Andrews still trying to turn wet

Just two weeks after their most recent defeat, proponents of alcohol sales in Andrews filed an application Tuesday for another election – this time to legalize sales in just part of the county.

Members of Promote Andrews submitted an application Tuesday to hold an election for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 and 4, Andrews County Clerk Kenda Heckler said. The signatures must now be verified.

The application had 12 signatures, two more than the required 10, said Timothy Gannaway, founder of Promote Andrews.

Once the application is approved, supporters of alcohol sales will be responsible for gathering signatures of 35 percent of registered voters in the Nov. 2 election in the precinct in order to get the measure on the May 2011 ballot. Gannaway estimates there to be between 500 and 600 signatures.

“Based on the election results in 2007 and 2010, we felt this was our best bet to get alcohol sales legalized in Andrews County,” he said of going for just part of the county.

Unlike the recent election, alcohol supporters are seeking sales of liquor, beer and wine in both stores and bars for the May ballot, Gannaway said.

In the November election, two propositions failed to win county-wide support. One, which lost by a 2,084 to 2,002 margin, would have legalized the sale of mixed drinks in restaurants. Another measure that would have allowed the sale of beer and wine in convenience and grocery stores for off-premises consumption, lost by a margin of 2,114 to 1,982.

A proposal to allow alcohol sales in Andrews County also failed in May 2007, that time by a margin of 1,839 against and 1,451 for.

Efforts to reach members of Keep Andrews Dry, an organization formed to oppose the sale of alcohol in the county, were unsuccessful Tuesday. But in a Nov. 2 interview, organizer Kevin Bullard predicted that alcohol supporters would “come at it again, and we’ll be ready to combat it again.”