What is the history of DFW Conservative Voters?

Like most good ideas, DFW Conservative Voters grew out of a need for reliable information on candidates running in the March Republican primary.

The primary system can be confusing, because none of the candidates on the ballot has a party label next to his name; they’re all supposed to be Republicans.  Voters who haven’t decided have no clues to a candidate’s political philosophy on the ballot itself.  As election workers, we’ve had voters tell us on their way out the door that they have no idea who they voted for, but they’re proud they did their civic duty!  Often voters cast a ballot by selecting based on the ballot position, a familiar name, or gender.

For voters who try to vote wisely by using the numerous colorful political mailers which flood their mailboxes, the task is overwhelming and confusing.  One candidate sounds great until an opponent’s counter pieces arrives.  How is it possible in little-known races with little press coverage to have any idea who the best candidates really are?

Almost as soon as we began our political involvement in the early 1990’s, family and friends would ask us for our recommendations.  Often they would call us on election day itself, when we were working at the polls and unable to answer the phone.  In 1998, we took a new approach and created our first card, listing our recommendations in each race.  We printed several dozen cards on our home PC and gave them to our friends.  The response was overwhelming.  People we didn’t even know called and asked for cards, and others asked permission to duplicate them. 

The card became so popular that friends asked if they could help financially in printing and distributing our cards.  To comply with election laws, we formed a political action committee (PAC), DFW Conservative Voters.  We wanted our card to be different (and less expensive) than the slick, brightly-colored campaign mail, so we printed our card on pale-green cardstock and mailed it into our local area.  Not only were people asking for our “green card,” we saw voters carrying the card into the voting locations!  We were convinced that the card was meeting a need.

We try to mail to Republican primary voters, depending on the funds available.  We’ve also started this website to make our choices more easily available and to verify our choices when counterfeit green cards are distributed (yes, it has happened!)  We do permit duplication of our cards, provided that NO changes are made.