In case you haven’t noticed, an election is quickly approaching. A very important election. The outcome will impact your finances and freedoms whether you participate or not.
Only Texans will be on your ballot. Not the President. Not the Vice-President. Only Texans….and a few TINOs. Your vote (or absence) may determine the outcome in several races that are expected to be very close.
Although the races for United States Senate, Texas Governor, and Lt. Governor attract the most attention in this election, every race affects you. Especially those very important but lower profile offices at the bottom of your ballot. These often-overlooked local offices set your property tax rates and the resulting property taxes you pay:
- ACC Board of Trustees – 3 places contested
- Leander ISD Board of Trustees – 4 places contested
- County Commissioner
- County Judge
Critical judicial races are also on your ballot:
- Justice of the Peace
- County Court at Law – Court at Law 1 is contested
- Third Court of Appeals – 4 places contested
- Court of Criminal Appeals – 2 places contested
- Texas Supreme Court – 3 places contested
Other races for other legislative and executive offices that tend to get lost in the noise include:
- County Clerk
- County Treasurer
- State Representative
- State Senate
- Texas Railroad Commissioner
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Texas Attorney General
- Texas Commissioner of Agriculture
- Texas Commissioner of the General Land Office
- United States Congress
With so many races, how will you avoid defaulting to a mental coin toss? How will you determine which candidates align with your values and are worthy of your vote?
Due to the length of the ballot, the majority of voters typically vote straight party rather than make race-by-race selections. However, this will be the final election for straight party voting in Texas. Beginning in 2020, you will be required to mark your ballot for each partisan race on your ballot. The benefit is that this should encourage you to research each candidate and vote for those whose values, character, competency and policy positions most align with your criteria. This will also further reduce the likelihood of less-than-desirable, down-ballot candidates riding the coattails of top-of-the ballot candidates based on party affiliation.
Now is the time to expand your resources and tools for conducting candidate analysis. The first day of Early voting is Monday, October 22. Over the coming days, LeanderLookout will be analyzing candidates in select races and providing links, source documents and recommendations that will assist you in your research. Resources may include:
- Candidate campaign finance reports
- Personal voting records
- Incumbent officeholder performance/votes
- Candidate’s past contributions to PACs, entities, other candidates
- Publicly available court records
- Candidate websites
- Links to candidate websites and social media posts
- Endorsements
- Responses to questionnaires
- Political activity
- Links to press releases and debates
To receive notifications of candidate research updates, visit the Contact page on LeanderLookout.
What difference will you choose to make this November?
Transparency:
LeanderLookout favors candidates in whom there is a higher degree of confidence the candidate is committed to protecting human life at all stages and the freedom of the individual to exercise personal responsibility.
Copyright © 2018 Don Stroud