2010 Political Chat

I've decided that red and blue are just patriotic colors and not a statement about political party preference.
On Election Night, the media reporting on the outcomes have taken to labeling Republicans with red and Democrats with blue. That's when we hear about "red states" and "blue states."
But after trolling some campaign Web sites that I ran across in Bj Lewis' story Sunday about the race for the 26th Congressional district, I've decided that the candidates don't necessarily conform.
Democrat Neil Durrance's campaign Web site uses red as its primary color; AND when you visit Republican Michael Burgess' campaign Web site, you see mostly blue.
So much for stereotypes.

Harv Kitchens called to clarify our chart, which showed three people running for two at-large seats in Cross Roads.

He said Becky Porter moved away and that Larry Fisher filed to run for her unexpired term.

That means Tony Russo and Kim Dickey are unopposed in filing for Town Council, as is Ross Schraeder in his bid to replace Kitchens.

Bobby Thompson withdrew from the Place 2 Town Council race yesterday in Hickory Creek.

City Secretary Kelly D'Amato forwarded the signed certificate of withdrawal to our offices about 6:15 p.m.

This leaves Richard Dupree, who came within one vote of being elected mayor in 2006, and Tom Bont racing to replace Richard Baker.

Ponder school district officials said that one additional person filed to run in the Place 7 school board race this May.
Unable to be reached by phone Monday to verify all the candidates who filed for the school board elections, Assistant Superintendent Chance Allen confirmed Tuesday that Scott McCarty, a 47-year-old operations supervisor filed March 5, to contest 43- year-old deputy constable Wayne Bengston, and 38-year-old home builder Cory Anthony in the May 8 race. One of the three candidates will replace trustee Eric Brooks who will serve on the board through May. Brooks, district officials said, was ineligible file for re-election because he's moved out of the district.
Place 6 trustee Chris Lyles, who's served on the board since 2002, is unopposed.

This year, as part of our coverage for area city and school district elections, the Denton Record-Chronicle will ask candidates to complete a personal financial disclosure form as a part of their candidate profile and submit it to us.

Copies of the form are available on the Texas Ethics Commission Web site. We ask that candidates download the form, fill it out, and submit a copy to us by e-mail, fax or mail.

While candidates in cities with fewer than 100,000 people are not required, under Chapter 145 of the Local Government Code, to complete the form with the Texas Ethics Commission, Denton candidates will likely be required to do so after the 2010 census. In addition, we aim to provide voters the kind of information that helps evaluate potential conflicts of interest.

The final deadline to submit completed forms to the Denton Record-Chronicle newsroom is 5 p.m. April 16.

A last-minute filer for Place 4 fleshes out Krugerville's ballot to include candidates as well as a bond election.

A self-employed consultant, C.D. "Chuck" Terwilliger, 63, filed opposite Charles "Chock" Brumley, 72, in his re-election bid.

Mayor Erich Ransleben and Place 2 Council member Dave Hill have no challengers.

Earlier in the day, I thought we'd be profiling a grand total of four municipal elections -- the street elections in Krugerville and Bartonville notwithstanding.

But by the end of the day, many area candidates got their paperwork in, making the races just about as lively as last year. In 2009, ten area cities had races. It's looking like nine will have candidate races this year.

Those cities likely to be canceling their May elections altogether include Argyle, Lake Dallas, Ponder, Pilot Point and Sanger -- but there's still a chance someone might file for a write-in ballot.

That deadline isn't until next Monday.

Longtime Council member Glenn Ervin called it quits in Sanger, citing health reasons.

In his letter of resignation, he cites the city's progress in building parks and recreation, in paying the fire department, and in laying new sidewalks downtown as points of pride.

He also encourages the new mayor to be more communicative than the previous mayor was. Here is the full copy. 3801_001.pdf

Two Denton residents have filed to contest two trustees for their seats on the Denton School Board this May.

Sheryl English, who ran against trustee Curtis Ramsey in a board election last year, has filed to contest Place 3 incumbent Glenna Harris in the May 8 school board race. Former Denton schools trustee Calvin Evans, who on the board from 1995 to 2004, has filed to run against Place 5 incumbent Charles Stafford. Evans also campaigned in 2006 and 2007 to regain a seat on the board.

Place 4 incumbent Mia Price remains unopposed.

Deadline to file for May's school board race is Monday.

So far, in Cross Roads, Copper Canyon, Krum and Hickory Creek, it looks like there will be races.

In Copper Canyon, four are vying for three at-large seats: Daniel L. Christy, Steven Hill, Reid Rossmann, and Dave Svatik. Similarly, in Cross Roads, Kim Dickey, Larry Fisher, Tony Russo and Ross Schraeder are vying for three at-large seats.

In Hickory Creek, Blanche Dillon has challenged Paul Kenney in his re-election bid for Place 4. Bobby Thompson and Tom Bont are vying to replace Richard Baker in Place 3

In Krum, it's Michael Wilkes and Bert Witherspoon vying to replace Joe Beall in Place 3.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. Monday to file for a place on the ballot.

Argyle schools trustee Steve Moore is seeking re-election on the school board. District trustees confirmed that he filed earlier this week to run for one of two at-large seats up for vote May 8.

In addition to Moore, incumbent Brenda Alexander is the only other person who has filed for the May election.

Deadline to file for the May 8 school board election is Monday.

