The Austin Chronicle

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-03-03/march-primary-election-coverage-live-blog/

March Primary Election Coverage Live Blog

By News Staff, March 3, 2020, 6:53pm, Newsdesk

It's one of the most momentous elections in Texas history. Who will claim the state's big juicy bag of Democratic presidential delegates? Who will emerge to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in November? Who will show up at the polls after record early voting? Who will fail to show up because they're afraid of the coronavirus?

So many questions, as Travis County voters flock to more than 150 vote centers and – in this heavily Democratic territory – a number of current and aspiring local officials await their fate. The Chronicle News Team is out in the field and on social media; we'll keep you informed right here throughout the day and night.

Final update: 10:50pm:

Travis County Election Day voting results are starting to trickle in, but it’ll be a while yet before final counts are tallied. We’re closing up shop for the night. Want to track the returns yourself? Joint primary results are accessible here. We’ll be back at it online tomorrow and in our print issue, on stands Thursday.

Update: 10:34pm:

Update: 10:21pm:

Update: 10:13pm:

Update: 10:09pm:

Austin Sanders reports from the field:

The County Attorney race is headed to a May runoff between Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza and Assistant County Attorney Laurie Eiserloh. Both candidates are running on progressive platforms advocating for criminal justice reforms, but Eiserloh has more than two decades of experience in the CA office, while Garza has spent significantly less time practicing law, although she points to her time on City Council where she has implemented progressive policy.

So, we’ve got an insider vs. outsider race, and another dynamic at play was reflected in the watch parties for the two candidates. Garza’s crowd was younger and included more Latinx supporters; Eiserloh’s crowd was older and whiter. That demographic split could help Eiserloh, because the base of her support is more likely to vote in a May runoff.

But Garza said she would continue to work her base to get them back to the polls in May, even if a presidential contest isn’t on the ballot. It looks like the Senate race is going to a runoff, too, and there could be a wildcard special election to replace Kirk Watson in SD14 – both of which could help bring voters to the polls.

Update: 10:05pm:

Update: 9:59pm:

So far, MJ Hegar has held onto a comfortable lead in the race for U.S. Senate; the race now looks to be who’s going to the runoff with her.

Update: 9:41pm:

Update: 9:35pm:

With 12% of polling locations reporting, the statewide numbers in the Democratic presidential race are still too close for any candidate to claim the W. Bernie Sanders currently has the edge with 27.6% of the vote and Joe Biden close behind at 24.8%

Update: 9:23pm:

Update: 9:19pm:

Update: 9:10pm:

Update: 8:55pm:

Wondering how the primary is playing out in other parts of the state? You can track the election returns as they roll in at the Texas Secretary of State’s Elections Division website.

Update: 8:50pm:

No surprise here: Ballot propositions in both parties’ primaries are looking like they’ll pass resoundingly. These propositions are meant to inform party platforms, and boy, are they a study in contrasts.

Here’s what Dem voters are saying yes to in what it’s calling a Texas Bill of Rights:

#1 Right to Healthcare
#2 Right to a 21st Century Public Education
#3 Right to Clean Air, Safe Water, and a Responsible Climate Policy
#4 Right to Economic Security
#5 Right to Dignity & Respect

#6 Right to Be Free from Violence
#7 Right to Housing
#8 Right to Vote
#9 Right to a Fair Criminal Justice System
#10 Immigrant Rights

And here are the 10 ballot propositions – what Republicans are more modestly calling an “opinion poll” and “not a policy referendum” – that Republican voters are emphatically saying yes to:

1.) Texas should not restrict or prohibit prayer in public schools. 
2.) Texas should reject restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.
3.) Texas should ban the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, which allows your tax dollars to be spent on lobbyists who work against the taxpayer.
4.) Texas should support the construction of a physical barrier and use existing defense-grade surveillance equipment along the entire southern border of Texas.
5.) Texas parents or legal guardians of public school children under the age of 18 should be the sole decision makers for all their children’s healthcare decisions including, but not limited to, psychological assessment and treatment, contraception, and sex education.
6.) Texas should ban chemical castration, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and genital mutilation surgery on all minor children for transition purposes, given that Texas children as young as three (3) are being transitioned from their biological sex to the opposite sex.
7.) Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments, artifacts, and buildings, such as the Alamo Cenotaph and our beloved Alamo, and should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site.
8.) Texas election officials should heed the directives of the Office of the Governor to purge illegal voters from the voter rolls and verify that each new registered voter is a U.S. Citizen.
9.) Bail in Texas should be based only on a person’s danger to society and risk of flight, not that person’s ability to pay.
10.) Texas should limit our state legislators’ terms to 12 years.

Update: 8:40pm:

And News Editor Mike Clark-Madison, who's at the Progress Texas party at Scholz Garten, reports on the activities of SBOE candidate/GOP black sheep Robert Morrow:

Update: 8:27pm:

Update: 8:10pm:

Update: 8:08pm:

With 20% of Texas counties reporting, and 108 of 5,212 polling locations reporting, the Secretary of State puts Bernie Sanders (36,325 votes, 28.67%) in the lead currently to take the Texas Dems’ nod for president, followed by Joe Biden (27,599 votes, 21.79%), Michael Bloomberg (24,181 votes, 19.09%), and Elizabeth Warren (15,606 votes, 11.88%).

Update: 7:58pm:

Our reporters have been tweeting out early voting results for various Democratic primary races in Travis County. Looking for the full list? We’ve got them here.

Update: 7:50pm:

Update: 7:38pm:

Update: 7:35pm:

Update: 7:27pm:

Update: 7:13pm:

Update: 7:10pm:

Polls closed at 7pm, but if you’re in line, you’ll still be able to vote. A quick scan of the Travis County Clerk Office’s Wait Time Map shows some voting locations – including City Hall – clocking 90 minute projected times in line still.

Update: 6:57pm:

Update: Tuesday, March 3, 6:53pm:

Super Tuesday in Travis County got off to a rocky start after some poll workers were late-cancels or no-shows, what Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir described to Chronicle staff writer Austin Sanders as a “pretty serious, but short and controlled, disruption of the election this morning.” More poll workers were deployed, and Travis County is on track for more record-breaking voter turnout. We’ll be back with early voting numbers when they’re released.

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