3. Campaigns and Elections
Chapter 5

4. Political Campaigns Conducting Campaigns in the 21st Century
Character/political style vs. issues
Importance of the media
Independent candidate
Sound bite
Mudslide campaigns
independent candidate: A candidate who runs in a general election without party endorsement or selection.
sound bite: A brief statement of a candidate’s theme communicated by radio or television in a few seconds.
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5. Political Campaigns Campaign Reform Eliminating negative campaigning
Increasing free media access
Smartphone apps
Social media now used by most candidates
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6. Political Campaigns Campaign Finance
Record spending in 2002 Texas gubernatorial campaign
$95 million spent
PACs
Texas Ethics Commission
political action committee (PAC): An organizational device used by corporations, labor unions, and other organizations to raise money for campaign contributions.
Texas Ethics Commission A state agency that enforces state standards for lobbyists and public officials, including
registration of lobbyists and reporting of political campaign contributions.
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7. Political Campaigns Campaign Finance (cont.) Federal and state laws
Campaign Reform Act
Soft money/hard money
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
McCutcheon v. FEC
Dark money
Learning Check 5.1
1. True or False: Most Texas voters learn about candidates through newspaper editorials.
2. Which state commission requires financial disclosure from public officials?
Campaign Reform Act: Enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed by
President George W. Bush in 2002, this law restricts donations of ‘‘soft money’’ and ‘‘hard money’’ for election campaigns, but its effect has been limited by federal court decisions. soft money
Unregulated political: donations made to national political parties or independent expenditures on behalf of a candidate.
hard money: Campaign money donated directly to candidates or political parties and restricted in amount by federal law.
Independent expenditures: Expenditures that pay for political campaign communications that expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a clearly identified candidate but are not given to, or made at the request of, the candidate’s campaign.
super PAC: Independent expenditure–only committees that may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, nonprofit organizations, and individuals.
Learning Check
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8. Racial and Ethnic Politics
Latinos
LULAC and La Raza
Major impact beginning in 1960s-‘70s
New strategies and leaders in 1980s
Latino nominees to attract Latino voters
Issue oriented (not party-oriented)
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9. Racial and Ethnic Politics
African Americans
African Americans not in statewide offices until 1990s
Identify with Democratic Party
In 2014, no African Americans were candidates for statewide office
Learning Check 5.2
1. Which party have Latinos traditionally supported?
2. True or False: In 2014, no African Americans were holding statewide elected office.
Learning Check
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10. Women in Politics Until 1990, only four women in statewide office
Notable Texas women in office:
Governor “Ma” Ferguson
Governor Ann Richards
Mayor Annise Parker (Houston)
1990s—female mayors in 150 cities
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Learning Check 5.3
1. True or False: Women candidates received the most votes for a single office in several elections early in the 21st century.
2. By 2015, how many women had served as governor of Texas?
Learning Check
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11. Voting Obstacles to Voting Universal suffrage not until 1960s
Literacy tests
Grandfather clause
Poll tax
All-white primaries
Racial gerrymandering
Diluting minority votes
universal suffrage: Voting is open for virtually all persons 18 years of age or older.
Voter registration: a qualified voter must register with the county voting registrar, who compiles lists of qualified voters residing in each voting precinct.
Literacy tests: although not used in Texas as a prerequisite for voter registration, the test was designed and administered in ways intended to prevent African Americans and Latinos from voting.
Grandfather clause: although not used in Texas, the law exempted people from educational, property, or tax requirements for voting if they were qualified to vote before 1867 or were descendants of such persons.
poll tax: A tax levied in Texas from 1902 until a similar Virginia tax was declared unconstitutional in 1962; failure to pay the annual tax (usually $1.75) made a citizen ineligible to vote in party primaries or in
special and general elections.
white primary; A nominating system designed to prevent African Americans and some Latinos from participating in Democratic primaries from 1923 to 1944.
gerrymandering: Drawing the boundaries of a district designed to affect representation of a political party or group in a legislative chamber, city council, commissioners court, or other representative body.
