By Joe Reavis
Staff Writer
Early voting in March 1 Presidential Primary elections begins today, Feb. 16, and runs through Feb. 26.
Although the presidential primary races top Democratic and Republican ballots, there are a number of other nominees to be decided for federal, state and county jobs. Plus, each party offers at least one non-binding proposition.
Ballots for both parties also may offer surprises for voters in that some presidential candidates have dropped out of races and other candidates are not familiar. Candidates signed up for the presidential primary in late 2015 and their names are not removed after they have quit the contest.
Appearing on the GOP ballot are presidential hopefuls Lindsey Graham, Chris Christie, John R. Kasich, Carly Fiorini, Ted Cruz, Elizabeth Gray, Rick Santorum, Donald J. Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee.
Seeking the Democratic nomination for president are Keith Judd, Calvis L. Hawes, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, Martin J. O’Malley, Star Locke, Bernie Sanders, Willie L. Wilson and Hillary Clinton.
Depending on where they live in Wylie, voters have a choice in one of three races for U.S. Representative. Seeking the nomination for District 3 are four Republicans, incumbent Sam Johnson, David Cornette, Keith L. Thurgood and John Calvin Slavins, and two Democrats, Michael A. Filak and Adam P. Bell.
Seeking the District 4 nomination to the U.S. House are three Republicans, incumbent John Ratcliff, Ray Hall and Lou Gigliotti, and no Democrats.
Running for District 32 in the U.S. House are five Republicans, incumbent Pete Sessions, Jeff Tokar, Cherie Myint Roughneen, Paul Brown and Russ Ramsland, and no Democrats.
Also contested are Districts 33, 89 and 112 in the Texas House of Representatives. Running for the District 33 nomination are three Republicans, John Keating, Justin Holland and Lorne Liechty, and two Democrats, Cristin Padgett and Karen Jacobs.
On ballots for District 89 are two Republicans, incumbent Jodie Laubenberg and Dalton Lytle, and unopposed on the Democratic side is Denise Hamilton.
Nomination to District 112 is unopposed with incumbent Angie Chen Button in the GOP Primary and Jack Blackshear in the Democratic Primary.
Wylie voters also will be asked to choose nominees for Railroad Commissioner, a number of state Supreme, Appeals and District court spots, District Clerk, Sheriff and Tax Assessor.
The choice for District Clerk is between a pair of Republicans, incumbent Yoon Kim and Lynne Chupp Finley. Candidates for Sheriff and Tax Assessor are unopposed in the primaries.
Republican Primary voters are asked to vote for or against four non-binding propositions.
Proposition 1 asks if Texans should replace the property tax system with an alternative other than an income tax and require voter approval to increase the overall tax burden.
Proposition 2 is to require Texas counties and cities to comply with federal immigration laws, or be penalized by loss of state funds.
Proposition 3 asks if Texas should prohibit governmental entities from collecting dues for labor unions through deductions from public employee paychecks.
Proposition 4 declares that Texas and its citizens should strongly assert 10th Amendment Rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution which states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Voters can cast primary ballots at any Collin County early voting location. For convenience, early voting in Wylie can be completed at Smith Public Library.
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