With early voting beginning this week, all eyes of Texas will be on the Governor’s race, where incumbent Rick Perry is looking to continue his wave of momentum over Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina to earn the Republican nomination.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is among seven candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, which includes Felix Alvarado, Star Locke, E. Glenn, Farouk Shami, Bill Dear and Alma Aguado.

The vast majority of local races will be decided in the November general election since most of the races in the primaries will be uncontested.

The most notable local race, that for U.S. Rep. – District 10, recently took a tragic turn when candidate Rick Martin died Feb. 3. Martin passed away in his sleep Jan. 28. Martin, an anesthesiologist, lived in Austin with his wife and son.

Martin’s name will still appear on the ballot, along with incumbent Michael McCaul and Joe Petronis. Petronis, who lives in Austin, has been an advocate for “drastically reducing federal spending,” “giving rights back to states” and implementing term limits.

McCaul is currently serving his second term as the District 10 representative. He has been an outspoken proponent for increased border security and family value-based decision making.

The winner of the primary election will go on to face Ted Ankrum in the November election.

District 7 State Senator Dan Patrick is running unopposed in both the March primary and November general election and will return to the Texas Senate for a third term.

In local races for the State House of Representatives, Republicans Allen Fletcher (Dist. 130) and Debbie Riddle (Dist. 150) are each running unopposed, as is Democrat Brad Neal (Dist. 150). Riddle and Neal will square off in November for the spot currently held by Riddle.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is running unopposed in the March primary, but will face a challenger in November, either Gordon Quan or Ahmad Hassan, whoever comes out on top in the Democratic primary next month.

Pct. 4 County Commissioner Jerry Eversole is also running unopposed and will retain his seat for two more years.

Early voting will be held from Feb. 16 to Feb. 26. Polling hours are as follows: Feb. 16 – 26, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Feb. 20,  7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Feb. 21, 1 to 6 p.m.; Feb. 22 – 26, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Early voting in Tomball will be held at the Tomball Public Works Building, 510 B James St.

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