Affirmative racial gerrymandering: drawing the boundaries of a district designed to favor representation by a member of a historical minority group (e.g., African Americans) in a legislative chamber, city council, commissioners court, or other representative body.
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12. Voting Democratization of the Ballot Federal voting rights legislation
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Texas voter ID law
Motor voter law
Two trends in suffrage
Steadily expanding
Movement toward uniformity in all states
motor-voter law: Legislation requiring certain government offices (e.g., motor vehicle licensing agencies) to offer voter registration applications to clients.
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13. Voting
Voter Turnout
In Texas, turnout higher in presidential election years
But lower than national average
14% of residents ineligible (citizenship status)
Voting eligible vs. voting age population
Education factor in voting
voter turnout: The percentage of the voting-age population casting ballots in an election.
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14. Voting Voter Turnout Factors influencing voting Voter fatigue
Psychological factors
Costs (time, money, experience, etc.)
Cultural and socioeconomic factors
Education, income, gender, age
Ethnic/racial factors
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15. Voting Administering Elections State responsibility
Texas Election Code
Qualifications for voting
Citizen of U.S.
18+ years old
Resident for 30+ days
Resident of area covered by election
Registered 30 days before election
Not felon or mentally incompetent
Texas Election Code: The body of state law concerning parties, primaries, and elections.
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16. Voting Administering Elections Voting early Voting precincts
Election officials → election judge
Voting systems
Paper ballot, optical scan and touch screen
Learning Check 5.4
Identify four traditional obstacles used in Texas to limit people’s right to vote.
True or False: The only people who can vote early are those who will be away from their regular polling place on Election Day.
voting precinct: The basic geographic area for conducting primaries and elections; Texas is divided into more than 8,500 voting precincts.
elections administrator : Person appointed to supervise voter registration and voting.
Learning Check
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17. Primary, General, and Special Elections
Primaries
Development of direct primaries
Closed
Open
Top-two or jungle
Texas primaries
Crossover voting
Texas Election Code requires declaring party
Primary: a preliminary election conducted within the party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent general election.
General election: held in November of even-numbered years to elect county and state officials from among candidates nominated in primaries or (for small parties) in nominating conventions.)
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18. Primary, General, and Special Elections
Primaries
Development of Direct Primaries
Direct primary
Runoff primary
Closed primary
Open primary
Jungle primary
Direct primary: a nominating system that allows voters to participate directly in the selection of candidates to public office.
Runoff primary: Held after the first primary to allow party members to choose a candidate from the first primary’s top two vote-getters.
Closed primary: a primary in which voters must declare their support for a party before they are permitted to participate in the selection of its candidates.
Open primary: a primary in which voters are not required to declare party identification.
Jungle primary: a nominating process in which voters indicate their preferences by using a single ballot on which are printed the names and respective party labels of all persons seeking nomination. A candidate who receives more than 50 percent or more of the vote is elected; otherwise, a runoff between the top two candidate must be held.
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19. Primary, General, and Special Elections
Primaries
Texas Primaries
2014 elections primaries
Republican primaries in 246 counties
Democratic primaries in 231 counties
Crossover voting
Voters must declare party affiliation
Crossover voting: a practice whereby a person participates in the primary of one party, then votes for one or more candidates of another party in the general election.
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20. Primary, General, and Special Elections
Primaries
Administering primaries
Texas: party executive committee
Financing primaries
Filing fees and state
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21. Primary, General, and Special Elections
General: first Tuesday in November
Off-year: Texas governor and other statewide office holders
Special elections
Learning Check 5.5
1. True or False: Political parties are responsible for conducting primary elections.
2. On which day are general elections held?
off-year or midterm election: A general election held in the even-numbered year following a presidential election.
special election: An election called by the governor to fill a vacancy (e.g., U.S. congressional or state legislative office) or to vote on a proposed state constitutional amendment or local bond issue.
Learning Check
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