Election Day is just six days away, and maybe youâre exhausted with the campaign ads for the governorâs or lieutenant governorâs races. Or maybe youâve learned to just tune them out. After all, campaigning seems to start earlier and earlier every election cycle. Weâre all pretty used to how campaigns are run at the national and state levels.
But a new documentary called Tomato Republic digs deeper into a much smaller â and somewhat old-fashioned â campaign: last yearâs race for mayor of Jacksonville, Texas. The town of about 15,000 people about 30 miles south of Tyler saw a rare hotly contested race with a couple of unusual candidates â at least for small-town East Texas.
Jenna Jackson is one of the producers of the film. Sheâs a native of Jacksonville who now lives in Houston, and she tells Houston Mattersâ Michael Hagerty that her friend in Jacksonville told her she really needed to take a closer look at the race. But she was still reluctant.
Listen
Tomato Republic airs tonight at 10 on Houston Public Media TV 8.
Tomato Republic Trailer from P+R Productions on Vimeo.
