What’s Ron Simmons Up To?

Ron Simmons, the Republican House member who represents District 65, wrote an editorial for the San Antonio Express-News that appeared in Sunday’s paper. Here is an excerpt:

Straight-party-ticket voting allows voters to check one box and have the entire ballot completed for them. As a result, the voter casts a ballot for a party’s entire slate of candidates. This election was a textbook lesson in why “convenience” voting does not always produce the best results up and down the ballot.

For this reason, I believe Texas should join 41 [sic] other states in eliminating straight-ticket voting. The Founding Fathers’ concept of the self-governance of our nation relied on entrusting voting rights to an educated (not just informed) electorate. When the campaign becomes about personalities and parties, the need to research and be educated on the platforms, records and issues of each candidate is obscured or overlooked entirely.

For example, I wonder how many straight-party voters on the Democratic side knew that not only were they casting a ballot for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but also for my opponent, who has run for office four times under three different party banners including as a write-in candidate for vice president under the Socialist Party in 2012? I seriously doubt that the vast majority of Democrats in House District 65 are socialist. I am sure examples on the other side of the political aisle could be cited as well.

The fact of the matter is too often voters focus on top-of-the-ballot races with little regard for the policies of local candidates, who almost always have a much bigger impact on their day-to-day lives. Removing “one box” voting will also require all candidates to get out their message and their goals if elected. It prevents them from hiding behind a party banner that may or may not reflect their personal views or policies.

So, according to Simmons, “convenience” voting affects results, and apparently requires less knowledge to vote than casting a vote in each contest that is on the ballot. Simmons notes that it would prevent candidates “…from hiding behind a party banner that may or may not reflect their personal views or policies.” 

Here’s the issue. Partisanship is now a very important component of a person’s identity. Being a member of a political party says something about who a person is, what views he or she holds, and what policies he or she supports. Voters can express this identity in an election by casting a straight-ticket vote.

In Texas, nearly two-thirds of the state’s voters cast a straight-ticket vote. The straight-ticket vote was almost evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats in 2016. The straight-ticket vote reflects the partisan divide in Texas.

What representative Simmons is really concerned about is the narrowness of his electoral victory against an opponent who was largely unknown and poorly financed. 

In 2012, Simmons won with 59.14 percent of the vote. It was his initial election to the Texas House of Representatives. In 2014, he won with 64.32 percent of the vote. In 2016, however, he won with only 56.26 percent of the vote against the same opponent that he had faced in 2014, Democrat Alex Mendoza.

So, how did Mendoza do so much better in 2016? It was the straight-ticket vote, as Table 1 demonstrates:

Table 1: Straight-ticket Vote vs. Swing Vote in House District 65

District 65 Precincts	Rep % Straight-ticket Vote	Dem % Straight-ticket Vote	Rep % Swing Vote	Dem % Swing Vote
2000	28.58%	71.42%	39.72%	60.28%
2001	30.38%	69.62%	41.11%	58.89%
2002	37.04%	62.96%	48.62%	51.38%
2003	45.84%	54.16%	54.63%	45.37%
2004	45.78%	54.22%	52.98%	47.02%
2005	62.43%	37.57%	65.20%	34.80%
2006	56.91%	43.09%	64.97%	35.03%
2007	39.67%	60.33%	52.48%	47.52%
2008	48.21%	51.79%	58.91%	41.09%
2009	58.85%	41.15%	61.86%	38.14%
2010	58.08%	41.92%	63.90%	36.10%
2011	53.69%	46.31%	56.03%	43.97%
2012	77.94%	22.06%	73.71%	26.29%
2013	64.81%	35.19%	64.81%	35.19%
2014	64.17%	35.83%	69.40%	30.60%
2015	59.08%	40.92%	61.94%	38.06%
2016	54.37%	45.63%	59.97%	40.03%
2017	64.22%	35.78%	71.58%	28.42%
2033	43.31%	56.69%	56.72%	43.28%
3004	77.92%	22.08%	75.78%	24.22%
3005	80.00%	20.00%	75.83%	24.17%
3006	66.51%	33.49%	65.53%	34.47%
3007	54.88%	45.12%	59.98%	40.02%
3008	67.44%	32.56%	68.21%	31.79%
3009	63.03%	36.97%	69.77%	30.23%
3017	31.80%	68.20%	45.45%	54.55%
3018	52.45%	47.55%	59.38%	40.63%
3019	45.08%	54.92%	55.32%	44.68%
3020	40.98%	59.02%	48.28%	51.72%
3021	56.90%	43.10%	62.63%	37.37%
3022	71.28%	28.72%	62.26%	37.74%
3023	59.36%	40.64%	71.83%	28.17%
3032	33.28%	66.72%	48.75%	51.25%
3099	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
AVERAGE	53.81%	46.19%	61.19%	38.81%

Comparing the straight-ticket vote percentage won by Simmons to the total vote percentage that he won, Simmons was down 2.45 percent. However, comparing the percentage of the swing vote won by Simmons to the total vote percentage, Simmons was up 4.93 percent. The problem, however, was that the straight-ticket vote made up 66.87 percent of the total votes cast for representative in House District 65, and the swing vote made up only 33.13 percent. Consequently, although Simmons won a majority of both the straight-ticket vote and the swing vote, the straight-ticket vote was a more important component of the total than was the swing vote.

What Simmons probably fears is a future Democratic Party opponent in the district who is better financed and will win the straight-ticket vote on the coattails of a popular Democratic Party candidate at the top of the ticket. Overcoming a large advantage in the straight-ticket vote will be difficult, given the contribution of the straight-ticket vote to the total vote.

Simmons probably assumes, correctly I believe, that voters seek a shortcut to cast a vote in down-ballot contests. If the straight-ticket option is not available, eliminating that shortcut, voters will use another available shortcut—incumbency. The “incumbency effect” is probably what gave Simmons such an advantage among swing voters. In addition, Simmons raised and spent much more than Mendoza did, raising Simmons’ identification among the voters.

So, back to the original question, what’s Simmons up to? He’s trying to ensure that he can stay in office until he’s ready to leave the Texas House. Eliminating straight-ticket voting is a step toward that goal.