Five Great Reasons to Vote in the Primary

As of the end of early voting more Democrats than Republicans had voted in the primary in the 15 largest counties and that’s unusual. It’s a sign of Democratic voter enthusiasm that follows trends set in special elections across the country over the last 12 months. The Democratic wave that is building across the country has the potential to remake the House of Representatives and the Senate but that won’t happen if Texans don’t get out and vote.

There are important races in this primary which will determine who challenges Republican incumbents like the governor and US Senate. In the U.S. Senate race Texas Democrats have a terrific opportunity with Congressman Beto O’Rourke from El Paso. It’s important to vote in this race because in the past unknowns with no political experience, no support, and no campaign have won primaries against candidates like O’Rourke leaving Democrats with non-viable candidates in November.

A few years after O’Rourke graduated from college he moved back to El Paso and started a small tech company which soon became successful. O’Rourke also became deeply involved in the civic, business and community efforts in El Paso. He ran for El Paso City Council in 2005 and served for two terms before running for U.S. Congress in 2012, taking on an eight-term incumbent and winning. He knocked on thousands of doors and had real conversations, face-to-face, with the voters in El Paso. In Congress, O’Rourke serves on the House Committees for Armed Services and Veterans Affairs.

Mike Collier has been building his campaign for Lt. Governor for nearly 3 years and has developed name recognition across the electorate. Collier is a career accountant who has worked for some of the largest companies in the world and helped build a successful Texas oil company while serving as its Chief Financial Officer. Collier built a reputation for rigorous financial analysis, independent decision-making, and a commitment to telling the truth, no matter what. If we’re going to hold politicians accountable, that’s exactly what Texas needs right now. He hopes to challenge Dan Patrick in November and is one of the statewide candidates that actually stands a chance to win.

Joi Chevalier is running for Comptroller. Chevalier is an entrepeneur whose experience in corporate planning and product development could provide valuable prep for the job of a state comptroller, a position that serves as Texas’ chief financial officer and revenue forecaster. Chevalier has an impressive understanding of the state’s challenges. She’s endorsed by Progress Texas and she speaks regularly on entrepreneurship, food and tech, product management, and the opportunity for women and African-Americans in technology and through food entrepreneurship.

Miguel Suazo is running for Land Commissioner. Suazo is an energy and natural resources attorney with a decade of experience in energy, natural resources, government, and business. When I met Suazo a few weeks ago, he told me he's running for this office because he's incensed at the poor job George P. Bush has done handling of the hurricane recovery efforts along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Steve Kling is running for Senate District 25. He’s a former Army Captain decorated for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq who now works in the tech industry. One of Kling’s top issues is public education and he summarizes his views this way; “Meaningful finance reform only will occur when we reduce the dependence on our local school property taxes, streamline the host of unfunded mandates for teachers and districts, eliminate high-stakes consequences for students and provide support for a well-rounded education for all Texas students.”

You can vote today or Tuesday, make your voice heard.