The May 8 race for Place 6 on the Denton City Council got more crowded today with the entry of two candidates.

Jason Bunch, 33, an administrative assistant and UNT student, and Phil Kregel, 25, a buyer's agent for a real estate firm, filed applications for the at-large seat being vacated by Joe Mulroy. They join insurance agent James King, 49, business owner Hatice I. Salih, 51, and Eric Mach, 37, who works in maintenance, as candidates in the race.

Bunch is a newcomer to politics, while Kregel ran unsuccessfully last year as a write-in candidate for a district council seat.

Denton residents have until 5 p.m. Monday to file for two at-large council seats and the mayor's position.

We're still waiting on final election results from Denton County.
Candace Carlisle has heard several reasons for the delay both from Frank Phillips, the elections administrator, and Dianne Edmondson, the Denton County Republican Party chairwoman.
The reasons they've given us: large voter turnout, several new precinct judges, some polling sites ran out of paper ballots and the county has new software.
This is Phillips' first election to run. He said he has learned some things that could be done more efficiently.
He estimated another batch of results should be posted around 11:30 p.m.

State Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, was leading primary challenger Kurt Hyde by a wide margin late Tuesday in her bid for a sixth term in the Texas House.

Crownover was leading with more than 72 percent of the vote in the Republican primary for House District 64 in Denton County, with about 12 percent of precincts reporting.
Crownover isn't facing a Democratic challenger in the November election.

"I have worked in this community, built a business, raised a family, done volunteer work in hundreds of different ways, so I think that's an important part," she said. "The state rep needs to know the community and know the people that they represent."

Crownover, 62, a state legislator since 2000, campaigned on her experience, including her seat on the Appropriations Committee in recent legislative sessions and her work last year helping oversee Texas' share of federal stimulus dollars. She has said she would continue pushing for a smoke-free workplace bill, one of her longtime goals.

Hyde, 64, a database administrator and retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, said his campaign suffered a series of blows, including the loss of a campaign manager early in his run and the apparent disappearance of thousands of campaign mailers--a mystery he said the Denton post office is investigating.

Incumbent J.W. Hand was leading two challengers late Tuesday in the Republican primary for Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace, but a runoff appeared likely.

With nearly 12 percent of precincts reporting, Hand had less than 45 percent of the vote, followed by Scott Smith, 30 percent, and Dave Jahn, 25 percent.

If no one secures more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters would face a runoff election April 13. "I had two worthy opponents, and it looks like now I will only have one," said Hand, 73, of Flower Mound, acknowledging the likelihood of a runoff with Smith.

Smith, 55, a businessman and former Trophy Club mayor, said he is staying positive about his chances. "I certainly would have liked to have more than 30 percent, but I think that if I can get in the runoff I have a very good chance of unseating the incumbent," he said.

Jahn, 41, a felony prosecutor and political newcomer, said he faced an uphill battle against two seasoned politicians. "Having never done it before, lessons learned," he said.

The winner of the primary is likely to take the office in November, since no Democrat is running.

The precinct extends southwest from Denton to the Wise and Tarrant county lines.

Lewisville resident Kimberly McCary is leading three opponents in the Republican primary for County Court at Law No. 1. McCary received nearly 31 percent of the 13,660 votes cast in early voting. Chance Oliver followed with 30 percent, George Mitcham with 26 percent and Christine Ventura with 13 percent. Election day ballots are still being tallied.

Incumbent James DePiazza of The Colony outran his first challenger, fellow Republican Carlos Gallardo, of Frisco, for another term serving as Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2.
Precinct 2 covers the northeastern portion of Denton County, including Frisco, Hackberry, Hebron, Lakewood Village, Little Elm, Oak Point, The Colony and portions of Plano and Lewisville.

DePiazza has no Democratic opponent, but expects, after the Libertarian convention, an opponent in Vincent Venegoni , of The Colony, from that party. He thought the margin from straight-party Republican voters, as well as the support from some local Democrats will help him prevail and win a second term in November.
"I won't get complacent," DePiazza said.

Incumbent Joe Holland leads in the Republican primary for the Precinct 1 justice of the peace seat, according to early voting results. Posted on the Denton County elections Web site, shortly after 7 p.m., Holland led with 66 pecent or 2,357 votes to law enforcement veteran and first-time candidate Jim Bryan's more than 33 percent or 1,206 votes cast early. Results do not include ballots cast today which are still being counted.

Rep. Michael Burgess is winning by a landslide after early voting with more than 86 percent of the vote over James Herford. Looks like Burgess, who has represented the 26th Congressional District since 2002, will face Democrat Neil Durrance in the November election.
In the 158th District Court, Steve Burgess (no relation to the congressman) leads incumbent Jake Collier. Burgess has about 55 percent of the vote and Collier has about 38 percent. David Moraine has a little over 6 percent.
District Attorney Paul Johnson is leading with about 60 percent of the vote.
In the race for County Court at Law No. 1, the juvenile court, Chance Oliver and Kimberly McCary appear they could head into a runoff. McCary has slightly more than 31 percent of the vote and Oliver has a little more than 30 percent.

Incumbent J.W. Hand is leading two opponents in the Republican primary for Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace, based on results from early voting. Hand received nearly 46 percent of the 3,084 votes cast early, followed by Scott Smith, with 29 percent, and Dave Jahn, with nearly 25 percent. The tallies don't include results from today's election, which are still being counted.