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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
County vote turnout moderate despite local races
By ROSIE FLORES
and
JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writers
PECOS, Wed., Nov. 6, 2002 -- After a slow start, turnout was moderate for
Tuesday's general election, and Reeves County voters were greeted with
no surprises, since all the local races were uncontested after voters
made their decisions during the spring Democratic primary elections.
However, county voters found themselves going against the trend in the
statewide election races, as Republicans swept all state positions while
Democrats took the majority of votes in Reeves County in those same races.
A total of 2,580 people cast ballots on Tuesday and in early voting for
the general election, one third of the 7,601 voters registered in Reeves
County. That's down about 30 percent from the March Democratic primary, when
just over 3,400 ballots were cast.
In the local county-wide elections, Reeves County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo
received 1,877 votes; County Court At-Law Judge Walter M. Holcombe received
2,048 votes; Reeves County District Clerk Pat Tarin, 2,059; Reeves County
Clerk Dianne Florez, 2,062; and County Treasurer Linda Clark, 2,150.
The only local race that did not have an official candidate on the March
ballot was for Reeves County Surveyor. But in a write-in vote, Frank Spencer
was selected for the spot with only 20 votes. It's a position Spencer has
held in the past.
In the precinct elections, Norman Hill won for Reeves County Commissioner
Precinct 2 with 569 votes; Gilberto "Hivi" Rayos took the Commissioner Precinct
4 race with 469 votes; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Amonario Ramon won
with 506 votes; Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 Jim Riley had 542 votes;
Justice of the Peace Precinct 3, Rosendo Carrasco won with 415 votes; Justice
of the Peace, Precinct 4 Lamberto T. Herrera won with 517 votes and in the
constable races, Jerry C. Matta won the unexpired term in Precinct 2 with
470 votes.
Countywide, voters approved with Proposed Constitutional Amendment to
allow counties to eliminate unfilled constable positions by a 660-238 vote
margin. Statewide, voters also approved the amendment by a nearly 4-to-1
margin.
That was the only statewide vote where Reeves County cast ballots on the
winning side. Locally, in the race for United States Senator, Republican
John Cornyn received 827 votes to 1,538 for Democrat Ron Kirk, while Cornyn
won statewide by a 55-43 margin. Libertarian Scott Lanier Jameson had 21
votes and Green Party candidate Roy H. Williams, 29 to round out the Senate
voting.
In the race for governor, Democrat Tony Sanchez won by over a 2-to-1 margin
in Reeves County, but lost statewide by 58 percent to 40 percent to Republican
Rick Perry. He had 782 votes to 1,716 for Sanchez, while Libertarian Jeff
Daiell had 18 votes and Green Party candidate had Rahul Mahajan 5 votes.
There were also two write-in votes, one apiece for Elaine Henderson and Bill
O'Neill.
The lieutenant governor's race was the closest statewide, with Republican
David Dewhurst defeating Democrat John Sharp by a 52-46 percent margin. In
Reeves County, Sharp polled over 1,000 more votes than Dewhurst, getting
1,730 to Dewhurst's 649. Libertarian Mark David Gessner had 24 votes, as
did the Green Party's Nathalie Paravicini.
In the other local totals for the state races, for Attorney General: Republican
Greg Abbott had 782 votes to Democrat Kirk Watson's 1,514, with 46 for Libertarian
Jon Roland and 29 for David Keith Cobb of the Green Party. For Comptroller
of Public Accounts, Republican incumbent Carole Keeton Rylander had 951 votes
to Marty Akins' 1,284, with Libertarian Bowie Ibarra getting 65 votes and
Green Party candidate Ruben L. Reyes 130. For Commissioner of the General
Land Office, Republican Jerry Patterson got 698 votes to Democrat David Bernsen's
1,381, with Libertarian Barbara A. Hernandez picking up 266 votes and Michael
B. McInerney of the Green Party 13; For Agriculture Commissioner, incumbent
Susan Combs had 891 to 1,426 for Democrat Tom Ramsay. Libertarian Vincent
J. May had 26 votes and Jane Woodward Eliosef of the Green Party got 24,
while for Texas Railroad Commissioner Republican Michael L. Williams had
686 votes to Democrat Sherry Boyles, 1,461, with 199 votes going to Nairite
R. Flores Perez of the Libertarian Party and 30 for the Green Party's Charles
L. Mauch.
Gallego scores easy victory over Nieto for Texas House
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Wed., Nov. 6, 2002 -- Incumbent State representative Pete Gallego
easily won the majority of votes in Reeves and Ward counties on Tuesday,
and cruised to a seventh term in office as well throughout the
74th State Representative District.
