Seven already in contest for state Sen. Wendy Davis' seat
Voters will have plenty of choices when they head to the polls in 2014.
"There is definitely a lot of interest from candidates," said Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn. "We'll see how much interest there is from voters when early voting by mail starts this month."
From the top of the March 4 primary ballot races for governor and U.S. senator on down, candidates are vying for open seats and are challenging incumbents, particularly as the Democratic Party is re-energizing itself in the hope of turning Texas more blue, Raborn said.
Raborn said all the countywide offices are held by Republicans, "but we have a good number of Democrats on the ballot this year, although not in every race."
Legislature, Congress
A key primary race in Tarrant County is for the Texas Senate District 10 seat being vacated by Democrat Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, who is running for governor against Attorney General Greg Abbott.
The seat has been a battleground for both parties since Davis unseated Republican incumbent Kim Brimer in 2008.
Seven candidates—two Democrats and five Republicans—are running for the position, which represents part of Colleyville. Democratic candidates are Mike Martinez and Libby Willis of Fort Worth. Republican candidates are Tony Pompa of Arlington, Mark Shelton of Fort Worth and Konni Burton, Jon Schweitzer and Mark Skinner of Colleyville.
In District 9 in November, state Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-Fort Worth, of North Richland Hills faces Democrat Gregory R. Perry, also of North Richland Hills. That district includes parts of Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake.
Also in November, U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Irving, a Republican, faces Democrat Patrick McGehearty for the District 24 seat.
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville has primary challenges from fellow Republicans Joel A. Krause and Divenchy Watrous for the District 26 seat. Both Marchant's and Burgess' districts encompass Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake and Westlake.
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake is unopposed.
New ID law
Texas' new voter identification law was first tested in November's constitutional amendment election, but the March primary should be a better indicator of whether voters are prepared for the change, Raborn said.
"We will have a lot more people voting in a primary than we did in November," he said. "They will have to show a photo ID or cast a provisional ballot."
Raborn said voters won't have to cast a provisional ballot if the name on their ID card does not exactly match their voter registration card as long as the name is reasonably similar, he said.
Besides the primary and Nov. 4 general election, voters will elect new city council and school board members May 10. Other races including district attorney and justice of the peace will be on that ballot.
