Posts Tagged ‘Texas Senate Race’
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Still waiting for Dewhurst to announce his candidacy. (It would be tempting to write a Waiting for Godot parody with Dewhurst in the Godot role, except I suspect the intersection between Texas political junkies and people who would appreciate a good Samuel Beckett parody would result in a fairly small set.) But there’s still plenty of news on the race:
Shortly after the Ted Cruz jumped in, he started garnering an impressive array of conservative endorsements, but opponent Michael Williams started with the very impressive endorsement of South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and the Senate Conservative Fund. Since then, of course, Williams dropped out of the race. And today, DeMint made things more or less unanimous by endorsing Cruz.
National Journal on how DeMint is a thorn in Dewhurst’s side.
I might be confused, but Tom Leppert’s Q2 fundraising totals are up, and it seems to me that something awful screwy is going on there. Remember, in Q1, Leppert raised $2.6 million, but $1.6 million of that was in the form of a personal loan to his own campaign. Then the Leppert campaign declared that he raised $750,000 in Q2. But you look at his cumulative figures on the FEC page, and his debt is now up to $2.1 million. This would suggest that two-thirds of that $750,000 figure consisted of yet another personal loan to his own campaign, meaning Leppert only raised a paltry $250,000 in contributions. Perhaps I’m wrong, and there’s another explanation, but unless their are similar loans among the yet-to-come Q2 reports of his opponents, not only has Leppert fallen badly behind Cruz, he’s actually fallen behind Elizabeth Ames Jones’s $313,000. It would also validate the Cruz campaign’s contention that Leppert suffers from a very narrow fundraising base. After I post this, I’ll write the Leppert campaign for clarification on his fundraising numbers. Done. See here for an update on those numbers.
Tags:2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tom Leppert
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 18th, 2011
A few quick updates on the Texas Senate Race:
Dewhurst sounds like he’s in, to be made official “midweek.”
So also says the Denton County GOP chair…
…who will be hosting a Senate forum with Ted Cruz, Tom Leppert, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Lela Pettinger, and (presumably) Dewhurst.
Jason Embry in the Statesman joins the chorus of those saying that Cruz has the momentum in the race.
Ex-senate candidate Michael Williams Q2 fundraising report is up. He raised a respectable $550,018, which would have been better than his Q1 numbers, but still behind Cruz and Leppert. If he can transfer these funds to his congressional race (I am not a lawyer, but my impression is that he can), then he’ll go into his match with fellow Senate race dropout Roger Williams with a substantial warchest.
Tags:2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Elections, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Jason Embry, Lela Pettinger, Republicans, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tom Leppert
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Friday, July 15th, 2011
The candidates have started releasing their fundraising totals for Q2:
Ted Cruz came out on top of the fundraising quarter with $800,000.
According the the Statesman, Leppert raised $750,000 and Elizabeth Ames Jones raised $313,000.
Ricardo Sanchez raised $160,000. Which is about what you would expect the DNC’s hand-picked candidate to raise.
The FEC reports aren’t up yet, so we can’t look at the details. In truth, Cruz did a bit worse than I expected him to with all the endorsement momentum he’s been building up, and Leppert did significantly better. Jones managed to raise her quarterly fundraising totals from disastrous to merely disappointing.
Q2 is usually a slow fundraising quarter the year before an election, but both Cruz and Leppert will need to pick up the pace if Dewhurst does jump in.
A few more pieces of senate race news:
Last week Paul Burka was confidently predicting that Dewhurst would blow away the competition with his money. Now he’s wondering if Dewhurst is too complacent. “There is an enthusiasm gap in this race, and it favors Cruz.” It’s like Burka fell asleep at his desk and woke up in pain, discovering that someone had inexplicably jabbed a sharp clue into his side while he slept…
The San Antonio Express-News says that Ted Cruz has the momentum, especially compared to one “Tom Lippert.”
Elizabeth Ames Jones has announced that former GM Chairman (and fellow San Antonian) Ed Whitacre would be her campaign manager. If he brings several million dollars in campaign donations with him, this will be a brilliant move. If not? Not so much. Usually candidates like to have someone with, you known, political campaign experience running their campaign. Hiring a guy who is most famous for taking over GM right after Uncle Obama dumped a ton of taxpayer money on them probably isn’t going to vault her into first place. She also named oilmen W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr. and George P. Mitchell as honorary chairman.
