After months of campaigning Primary Election Day has arrived. Voters go to the polls in Kleberg County on Tuesday to cast their ballot for federal, state and some hotlycontested local races.

Early voting ended at 5 p.m. Friday. As of presstime about midafternoon Friday, 1,370 Democrats voted early in person and 250 mail ballots had been received for a total of 1,629.

Meanwhile, over on the Republican side of early voting, 250 ballots had been cast in person and 15 mail ballots had been received for a total of 359.

Kleberg County Clerk Leo Alarcon, who oversees the election here, said he expects about the same number of voters in this year’s primary compared to the 2006 primary.

“In the March 2006 election, which had the same races as this year’s, we had a total of 5,607 votes cast and will most likely get the same this year,” he said.

Other political prognosticators are wondering if the often-heated Republican gubernatorial race will affect the number of Republicans here who crossover to the Democratic primary to cast a ballot in local races.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Once votes are tabulated by the county clerk’s office, the Kingsville Record will post them to its website at www.krbn. com.

In the Democratic Primary the candidates are as follows:

Candidates for Governor are Clement E. Green, Bill Dear, Farouk Shami, Felix (Rodriguez) Alvarado, Star Locke, Alma Ludivina Aguado, and Bill White.

For Lieutenant Governor candidates are Linda Chavez- Thompson, Ronnie Earle, and Marc Katz.

For Commissioner of the General Land Office candidates are Hector Uribe and Bill Burton.

For Commissioner of Agriculture candidates are Hank Gilbert and Richard “Kinky” Friedman.

For State Representative District 43 candidates are J.M. Lozano and Tara Rios Ybarra.

At the county level, candidates for Kleberg County Judge are Juan M. Escobar and Pete De La Garza.

District Clerk candidates are Crystal Lomas, Melissa Ruiz Salinas, Jennifer Whittington- Silva, and Lisamarie Erebia.

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 candidates are Andy Gonzalez and Lindsey L. Lewis.

County Commissioner Precinct 2 candidates are Norma Nelda Alvarez, Octavio Xavier “Sonny” Alvarez, and Joe G. Hinojosa.

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 candidates are Mario A. Delgado, Ramon R. Rodriguez, Gus Guerrero, Sylvia Mendietta Cantu, John Edward “Eddie” Moreno, and Carmen Cortez.

County Commissioner Precinct 4 candidates are Faustino Erebia, Jr. and Romeo L. Lomas.

Running unopposed in the Democratic Primary at the federal level is Solomon P. Ortiz for United States Representative District 27.

At the state level unopposed candidates are, Barbara Ann Radnofsky for Attorney General, Jeff Weems for Railroad Commissioner, Jim Sharp for Supreme Court Justice Place 3, Bill Moody for Supreme Court Justice Place 5, Blake Bailey for Supreme Court Justice Place 9, Keith Hampton for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Place 6, Linda Yanez for 13th Court of Appeals District Justice Place 3, and J. Manuel Banales for 105th Judicial District Judge.

At the county level unopposed candidates are, Lupita Mendoza for County Court at Law Judge, Leo Alarcon for County Clerk, Priscilla Alaniz Cantu for County Treasurer, Alfred L. Isassi for County Chairman, Sam Brown for Justice of the Peace Precinct 3, and Cheque De La Paz for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4.

In the Republican Primary the candidates are as follows:

At the federal level candidates for United States Representative- District 27 are Jessica Puente-Bradshaw, James Duerr, William Willie Vaden, and R. Blake Farenthold.

At the state level candidates for State Governor are Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Rick Perry, and Debra Medina.

For Railroad Commissioner candidates are Victor G. Carrillo and David Porter.

For Supreme Court Justice Place 3 candidates are Rick Strange, Rick Green, Debra Lehrmann, Jim Moseley, Jeff Brown, and Rebecca Simmons.

At the county level candidates for Kleberg County Commissioner Precinct 2 are Chuck Schultz and Robert Rabe, Jr.

Running unopposed in the Republican Primary at the state level are, David Dewhurst for Lieutenant Governor, Greg Abbot for Attorney General, Susan Combs for Comptroller of Public Accounts, Jerry Patterson for Commissioner of the General Land Office, Todd Staples for Commissioner of Agriculture, Paul Green for Supreme Court Justice Place 5, Lawrence “Larry” Meyers for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Place 2, Cheryl Johnson for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Place 5, Michael E. Keasler for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Place 6, Greg Perkes for 13th Court of Appeals Justice Place 3,and Angelica Hernandez for 105th Judicial District Judge.

At the county level the unopposed candidate is Connie Cashen for Kleberg County Chairman.

Five propositions will also be listed on the Republican ballot including: Proposition 1-Photo ID. “The Texas legislature should make it a priority to protect the integrity of our election process by enacting legislation that requires voters to provide valid photo identification in order to cast a ballot in any and all elections conducted in the State of Texas.”

Proposition 2-Controlling Government Growth. “Every government body in Texas should be required to limit any annual increase in its budget and spending to the combined increase in population and inflation unless it first gets voter approval to exceed the allowed annual growth or in the case of an official emergency.”

Proposition 3-Cutting Federal Income Taxes. “In addition to aggressively eliminating irresponsible federal spending, Congress should empower all American citizens to stimulate the economy by Congress cutting federal income taxes for all federal taxpayers, rather than spending hundreds of billions of dollars on so-called federal economic stimulus.”

Proposition 4-Public Acknowledgement of God. “The use of the word “God”, prayers, and the Ten Commandments should be allowed at public gatherings and public educational institutions, as well as be permitted on government buildings and property.”

Proposition 5-Sonograms. “The Texas Legislature should enact legislation requiring a sonogram to be performed and shown to each mother about to undergo a medically unnecessary, elective abortion.”

In Bishop, Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Adolfo Contreras is being challenged by Roberto Gutierrez in the Democratic primary and four candidates are seeking the Pct. 2 Commissioner post: Gloria Caceres, Jesse Noyola, Joe Gonzalez, and in the Republican primary, Gil Hernandez.