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Archive 2002

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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.



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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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