It’s a non-trivial exercise, but I try to go through the ballot ahead of time and at least take a look at the candidates’ positions via their websites, if available. We’ve got a ton of offices that you don’t hear anything about until election time and I can’t really keep up with all of them, so it helps to refresh my memory just before going to vote.

The following list is based on the Tarrant county “generic” Sample Ballot (PDF), customized for my own districts and leaving out all uncontested races.

• Statewide/National Races
  • United States Senator
    • Kay Bailey Hutchison – R
    • Barbara Ann Radnofsky – D
    • Scott Lanier Jameson – L
  • United States Representative, District 26
    • Michael C. Burgess – R
    • Tim Barnwell – D
    • Rich Haas – L
  • Governor
    • Rick Perry – R
    • Chris Bell – D
    • James Werner – L
    • Carole Keeton Strayhorn – I
    • Richard “Kinky” Friedman – I
  • Lieutenant Governor
    • David Dewhurst – R
    • Maria Luisa Alvarado – D
    • Judy Baker – L
  • Attorney General
    • Greg Abbott – R
    • David Van Os – D
    • Jon Roland – L
  • Comptroller of Public Accounts
    • Susan Combs – R
    • Fred Head – D
    • Mike Burris – L
  • Commissioner of the General Land Office
    • Jerry Patterson – R
    • VaLinda Hathcox – D
    • Michael A. French – L
  • Commissioner of Agriculture
    • Todd Staples – R
    • Hank Gilbert – D
    • Clay Woolam – L
  • Railroad Commissioner
    • Elizabeth Ames Jones – R
    • Dale Henry – D (No Web Site!)
    • Tabitha Serrano – L
  • Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Unexpired Term
    • Wallace Jefferson – R
    • Tom Oxford – L
  • Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2
    • Don Willett – R
    • William E. “Bill” Moody – D
    • Wade Wilson – L
  • Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4
    • David M. Medina – R
    • Jerry Adkins – L
  • Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6
    • Nathan Hecht – R
    • Todd Phillippi – L
  • Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8, Unexpired Term
    • Phil Johnson – R
    • Jay H. Cookingham – L
  • Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals
    • Sharon Keller – R
    • J.R. Molina – D
  • Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 7
    • Barbara Parker Hervey – R
    • Quanah Parker – L
  • Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8
    • Charles Holcomb – R
    • Dave Howard – L
  • State Senator, District 12
    • Jane Nelson – R
    • Dwight B. Fullingim – D
    • Morgan Ware – L
  • State Representative, District 98
    • Vicki Truitt – R
    • Jacob Gregory Glatz – L
  • Family District Judge, 322nd Judicial District
    • Nancy Berger – R
    • Brenda “BC” Cornish – D
• Tarrant County Races / Propositions
  • Criminal District Attorney
    • Tim Curry – R
    • Terri Moore – D
  • County Clerk
    • Suzanne Henderson – R
    • Mary DeSantiago – D
  • Proposition No. 1 (Over sixty-five tax freeze)
• Keller ISD
  • Proposition No. 1 ($132,500,000 in bonds–new schools, equipment replacement, security equipment)
  • Proposition No. 2 ($9,750,000 in bonds–renovation and expansion of Keller ISD school stadium)

My method for finding websites was to enter the candidate’s name in Google and scan the first page for a result. If nothing looked likely (i.e. the candidate has a very common name), I added the title of the office being sought to the query and tried again. For incumbents without a campaign page I linked to their “official” bio, if one was available.