Whether voters in The Woodlands decide to incorporate into a city or not, everyone can breath a sigh of relief once the heated election is finally over Tuesday night. The Texas Citizen Journal forecast model is predicting that the incorporation propositions will fail. We also predict incumbent township board member Bob Milner will handily win re-election.
The incorporation battle has pitted the pro-incorporation majority of The Woodlands Township board, led by Gordy Bunch, against County Commissioner Pct. 3 James Noack and developers like Howard Hughes, who are against becoming a city. Montgomery County’s two tea party groups, the Texas Patriots PAC and the Montgomery County Tea Party PAC both support incorporation, while much of the so-called “establishment” in The Woodlands is against it.
Advocates of incorporation argue it would give The Woodlands greater autonomy and independence from the county, and would also make the community eligible for more federal and state funding. Opponents argue that incorporation that The Woodlands is fine as it is, and that incorporation would only create a new layer of government and increase bureaucracy and taxes.
The general sense from taking to voters in the parking lot during early voting is that incorporation is going to fail, although reportedly the feedback was more favorable towards the pro-incorporation side during the last couple days of early voting. However, since this is an off-year election, overall turnout is expected to be very low, and anything could happen.
The Texas Citizen Journal is confident in predicting that Bob Milner will win re-election to Position 7 on the board. Milner is a non-controversial incumbent who has substantial support in the community. One of his opponents, Luis Granados, is a perennial candidate who has run many times without success. The other, Zipporah Singleton, has a history of voting in the Democrat primary. No matter how low turnout is, it is highly unlikely that The Woodlands would replace a relatively strong incumbent with a Democrat.
Finally, the Texas Citizen Journal predicts that all 8 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution will pass.
Tuesday, November 2, is the last opportunity to vote in this important election. More information on where to vote and what items will appear on your ballot can be found at: elections.mctx.org.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? We want to hear from you! Contact the editor by email at reaganreednews@gmail.com or by phone at 936-777-0743.
Texas Citizen Journal 