Gallego, an Alpine Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Pete Nieto
of Uvalde, picking up 71 percent of all votes cast in the 74th
District race.
Gallego did slightly better than his district-wide average in Reeves County
and slightly worse in Ward County, both of which were added to the 74
th District in last year's legislative redistricting plan. In Reeves
County, Gallego received 76 percent of the votes while Nieto only received
close to 18 percent of the votes, while in Ward County, Gallego received
2,076 votes, or 65 percent, while Nieto received 960 votes, or 35 percent.
In Loving County, the state's least-populated county, Gallego defeated
Nieto by two votes 28-26.
Gallego was slated to take over as chairman of the House Appropriations
Committee if Democrats had maintained control of the House in the Texas Legislature.
However, Republican gains on Tuesday will likely mean the GOP will control
the Texas House for the first time in 132 years, though Democrats could still
end up with some committee chairmanships.
The Gallego-Nieto race was the closest thing to a local contested election
in Reeves County, where all Democratic winners in the March Reeves County
primary and April runoff elections were unopposed on Tuesday. However, there
were contested races in Ward County, including for 143rd District
Clerk, where Patricia Oyerbides defeated Ann Gandy Parker. Oyerbides received
1,979 votes while Parker received 1,271.
Running for County Commissioner Precinct 2 Republican nominee Coy Wall
was defeated by Democratic nominee Kathy Fausett who received 624 and Wall
receiving 365.
Democratic nominee, Eddie Nelms defeated Republican nominee David B. Cutbirth
in the race for County Commissioner, Precinct 4.
Current County Commissioner for Precinct 1, Julian Florez was not up for
re-election this year. Florez' district includes Barstow in western Ward
County.
In the area elections for Loving County, Republican Peter S. Peca, Jr.
defeated Democratic nominee Richard Barajas for Chief Justice, 8th
Court of Appeals District.
Peca received 29 votes while Barajas received 16 votes.
Running uncontested, Donald C. Creager received 46 votes for County Judge
while Beverly Hanson received 55 votes for District and County Clerk.
Other nominees running uncontested were Ann Blair, Jose Renteria, Royce
Creager and Regena Derrick.
Blair received 53 votes for County Treasurer, Renteria received 14 votes
for County Commissioner, Precinct 2, Creager received 15 votes for County
Commissioner Precinct 4, and Derrick received 58 votes for Justice of the
Peace Precincts 1,2,3 and 4.
Balmorhea plans coat 'recycling' for next weekend
PECOS, Wed., Nov. 6, 2002 -- Balmorhea's clothing recycling was a huge
success, according to organizers of the event, who are planning a coat recycling
event next weekend in downtown Balmorhea.
"The 1st Friday" Trade Center will continue to store any and
all clothing and/or coat donations until the next event. Everyone is asked
to clean out their closets of all those unused coats for those who can wear
them.
All donations will be placed on the porch of the Ole' Country Store in
downtown Balmorhea. Anyone may select anything that they want for free.
Coat recycling will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15 and Nov. 16,
at the Ole' Country Store.
Weather
PECOS, Wed., Nov. 6, 2002 -- High Tuesday 68. Low this morning 38. Forecast
for tonight: Clear. Lows 35 to 40. Light and variable winds. Thursday:
Sunny. Highs around 75. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph. Thursday night:
Mostly clear. Lows 40 to 45. Friday: Partly cloudy. Highs 75 to 80.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Lows around 45. Highs around 80.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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