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<\/p>\nABILENE, Texas \u2014 Party loyalty, faith, the economy and border security helped shape the choices of three Abilene voters who spoke with KTXS about how they cast their ballots.<\/p>\n
Two said they voted for Republicans throughout the ballot. A third declined to name a candidate he supported but described the issues driving his decisions.<\/p>\n
Larry, whose last name was not confirmed, said he voted for Republican candidates because he wants the country to continue moving in its current direction.<\/p>\n
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Early voters in Abilene weigh economy, party loyalty in key Texas races (KTXS\/Joe Fry)<\/p>\n
\u201cI voted for everybody that was red on the ballot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Larry described himself as a supporter of President Donald Trump and cited border security, military strength and world peace as priorities. He said the steady stream of campaign advertising had not changed his choices.<\/p>\n
\u201cAds, period, turn me off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jeanette Johnson also said she voted for Republicans, with her Christian faith helping guide her decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they were Republicans, I voted for them,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
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Early voters in Abilene weigh economy, party loyalty in key Texas races (KTXS\/Joe Fry)<\/p>\n
Johnson said she wants to know what candidates believe and how they have voted in previous offices. She uses a voter guide compiled by a member of her church to help research candidates and said the guide includes sources voters can review themselves.<\/p>\n
She expressed skepticism about campaign messages from both sides.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very skeptical. I just don\u2019t believe them, no matter which side they come from,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
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Early voters in Abilene weigh economy, party loyalty in key Texas races (KTXS\/Joe Fry)<\/p>\n
Kyle McAllister did not identify which candidates received his vote. He said his priorities include a stronger economy, fiscal responsibility and secure borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m voting for a better economy, a stronger nation,\u201d McAllister said.<\/p>\n
He said immigration and border security can coexist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you can have immigration and secure borders at the same time,\u201d he said. \u201cSecuring borders doesn\u2019t mean you close them all down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Early voters in Abilene weigh economy, party loyalty in key Texas races (KTXS\/Joe Fry)<\/p>\n
McAllister, who said he previously served on City Council, said he tries to evaluate candidates beyond their party affiliations. He looks for people who can manage government finances and treat others with respect.<\/p>\n
He also said political disagreements have become too personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt used to be that if I disagree with you, you disagree with me, OK, fine, we disagree,\u201d McAllister said. \u201cBut now when people disagree, they all of a sudden put you in a camp with everybody they hate, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite differing opinions, he said voters share an interest in improving the country for future generations.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Early voters in Abilene weigh economy, party loyalty in key Texas races (KTXS\/Joe Fry)<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wish that we could just say, \u2018OK, we disagree. Fine,\u2019 but shake hands and still be civil to each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABILENE, Texas \u2014 Party loyalty, faith, the economy and border security helped shape the choices of three Abilene…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-481427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}