With early voting complete for the March primary elections, turnout has been light to say the least.
And interestingly, in a shift for traditionally Democratic Bastrop County, the Republicans are thus far turning out in greater numbers than their Democratic counterparts.
“Democrats outnumbered Republicans in 2006, the last primary election cycle with a governor’s race, with 2,753 Democratic voters to 2,110 Republicans,” said Nora Cano, Bastrop County Elections Administration Officer. As early voting wrapped up Friday, 1,612 Republicans had turned out to vote in the primary in comparison to 917 Democrats.
Of course, this year’s highly contested Republican primary for governor is driving a fair share of Republicans to the polls.
Few races are being contested on a local level in this election, but none more closely than the Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace race, which has three Republicans facing off in their party’s primary and the Democratic incumbent facing a challenger for his party’s nomination.

Finance reports
The most contested race in local primaries, and the only one with the possibility of ending up in a runoff, is the Republican primary for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 1. Donna Van Gilder, Vann Pressley and JW Snell are all in the hunt for their party’s nomination. A fourth name will be on the ballot – that of Sue Ann Fruge, but she has withdrawn from the race according to election officials, though she did it too late to have her name removed from the ballot.
In the same race for JP but on the Democratic ticket, incumbent Bill Weddle is being challenged by Dickie Henderson for the party’s nomination.
In politics, it isn’t just about the votes, it’s also about the money that candidates have to spend on signs, advertisements and fundraisers in their efforts to win. The state requires candidates to file periodic campaign finance reports that are open to the public, and the most recent report, covering expenditures from Jan. 22 to Feb. 20, was due Monday, Feb. 22.
In the Republican primary, Van Gilder was the only candidate who met the deadline. She also spent the most over the period, spending just over $5,000.
Snell, who didn’t file his report until Tuesday, spent just shy of $1,900 over the same period. Pressley, who filed his report Thursday, spent $1,209 over the same period.
In the Democratic race, both Weddle and Henderson turned in their reports on time, with Weddle reporting zero campaign expenditures over the previous four weeks and Henderson having spent $995.

Other races
A variety of other state races are on the ballot in both parties, as well as party referendum measures. Sample ballots for your voting precinct can be found online at www.co.bastrop.tx.us/ips/cms/othercountyoffices/electionsadministration.html.
The only other contested county primary races are for the commissioners court.
In Precinct 2, incumbent Clara Beckett is being challenged by Adam Meuth. The winner of this primary will, by default, win the November election because there is no Democratic candidate for the Precinct 2 County Commissioner position.
In Precinct 4, Democratic incumbent Lee Dildy is being challenged by Michael Flowers for the party’s nomination. The winner of that primary will face the winner of the Republican primary during Novemeber’s general election. Vying for the Republican nomination in Precinct 4 are Ron Jay and Rocky Palmquist.

Voting
Election Day is Tuesday, March 2, and unlike early voting, registered voters may only vote at the polling location for their voting precinct.
A complete list of voting locations for Election Day, by precinct, may be found on Page A3. Polling hours on Election Day are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The county has continually been expanding its election Web site, and maps, polling locations and sample ballots and more may be found at www.co.bastrop.tx.us/ips/cms/othercountyoffices/electionsadministration.html.
“We’ve been working hard to make our Web site more user-friendly and offer more information,” said Cano. “It’s a great tool for voter education.”

Results and runoffs
After the polls close on Tuesday at 7 p.m., results will begin coming in for races from across the state. Check out bastropadvertiser.com late Tuesday night to find out unofficial results in the justice of the peace and county commissioners races.
It’s a distinct possibility that there will be a runoff election in places where a candidate fails to secure 50 percent of the vote. If a runoff is required, the election will be held April 13, with early voting April 5-9.