Texas Had the Worst Voter Turnout in the Country, and the Rain in Dallas Didn't Help

To be fair, Texas also had the worst candidates. 

Congratulations for you massive wins you trendsetting DO commenters.

I don’t think we Dems could have had a better candidate than Wendy Davis so Progressive’s were behind her 100 percent.I fully agree that the numbers are clear that Texas will not be turning any color but a bright red in the future, if ever.I am sincerely hoping for a Republican President so at least the country can move forward is some direction.I look to you guys as Texas trendsetters.With the help of Joe Tone you guys turned this reddish-blue blog a bright red, so I would love to hear what it is you issues to you find important and what goals you would like these new Texas leaders obtain.

How far to the right would you guys like to see Texas go?Do certain rights need to be taken away and just no more added?No immigration at all or send more people back?No gay marriage or yes to mandatory gay therapy?No food stamps for anyone or food banks for all?I am not sure the availability of abortion can be cut back any more but if it can, would you like a zero tolerance?Do you think we need more input for our religious leaders in on the decision making process of laws and legislation?  What are your number one or primary issues that you want some immediate change?

Don’t let your dislike for me influence your thoughts as there are a few of us really curious and I can’t think of a better group to ask.I promise to write something later where you can all piss all over me.

After 3 agonizing terms of Rick Perry, we with brains in this state know it's futile to waste our time trying to counteract the votes of all the morons here who always vote for Republicans!

I'm just waiting for the extremist from both side to attribute the 5% drop to either poor people without ID or dead people prevented from voting.  However, the reality is even at a 37% high in 2010, over 60% don't give a shit.

That's truly, epically, depressing.

Let's see. Texas (and Dallas County) does the following:
- Mail-in ballots for those that need them.

- 2 weeks of early voting that includes weekend days and a long list of locations you can go to to vote. It doesn't even matter which one you go to, as long as it is in your county.

We make it incredibly easy to vote, and people still do not vote. I believe that it really does depend on the candidates and how contested the races are. Let's face it, in most of the big races on the ballot (Governor and the rest) the polling showed that it was foregone conclusion of who would win. Without sticking a gun to people's head, you just aren't going to see a large voter turnout in that kind of race.

Personally, I voted a week before the election. It was easy. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. I was also there to vote on the state and local propositions. I voted in the rest of the races. But, it was more of a vote against particular candidates than it was vote for any of them.

The lack of organization at the polls didn't help either.  At Sanger Elementary in Forest Hills, I had to wait almost an hour.  They only had eight voting stations and lines that crossed each other between wait to check in and wait to vote.  It looked like they were in need of a traffic engineer. The poll worker also had a very remedial grasp of the alphabet as well.  He could find my name. so I had to point it out in the book upside down. 

My point is, how many people decided not to wait?

We're blaming this on Michael Morris too, right?

I wonder how much the South Dalllas preachers got paid for NOT creating a coordinated effort to "get out the vote" for their membership in the early voting period, much less Election Day?

Gee, imagine that - your side decides not to vote, for the most part, and you end up getting people you don't like elected.

In this cycle at least, Dems were all talk-talk, with very little walk-walk to show for it.

Maybe next time.

Well let's see... in Dallas, you can elect all you want, but an appointee with no accountability except to his pals makes all the decisions, and the elected council asks no questions, because that would jeopardize their sweetheart deals.

In Dallas County, the picture is little different. The ruling body is a race baiting cesspool of inaction, with shady deals floating around.

At state level, the job creation miracle is mostly store clerks, construction, and landscapers, with business reaping the benefits of illegal immigration, while maintaing a phony moralistic opposition to reform, when it's just pocketbook motivation. The goverment is a craven whore to poisoners of the air and water.

But the scheme at the federal level is just the absolute epitome of what Jefferson and Madison envisioned.

So, that's why off year elections suffer lower turnout.

Maybe if Dallas County didn't get rid of the "I Voted" stickers... 

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz Maybe Alabama Democrats are smarter than Wendy Davis?  Did she not seriously know she was being set up to be the Democrat not elected this time?  Losing a high profile race (severely) is a career killer.

@JackJett

Don't be so dramatically splashing red paint -- or any straight-ticket party color -- on all of us, Jack.

Seeing your phrase "could (not) have had a better candidate" reminds me that I said the very same thing about Bill White's gubernatorial bid. He was a very effective Houston mayor, so he had great management experience; he was pro-business, so he had the financial cred; he's white and bald and even has an All-American name, so as not to scare the folks in East Texas; yet he still lost. 

Since Wendy couldn't thrill Dems to the polls, and since White couldn't get enough cross-over/middle-ground voters, then yeah, Republicans are in place for the foreseeable future. 

@puppybone691

Thanks for showing up! We wondered where you were on election day! 

@huntersteve28

There is that one 18-year-old VA state rep, that's a little brightening. Sigh.

@Tim.Covington Drove to elementary school, got great parking, walked right up to the table, got my ballot, and had no line at all.  I love rainy election days.

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz 

HOPE->NOPE

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz 

re:  "What the hell is wrong with people in this state? "

The same thing that's wrong with voters everywhere else - Ignorance and apathy. Ask a few friends and neighbors if they know what a County Judge or County Commissioner is.  Ask them to explain what a bond issue is. 

The more optimistic you are about their level of understanding, the more disappointed you will be.

@wcvemail @huntersteve28 Well, not until we see what she can really do.

@Myrna.Minkoff-Katz @doublecheese Courage doesn't have anything to do with it.  She didn't have a chance, and the party bosses knew it.

Yep, as with the Amish and other groups who don't participate for religious reasons. The U.S. provides that right, at least implicitly. We've had an Amish population influx, apparently.

@Becci1 @wcvemail @huntersteve28

Don't even know her platform, but I'm trying to keep it positive here, Downer Debby :-) 

OTOH, if this is just a cynical ploy on her part to get her own teevee reality show, I'll move down to your end of the bar and stare morosely into my beer, too. 

@holmantx @TheRuddSki Do they make rooms big enough to hold the two at the same time?