A political rule of thumb is that while early voting results are important, election-day results are the truest measure of a campaign’s organizational strength. In the 2009 mayoral race, for example, Julián Castro’s team was so confident about its organizational superiority, the thinking was that if Castro emerged from the early voting with anything close to a majority vote, he’d manage to avoid a runoff (which he did).
Some politicos look at the tight Texas District 117 Democratic runoff between former Councilman Phil Cortez and local attorney Tina Torres, and see promising signs for Torres. In a low-turnout primary, Cortez earned a narrow plurality over Torres, finishing with 35 percent, to 34 percent for Torres and 31 percent for former Clinton administration aide Ken Mireles. Torres performed better on election day, however, totaling 615 votes to 570 for Cortez. While the margin is small, it looks significant in the context of the three-candidate primary.
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