In 13 days the Lone Star State will hold elections for Governor, Lt. Governor, US House and Senate, State House and Senate, Local School Boards and one statewide Referendum. While the majority of voters will cast their ballots on Nov. 4, a significant number of voters will exercise their franchise in early voting or by mail in ballot.
With the departure of four-term Republican Governor Rick Perry, the longest serving executive in the history of the state, and the unprecedented landslide defeat of three-term sitting Lt. Governor David Dewhurst in the primaries, Republicans and Democrats were handed a rare opportunity to reshape the Executive power structure in Austin. With stakes higher than ever across the board, both parties have poured huge sums into voter turnout, and a key to those efforts has been to encourage early voting.
Traditionally, Democrats have held the edge on early voting but this year Republicans have made a concerted effort in Texas to catch up and as a result the number of early voters across the state is expected to be higher than other years. While the net result for both sides remains to be seen, Battleground Texas, built on the legendary Obama For America turnout machine, has had a huge impact on GOTV across the state.
As part of that effort, I have been engaged in calling registered Democratic voters in my area through the Battleground Texas virtual phonebank, powered by the Texas Democratic Party's comprehensive Voter Activation Network (VAN). Join me beneath the fancy Longhorns for a story about why all the effort we put into GOTV matters.