democratic process,” said Matt Hirsch, Abbott’s communications director. “As Sen. Davis tours the state urging Texans to get out and vote, she’s once again asking Texans to do what she says, not what she does.”

In the afternoon, Cecilia Abbott — bringing several dozen cookies — joined more than a dozen local volunteers at the Tarrant County Republican headquarters. The volunteers were making calls from the phone bank there, encouraging local residents to vote.

They especially encouraged residents to vote early and for the entire slate of Republican candidates.

While at the phone bank, Cecilia Abbott met not just volunteers, but also one of the volunteer’s pet, named Dottie Cipolla.

Abbott loved Dottie, said Rosey Cipolla, 47, of Fort Worth, her owner. “She said thanks for bringing her.

“It was awesome to meet her,” she said. “She’s very genuine and warm.”

Voter ID

Despite multiple recent court rulings on the state’s voter ID law, Texas voters will need to bring their photo ID cards with them to the polls to vote in this election.

Acceptable IDs include a driver’s license, a state-issued personal ID card, concealed handgun license, military ID card, citizenship certificate with photo, and a passport. Any license that’s expired must not be expired for more than 60 days.

Anyone who doesn’t have an acceptable ID may get a free election identification certificate at a driver’s license office.

After voting, Davis told reporters that she again had to sign an affidavit stating that she is the person registered to vote because the name on her driver’s license and voter registration card are slightly different. “It’s easy,” she said.

But she encouraged Texans to vote early and said that if they have any problems or questions about voter ID, they can go to Davis’ website, or call the Texas Voter Protection Hotline, 844-898-6837 (844-TXVOTES).

“Come and vote early,” Davis said. “That way, if you do encounter any obstacles, you can get them cleared up by Election Day.”

Veasey, who joined the Justice Department in the voter ID lawsuit, predicted that the Supreme Court ruling allowing the law to be used again would impact turnout among minorities.

“I am concerned there are going to be people who will be discouraged and not show up at all,” Veasey said. “I think it puts communities of color at a disadvantage.”

Anyone who shows up at the polls to vote without a photo ID will be given a chance to go home and bring the ID back.

Those who don’t may cast provisional ballots. But to make sure those votes are counted, they’ll have to take a valid photo ID to the elections office within six days of the election. Otherwise the ballot will not be counted.

This report contains material from The Associated Press.

Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610 Twitter: @annatinsley

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