by Morgan Montalvo
WOAI News
It’s Midterm Elections Day 2018 and the two major political parties in Bexar County are leaving nothing to chance, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Republican and Democrats alike spent last night working phone banks and finalizing Election Day get-out-the-vote strategies.
Democrat Mike Collier, who hopes to unseat incumbent Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, is in San Antonio today greeting voters at Big Country Elementary School on Pue Road on the far west side, in company with fellow Democrat candidates Joseph Kopser, Steve Kling and Celina Montoya.
Kopser is running for the Dist. 21 Congressional seat long occupied by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith and facing Republican Chip Roy. Montoya and Republican Steve Allison each hope to claim the office held by departing Dist. 121 Representative and Texas House Speaker Joe Strauss.
Kling hopes to unseat Texas Senate Dist. 25 incumbent Donna Campbell. Collier says local Democrats have intently been watching early voting numbers, as well as exit poll n.
“We’ve been watching the data from all of the counties in terms of the turnout numbers, and they’re up,” Collier says. “Texans are engaged. They have a point of view as to what they want out of their political leaders. “They’re coming to the polls. We don’t quite yet know whether they’re coming for Democrats or Republicans – that’s the beauty of democracy,” Collier says.
“The good Democrats in Bexar County have been campaigning very hard, working as a team, elected officials and candidates. We all know each other and we like each other and we’re very passionate about what we’re doing,” Collier adds.
Bexar County Republican Party Spokesman George Rodriguez says after wrapping up phone banking last evening, campaign workers and volunteers will converge on area polling sites for “last-minute efforts to get signs up at the polling places, and to organize the pollsters who are going to be at the polling places to encourage folks as they come in, to pass out leaflets and flyers,”
Rodriguez says early-voter exit polling data he’s seen points toward a GOP cushion against large numbers of Democrats turning out to vote today.
“We feel that that will be the trend and we feel confident that that will carry us to victory,” Says Rodriguez. “
We are expecting a red wave across the nation so, hopefully, we’ll have a lot to celebrate about. We’re very optimistic about it.”
Polling site across Texas close at 7 p.m. and, locally, last-minute voters at some voting sites could be greeted by long lines.