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Voter Turnout In Local Elections Is 'Abysmally Low' In Dallas And Fort Worth, Study Finds

Christopher Connelly
/
KERA News
Dallas had the worst voter turnout of 6.14 percent in the last mayoral election. Fort Worth came in second with 6.48 percent voter turnout.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Texas cities lag in voting for mayor; an update on The Bushes; H-E-B and Whataburger have teamed up; and more.

Dallas and Fort Worth had the worst voter turnouts among 50 U.S. cities compared by their most recent mayoral elections in the study "Who Votes For Mayor?" from Portland State University. Dallas had the lowest turnout of any city surveyed — 6.14 percent of eligible voters showed up in its last mayoral election. Fort Worth came in second with 6.48 percent. For comparison, in Portland, nearly 60 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in their last local election.

Older citizens were the ones to show up at the polls. In Dallas, the median voter age was 62; in Fort Worth, 66, according to the study. In Dallas, turnout among those age 65 and up was 17.7 percent compared to 1.7 percent among voters ages 18-34. The median age of the adult population in Dallas is 40.8. In Fort Worth, over a quarter of the voters were 65 and older, and just 1.1 percent were younger than 35. The average age of a Fort Worthian eligible to vote is 41.4. Read more analysis from The Texas Tribune. [Who Votes For Mayor]

  • George H.W. Bush is on the mend after a bout with pneumonia. The 92-year-old former president Monday was moved from intensive care at Houston Methodist Hospital, where he’s been undergoing treatment since Jan. 14. His wife, Barbara Bush, 91, has been released from the same hospital after a battle with bronchitis. She was admitted Wednesday after experiencing fatigue and coughing. She could have left the hospital Sunday, but she opted to stay one more night to be with her husband. The Bushes have been married for more than seven decades — the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. [KERA News]

  • A Texas twofer: Whataburger and H-E-B are joining forces for good. H-E-B opened a convenience store in Hutto, Texas on Monday with a 24-hour Whataburger drive-through, GuideLive reports. Both San Antonio-based companies, the grocery store and hamburger joint have a history together. “Since 2013, H-E-B has stocked an assortment of Whataburger-branded products, including ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, honey butter, pork sausage and Whatafries.” The closest H-E-Bs in North Texas are in Waxahachie, Burleson, Ennis and Granbury. There are no H-E-B stores in Dallas or Fort Worth, but there are plenty of Whataburgers. [GuideLive]

  • Arapaho Heights in Richardson will be the metroplex’s “hottest” neighborhood in 2017, national real estate brokerage Redfin. The predictions in the brokerage’s report are based on recent page views and favorites on Redfin.com. The average home price in Arapaho Heights currently goes for $277,400, according to Redfin. And on average, homes are on the market for 31 days. Redfin real estate agentKaren Nesbit credited Arapaho Heights with having many homes built in the popular mid-century modern style, being located in and around Dallas’ prosperous suburbs, especially Plano and for having highly rated schools in this area. [Redfin]

  • Lawmaking in Texas is pretty complicated. What do you want to know about it? The 2017 Texas Legislative session is underway. State legislators meet every other year for 140 days in a frenzy of debating, deal-making, stand-taking, bill-killing and, occasionally, law-making. KERA and public radio stations across Texas want to know what you want to know about the Legislature: how it works, why it works the way it does and what you want lawmakers to do. We want your voice to be heard as we cover the state Capitol, so send us your questions! Use this form to ask your question. [Texas Station Collaborative]

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