Severe weather in Texas is disrupting the state’s primary runoff elections as storms batter the region.
At least three counties in the state are experiencing power outages, damage to polling stations, or delays as severe weather and tornadoes threaten the region. Dallas County, Collin County, and Denton County, all three neighboring counties, are facing problems.
Dallas County’s voting center finder shows an array of green dots, indicating open polling centers, and caution signs, indicating locations that are delayed, some up to 999 minutes, presumably indefinitely. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins issued a disaster declaration after severe weather damaged buildings and resulted in power outages that could last for days.
The state’s primary elections were on March 5, but Texans still have to vote for a few candidates who didn’t receive a majority of the vote in their primaries. The most major race the storms are affecting in the Dallas area is the 32nd Congressional District Republican runoff election.
The race, between former Dallas City Councilman David Blewett and former Arlington City Councilman Darrell Day, is to see who will run for the seat of Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who is running for Senate against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in the general election.
Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson won the majority of her Democratic runoff election and will face either Day or Blewett in November for a seat that’s rated “solid Democratic” by the Cook Political Report.
While all three counties have people voting in that particular race, other state runoff elections will be influenced as well, including state House and Senate elections.
One polling location in Denton County, Prestonwood Baptist Church’s Plano Campus, suffered damage to the structure and power outages — resulting in voters needing to find another voting location. Ben Carson, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, recently visited the church for a guest appearance.
A prior storm caused widespread damage to Valley View, a city located in Cooke County, which is about 70 miles north of Dallas, and killed seven people.
Cooke County Clerk Pam Harrison told the Washington Examiner that the storms don’t appear to be affecting turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson acknowledged the storms, posting, “In the wake of severe weather, our office is in touch with counties in North Texas as they manage today’s runoff election. For info about voting locations, please check with your local county office. We will share more updates as they become available.”
The two most notable runoff elections, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s and Rep. Tony Gonzales’s (R-TX) faceoff against Brandon Herrera, are unaffected, as they are well south of the storms.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) told state residents to be safe and “weather-aware today” because voters will need to take weather into consideration in their trips to the polls, if they can make it at all.