Burnt Orange Report

I'm a Kerry Delegate... and very tired.

By Jim Dallas

After 12 hours (before dawn to after dusk) of even-handed clerk-work guarding the purity of the election down in Precinct 115, I was able to rush across town to my home precinct (276) to attend my precinct convention.

It looks like I'll be a Kerry delegate to the Galveston County convention on March 27. I ended up voting for him - largely because I don't vote for people who have stopped asking for votes. So it really came down to Kerry and Kucinich. After a lot of thought, I ended up voting Kerry because I was ready for this whole nomination thing to be over.

The precinct convention was a nail-biter with two votes for Kerry and one vote for Kucinich. Oh, the humanity.

In other Galveston County news, the Republicans kicked out their old county chair and replaced her with Chris Stevens. Texas City attorney and Dean-supporter Patrick Doyle will be in a runoff with Galveston school board president John Ford for County Commissioner Precinct One.

Democratic turnout was about twice Republican turnout county-wide (9600 votes for the Democrats to 4800 for the Republicans). Our Republican counterparts in 115 - a working class minority neighborhood - were very, very lonely, whereas we got about 300 voters.

All the other positions in Galveston were uncontested on the Democratic side. No Democrat will oppose Republican Ron Paul for congress. Rep. Craig Eiland (the representative whose wife got a rather rude visit from state troopers last year -- while she was in the hospital having a baby!) was unopposed, and is looking strong heading into the general election.

Err... it's probably worth noting that at our polling place a lot of people showed up expecting to vote in the mayoral race, which is on May 15 this year in Galveston. So far the mayoral race appears to be largely between city council members Lyda Ann Thomas and Johnny Smecca (although Abdul H. Amin is also running strong), and it's a barn-burner.

Even better, the courts are forcing Galveston city officials to hold a referendum on putting parking meters on the Seawall. The city council had been expecting to simply re-zone the Seawall for parking meters without consulting the voters about amending the city charter, which was a major controversy. Now the idea - which could mean millions of dollars in revenue for beach improvements - is going to be put before the voters. For all the BOR readers who like to park on the Seawall, the May 15 election here in Galveston may affect your next vacation.

It was great seeing the people down in 115 that I knew and meeting new ones that I did not know (the high school that I graduated from - and now work at - is in that precinct.)