Note: This post has been updated since its original publication to correct an error. We overlooked the fact that 2014 Libertarian gubernatorial nominee Kathie Glass also visited all 254 counties during her campaign. We regret the error.
SEN: With a visit to the Historic Santa Fe Train Depot in Gainesville, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) has held at least one campaign event in each of the state’s 254 counties. He is believed to be the first candidate to campaign in every county since Kathie Glass, the 2014 Libertarian nominee for governor, whose achieved the feat in a campaign stop in El Paso Co. John Odam, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for attorney general, also visited all 254 counties during his 1989-1990 primary campaign. Odam lost the Democratic primary to Dan Morales, 54%-46%.
Mission: Former council member Armando O’Caña ousted 20-year incumbent Mayor Beto Salinas, 51%-49%, in Saturday’s runoff election. Former Gus Martinez defeated former council member Julian Gonzalez, 52%-48%, in the race to succeed O’Caña on the council. Turnout in the runoff was 10% higher than in the May general election, in which Salinas fell just 3 votes short of an outright win. Salinas was first elected in 1998.
CD9: Independent candidate Kesha Rogers tweeted that her petition has been certified by the Secretary of State. Rogers, a Lyndon LaRouche enthusiast, is challenging U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Houston) and Libertarian Phil Kurtz. Houston Health Department CFO Benjamin Hernandez is also seeking to run as an independent.
It's official!!! I have met the requirements of the Texas Election Code. "Kesha Rogers, Independent for Congress" will be on the Nov 6th ballot!
— Kesha Rogers (@KeshaRogersTX) June 10, 2018
Rogers lost the 2014 Democratic runoff for U.S. Senate to David Alameel, 72%-28%, after being the Democratic nominee for CD22 in 2010 and 2012. She lost those general elections to U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land), 67%-30% and 64%-32%, respectively. Rogers, who ran on a platform of impeaching President Obama in 2014, has criticized Green for his efforts to impeach President Trump.
Primaries: Five states hold primary elections on Tuesday. Turnout for the Texas primary election (17.0%) currently ranks 17th out of the 21 states that have held primaries so far this year, leading North Carolina (14.4%), Iowa (13.4%), Mississippi (~13%) and New Jersey (10.9%). In 2016, Texas ranked 29th out of the 39 states that held presidential primaries.
One of those states will hold the first-ever statewide election using ranked-choice voting. Maine voters approved the system in a 2016 referendum in an effort to ensure a candidate receives a majority vote without the need for runoff elections. Voters rank as many of the candidates for each office from first to last as they wish. At first, ballots are counted just for voters’ first choices. If no one wins a majority, then the lowest finishing candidate is eliminated, and voters who ranked that candidate first are recounted based on their second choice. The process continues until a candidate receives a majority of all votes cast. A separate referendum about whether to keep the system in place is also on the ballot there.
Meanwhile, North Dakota will hold its primary elections without voter registration, a practice the state abolished in 1951. Localities may require voter registration for their elections, but voters participating in the state’s elections do not have to register first. It is the only state in the nation without a state voter registration requirement.
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