The first time I ever reported on a presidential election was here in Far West Texas, in November of 2012, just a couple months after I’d moved to Marfa to start an internship at this very radio station.
It was President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign against Mitt Romney. That was, of course, an extremely different era of politics just a mere 12 years ago.
This was a different era of Marfa Public Radio, too: the station, much like me, was younger, less polished, more freewheeling. Back then, our election coverage meant throwing up the raw result numbers on the website without any fancy narrative copy or New York Times-style interactive live-blog widgets, and hopping on the microphones the second we knew a result to just get the information out there.
Every time we gear up to cover another election - presidential or otherwise - I think back to those early days, in particular because of this only-in-Far-West-Teas type of thing that used to happen: people would actually drive over to the radio station, back their vehicles in and tailgate our live results as they blared out over the outdoor speakers.
If that’s not small-town news reporting, I don’t know what is.
This year, we will also be here for you on election night, all night.
Starting when the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, we’ll be live - on-air and online - with election results coverage from NPR, the Texas Standard and your local Marfa Public Radio newsroom.
As News Director, I view elections coverage as one of the most important and fundamental community service responsibilities we have. We don’t have as robust of a media ecosystem here in rural West Texas as they do in the big cities, so this station is ultimately one of the very few places you can turn to for reliable, accurate, trustworthy news on local election results.
We don’t take that responsibility lightly. We’ve been planning for weeks for this election coverage special - I hope that comes through in our coverage when you tune in.
In the meantime, be sure and check out our West Texas voter guide for a rundown of what local races are on the ballot this year and how to find your polling place.
An interesting thing about local elections in our region is that most of the competitive races are in the Midland and Odessa area - check out our Permian Basin Reporter Mitch Borden’s rundown of some of those key races here and here - but in the Big Bend region, most local candidates are running unopposed, as they already prevailed in primary races earlier this year where only one political party participated.
NPR has also spent a good deal of time recently reporting on just how election night is likely to unfold. In short, it’ll be a lot like 2020 - it’s going to take some time to know the final results. I found this recent NPR video explainer of why that is and what to expect as you follow the results this year extremely helpful - I highly recommend giving it a watch.
Caló
Rollo - In modern Spanish, it means a roll or script. In Caló, it means a scripted line, a practiced narrative of why something happened, or a prepared speech read from a sheet of paper. There’s nothing extemporaneous or self-exposing about a rollo. It’s full of guile and purpose and meant to convince or dissuade.
Caló is a borderland dialect. You can find more episodes here.
Other programming:
This Friday, November 1, tune into Marfa Public Radio for our annual Día de los Muertos special broadcast. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., we'll be airing your song dedications and notes to loved ones who have passed.
We take dedications from everywhere- whether you're in West Texas or somewhere else, we want to honor your loved ones.
If you'd like to share a dedication, call 432-294-5684 and leave a voicemail with your name, your remembrance, and a song request that reminds you of your loved one. Or, you can send in your dedication using our google form here.
High Five
Today is, in fact, Halloween, so here are 5 Halloween songs from local DJ Cody Bjornson's Hallween show last night:
- Trapdoor - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
- Trick or Treat - Chuck Berry
- Dr. Funkenstein - Parliament
- Seventh Son - Mose Allison
- Black Night - Cheryl Thompson
As you celebrate Halloween this evening, score your night with the entire show, which you can find on our Mixcloud.
PSAs
On Tuesday November 5, in celebration of Día de los Muertos, school groups from Fort Stockton Middle School Choir, Presidio's Los Diablitos Azules, and Socorro's Pebble Hills High School Mariachi Los Guerreros will be performing at the Sul Ross University Center.
Each group will be performing up to 5 songs and will be participating in art, music and theater activities, including screen printing. If you'd like to participate in screen printing, feel free to bring an extra blank T-shirt.
The event starts at 12 p.m. and ends at 3 p.m. The performances will start at 2 p.m.
If you have PSAs you want on the air or in this newsletter, head to www.marfapublicradio.org/psa.
Correction: The newsletter version of this article stated that this upcoming election will be "a lot like 2016." The correct statement is that this election will be "a lot like 2020."
