Winona residents go to polls again Tuesday to decide whether spirits can be sold inside the city limits.
The referendum will determine whether to legalize the sale of alcohol for off-premise consumption. A visiting judge in Smith County this summer called for another election, after county officials confirmed that a May election on the matter included seven votes cast by people who didn?t live in the city.
The proposition failed with a 94-94 tie.
Texas Petition Strategies and Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth have pushed for the referendum since 2008. Group treasurer Cindy Martin, a Winona Realtor, said she became involved after learning that liquor store owners in Longview, Kilgore and other areas contributed $35,000 to campaign against the same alcohol sales proposition in May.
Winona is in northeast Smith County less than 10 miles from Gregg County, where alcohol sales are legal.
?It hurts the economics of Gregg County? if off-premise alcohol consumption sales are allowed in Smith or Rusk counties, said Don Talley, a Longview convenience store owner. Talley was treasurer of a political action committee that opposed alcohol sales in Winona.
