Posted on 06/12/2005 2:52:00 PM PDT by anymouse
The third time was the charm for Jerry Shults, who beat Pat Hallisey for League City mayor by almost 500 votes in Saturday’s runoff election.
“I am extremely pleased,” said Shults, who lost his last bid for the office to Jeff Harrison in 2002. “We had a lot of people working hard to get out the vote.”
The council candidates that Shults campaigned with, Tad Nelson and Mike Barber, also won their individual races.
The three campaigned on a message of conservatism, painting their opponents as liberals aligned with developers and “special interest” groups. All of the candidates, though, were Republicans, or at least had voting records indicating support for the GOP.
Pat Hallisey, who took 46 percent of the mayoral vote, said he was disappointed by the outcome.
“The people of the city have spoken,” he said, adding that he wished Shults luck in the next three years. “I love this town and I want it to prosper.”
Early voting went in the direction of Hallisey, Sanborn and Edelman, but Shults started to take the lead once the election day votes came in. Hallisey said he thought political rancor this past week may have contributed to his poor showing on Election Day.
For Position 1, Nelson also took 54 percent of the vote; Barber took 55 percent of the vote for the Position 2 seat.
Initial vote figures didn’t start coming in until two hours after the polls closed. Dawn Kilgore, public information officer for the city, said mail-in ballots were the culprits.
“The mail-ins just absolutely kept sticking,” she said. “Every other one would stop the machine or get a jam.”
Voters had a healthy showing at the polls over all, with 5,225 either voting early or on election day. During the May general elections, 4,656 cast ballots.
Both camps campaigned all day Saturday outside Ferguson Elementary, the polling location for Precinct 5, the city’s largest voting precinct. As voters approached the school, they were greeted first by Shults and his camp and then by the Hallisey slate, each with arms outstretched for a handshake.
“We try to vote every time there is an election,” said Gloria Pasarell after coming out of the polls with her husband Lester and their 11-year-old daughter Leslie. “It’s my responsibility. If we want to speak up, we have to vote.”
Both refused to say how they had voted, saying they had friends on both sides.
“Any of them will do,” Lester Pasarell said. “They are from here, they have kids who have gone through the system.”
The race had been particularly intense, with partisan politics increasingly playing a role in the campaigns as Election Day approached. In a letter sent to voters that week, Republican County Chairman Chris Stevens endorsed Shults, Nelson and Barber, calling them the most conservative candidates. Some, including Democratic chairman Lloyd Criss, criticized Stevens for his heavy involvement in a local city race.
The race had been particularly intense, with partisan politics increasingly playing a role in the campaigns as Election Day approached. In a letter sent to voters that week, Republican County Chairman Chris Stevens endorsed Shults, Nelson and Barber, calling them the most conservative candidates.
President Bush's coattails keep sweeping in conservative candidates in Galveston County. An agressive Republican grass roots effort doesn't hurt either. ;)
Galveston County FReeper victory ping.
This is a BIG victory for Galveston County.
jarbobayoutimes.com seems to be down. Maybe you got FR.dotted. :)
Your Web Site is no longer on error
URL: http://www.jarbobayoutimes.com
Time: Tue Jun 14 02:41:33 EDT 2005
Total Time on Error: 15 minutes, 11 seconds
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