Heading to the polls in 2018: ‘The elections are going to be a wild rodeo’ | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Keep your voter registration cards handy next year because you’ll have plenty of chances to vote.

There’s a March primary for the November general election and a local election in May.

Why it’s important

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The March primary and November general election could have a lot to say about how President Trump finishes his first term as president.

“This may be the most consequential midterm election for both parties since Texas was a purple state in the 1990s,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “The elections are going to be a wild rodeo, the most dramatic non-presidential in years.

“People in both parties are agitated and hungry for a win.”

Considering what’s at stake, voter turnout should be better than in previous years.

In 2014 — a mid-term election — 4.6 million Texas voters cast ballots in the November general election, compared with 8.9 million who voted in the November 2016 presidential election.

“The party primaries will tell us how tribal the parties have become,” Rottinghaus said. “If candidates at the ideological extremes win, it will tell us that political polarization of the national parties has taken root in Texas. If moderates win, it will tell us Texas bucked national polarized trends and remains right of center.

“The political fate of Texas is in the balance.”

Key dates

March 6: Primary races for some of the hottest elections in Tarrant County and the state, including battles for the U.S. Senate, the 6th Congressional District represented for decades by the retiring U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, Senate District 10 and Tarrant County Tax-Assessor Collector.

May 5: Local voters can weigh in on a $399.5 million bond package in Fort Worth, city council posts in cities such as Arlington and Mansfield and school board races in districts stretching from Birdville to Everman to Kennedale.

But in the Fort Worth school district, where board members have been criticized for tinkering with an ethics policy, no seats are up in 2018.

May 22: Runoffs for any unsettled March primary matchups.

Nov. 6: General election in which voters will make their final picks in races ranging from Congress to Tarrant County judge.

Before voting

▪ Make sure you are registered to vote by the Feb. 5 deadline.

▪ Pick a party and plan to vote in that primary. Both Republican and Democratic primary elections are held March 6.

▪ Have your voter registration card and a photo ID ready when you head to the polls.