In the last efforts to gain the democratic nomination for Bexar County judge, Nelson Wolff and his challenger, Tommy Adkisson, spent time with the people they hope to get to the polls to vote in Tuesday's primary. Wolff spent a warm Saturday block walking on the far Southside.
“This is our third street,” Wolff said, walking up to the gate at a home where the owner stopped doing yard work to chat.
“Is this your place?” Wolff asked of Ross Suniga.
“Yes, sir,” Suniga said. “It’s almost three acres.”
In an area just inside South Loop 410 near Palo Alto College, Wolff walks a neighborhood where homes sit on large lots. The incumbent meets with homeowners in their front yards while his campaign workers place signs in the yards where they get the okay.
Wolff spends quite a bit of time with the residents, asking them about their property, how long they’ve lived in the area, their families, and their backgrounds.
“There’s a tradition -- particularly on the Southside -- which is why we’re over here,” Wolff said. “There’s a tradition to vote on election day. So we figured this would be a good spot to work, near Gillette Elementary School.”
Back at Tommy Adkisson’s office on East Southcross, a meal of grilled burgers and hot dogs was prepared for volunteers getting ready for his final push.
“We’re in ‘Rah, Rah’ mode -- deployment, strategic placement, showing up at events, and blockwalking,” Adkisson said. “This morning we did the MS Walk at the AT&T Center, then to the Northeast Democrats where I spoke to them. We went to the Springdale Neighborhood Association Fundraiser off 410 West. Then we just got back from the Bark in the Park, the Perrito Grito.”
In one office, volunteers bundled stacks of Adkisson door hangers for block walkers to place at individual homes. A team of web campaigners sent out social messages, sent emails, and uploaded new photos to Facebook. In a third office, a team of five volunteers manned the phones, calling voters from a list of supporters to remind them of election day, or to ask if they needed a ride to the polls.
Adkisson said constituents tell him personal contact is critical to voters.
“I think they want somebody whose hand they have shaken, whose eyes they have looked into,” Adkisson said. “They want access. People always say, you know, ‘You’re always here.’ Or they’ll tell me the other thing, which is proof positive that we’re connecting. They’ll say, ‘I’ve already voted for you.' "
It’s hard to say what effect the last-push efforts will have on the outcome.
“We figure more than 60 percent have already voted in early voting period,” Wolff said.