DALLAS – Activists in both the Democratic and Republican parties gathered across Dallas to watch the results of the Super Tuesday elections last night.
The Dallas GOP met at Christie’s Sports Bar & Deli at 7 p.m.
The Dallas Democratic party convened at several different locations based on the candidate whom the groups supported.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won his own state, followed by Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won Texas with over two-thirds of the votes. Bernie Sanders trailed behind with less than a third of the votes.
Voting started 7 a.m. and ended at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Texas voters, along with 10 other states, filled out ballots for their preferred presidential candidate as well as local officials within the voters’ precincts and districts. Also included on the ballots were pieces of legislation pertaining to the voters’ parties.
Justice David Schenck with Texas’s 5th Court of Appeals was one of the first to arrive at the GOP watch party. He said voter turnout was double compared to the last election cycle in his precincts.
In 2011, Schenck, who was appointed by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry last year, led the defense of the redistricting plan.
Attendees were slow to arrive to the GOP watch party, with only three non-press related viewers in the first 30 minutes.
Those from the Democratic Party who support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) met at the historic Texas Theatre in the Bishop Arts District, also at 7 p.m.
Plano 24-year-old Austin Dreis-Ornelas supported Sanders prior to the announcement of his candidacy.
“Before he was running, I was hoping he was going to run,” Dreis-Ornelas said.
If Sanders does not win the nomination, Dreis-Ornelas said he would not vote for Clinton in the general election on Nov. 8. Rather, he would write in Sanders’ name, or vote for Green Party Nominee Jill Stein.
“I can’t bring myself to vote for Hillary because she is just the same-old same-old,” Dreis-Ornelas said.
The crowd at the Sanders event was just as passionate as Dreis-Ornelas; some booing when Trump came screen and cheering when Sanders was mentioned. But some Texans had another reason to celebrate: Cruz’s win.
Cruz has been senator for Texas since 2013–working alongside fellow Republican and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn.
Despite the support for both Cruz and Sanders in Dallas, NPR reports the winners of the Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries typically go on to win the nomination for their respective parties. If that is the case, Clinton and Trump would be battling it out for the presidential seat.
