County Commissioner Dianne Edmondson
Did you get yet another political mailer this week? Didn’t we just have at least three elections since March 1? Are all those yard signs ever going away? Are you confused and even frustrated with all the elections that seem to come at the same time with lots of mailers, phone calls, and candidate events? Have you wondered why we can’t just have them all at once?
Here’s why consolidating all the elections won’t work: State law allows only two dates for non-primary elections each year, the first Saturday in May for non-partisan municipal and school board elections (plus, for the first time, three public members of the Central Appraisal District). These dates are uniform throughout the state. The second date is in November, the first Tuesday after the first Monday, and is for the General Election including U.S. President, U.S. Senators, statewide elected officials such as state judges, state legislative races (both State Senate and State Representatives) and county level races such as County Commissioners, Sheriff, Constables, Tax Assessor-Collector, etc. To be on the General Election ballot, candidates are selected through Party Primaries in March every even-numbered year, and if no candidate has a majority of the votes cast, then a runoff is held a few weeks later. That runoff election for our State Representative is the one that we will be voting in beginning on Monday, May 20, and running through Friday, May 24, for Early Voting. The Election Day itself is just after the Memorial Day weekend, Tuesday, May 28.
To further complicate these elections, most of them are staggered. For instance, the state’s Governor and Lt. Governor are both four-year terms but run on alternate cycles. County Commissioners and County Judges are also four-year terms, but half the Commissioners are elected in one cycle and the other two in the other cycle.
Our legislative House members (both federal and state) are only two-year terms, so they run virtually every cycle. However, our federal Senators are on a six-year cycle, and state Senators serve four years.
So, the upcoming runoff is for our HD 64 Representative who will serve for two years in our State Legislature. It meets every two years for only 140 days unless called into additional special sessions by the Governor.
There is some confusion about who can vote in runoffs, so let’s clarify. Here in Robson Ranch, the only runoff is for our State Representative HD 64. Any registered voter may vote in this Republican runoff except for voters who voted in the Democratic Primary. In other words, if you were registered to vote by April 20 and did not vote in any primary, or if you voted in the Republican Primary, you may vote in this runoff election.
Early voting will take place beginning on Monday, May 20, through Friday, May 24. The actual Election Day is Tuesday, May 28, immediately following the Memorial Day weekend. Please call me if you still have questions about elections.
We are so fortunate in Robson that we vote right here in our clubhouse for virtually every election that comes our way! Please be sure to take advantage of this convenience. And don’t forget your photo ID!
Contact Commissioner Dianne Edmondson by email at [email protected] or phone her at 972-434-3960. You can also stop by her office in the Southwest Courthouse, 6200 Canyon Falls Drive, Suite 900, Flower Mound.