Candidates running in next year's Republican and Democratic primaries are hoping to win the lottery. But instead of winning millions of dollars, they simply want a good spot on the March 4 primary ballot.
Tuesday, the candidates will draw for their places.
Tuesday is the deadline for the parties to hold a drawing that will determine how the primary ballots will look. In the Democratic drawing, Bexar County primary Director, Diana Arevalo, said they'll have candidates pick ping pong balls from a hat.
"The person with the lowest number will be at the top of the ballot, and the person with the highest number will be at the end of the ballot," she said.
Ballot placement is important. Where a candidate lands is how they'll be seen by voters. And, it's a little like items on the grocery store shelf, said Bexar County Republican Party Primary Administrator Marian Stanko.
"Non-traditional items will go to the front, hoping that you will impulse buy," Stanko said. "It works with voters as well because the perception is that they earned their position as number one [by] either being the incumbent, or being in the right party, or something like that."
For the Republicans, no one will know their exact position until everyone has drawn. Like the Democrats, each candidate will draw a numbered ball, but according to Stanko, there will be one more ball than there are candidates. That way no one knows the order until the end.
State law says the drawing must be completed by the third Tuesday in December on odd-numbered years. It does not regulate how a drawing is conducted.
Republicans will hold their drawing Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Professional Firefighters Association off I-10. Democrats are holding their drawing at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, as stated in their press release, "in honor of our ultimate opponents in November."