According to Jones’ and Tom Leppert’s Facebook pages, there was supposedly a Ronald Reagan Republican Women Senate candidate forum in Houston last night, but I can’t find reports on it anywhere today…
A Sean Hubbard sighting in the local Dallas gay newspaper.
Tags:2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Ed Whitacre, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Obama Motors, Paul Burka, Ricardo Sanchez, Sean Hubbard, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tom Leppert
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
There’s two big senate race shoes waiting to drop over the rest of July: The announcement (whatever it is) Dewhurst is going to make on July 18, and FEC releasing Q2 fundraising results. In the meantime, here’s a smattering of senate race news
Paul Burka with (another) not very insightful Senate race update, saying Dewhurst will just bulldoze the field by carpet-bombing with money. “Cruz has a great reputation as a lawyer but little else.” Yeah, nothing else except the endorsement of just about every prominent conservative that’s weighed in on the race, most of the Tea Party, and national media buzz. There have been plenty of big-money “sure thing” candidates who couldn’t close the deal with actual voters. Which brings us to…
Ross Ramsey at the Texas Tribune on Dewhurst’s long shadow. Best quote: “David Dewhurst might be the safest bet for the U.S. Senate since former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.” Heh.
Tom Leppert says he’s in the race for the long haul.
Roger Jones at The Dallas Morning News says that history is against Leppert, pointing out that Mayors have traditionally done poorly in statewide races.
There was evidently a Texas Senate Candidate Forum hosted by the San Antonio Tea Party on July 9th that included Ted Cruz, Tom Leppert, Elizebeth Ames Jones, Glenn Addison, Lela Pittenger, and Andrew Castanuela, but I can’t find any reports on it anywhere online.
Cruz won the San Antonio Tea Party straw poll there.
Cruz was also endorsed by George P. Bush, son of Jeb, nephew of Bush43, grandson of Bush41, and co-founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas. (Cruz is, of course, a member.) That can’t hurt, especially if he can steer some of the Bush clan’s legendary fundraising prowess Cruz’s way.
Cruz was also endorsed by not one, not two, but three former Republican Party of Texas chairs: Cathie Adams, Tina Benkiser, and George Strake. Those are all good names to have in your corner.
Since I mentioned Glenn Addison, take a look at his campaign schedule. He can’t win this race, but that’s the schedule of a man who’s serious about trying.
As if Ricardo Sanchez didn’t have enough troubles running as a Democrat in an overwhelmingly Republican state, the Islamic Republic of Iran wants to try him in absentia for war crimes. They also want to try Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Gen. Tommy Franks, and Gen. David Petraeus, so he’s in good company…
Tags:Andrew Castanuela, Cathie Adams, David Dewhurst, Elections, George Strake, Glenn Addison, Iran, Lela Pittenger, Paul Burka, Republicans, Ricardo Sanchez, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tina Benkiser, Tom Leppert
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
At the Texas Tribune Senate Candidate Forum back on June 8th, Tom Leppert said that he could be counted on to be a staunch budget cutter in the U.S. Senate, and for supporting evidence claimed that he had cut or eliminated several government programs as Mayor of Dallas.
Since I have been somewhat skeptical of Leppert’s conservative bona fides, this claim piqued my interest. So i wrote his campaign to see if they had a list of programs he had eliminated as Mayor.
It took a couple of reminders, but i was finally able to get a reply from Leppert’s Communications Director Shawn McCoy. Below is his reply verbatim, save for some WordPress list formatting and removing his phone number and email address:
Lawrence,
Sorry, it has taken a while to pull all of this together.
One of Tom’s greatest accomplishments as Mayor was working to make substantial cuts to the civilian budget in order to increase the size of the police force. He did this without raising taxes. In response, the crime rate dropped by double digits, with violent crime plummeting 30 percent.
Tom’s trimming of the civilian payroll led him to eliminate over 1400 positions. Pay was also reduced for the remaining civilian employees.
Tom’s consolidation or elimination of city departments took the city from 31 departments down to 23.
This included:
- Sustainable Development and Construction
- Development Services
- Building Inspection
- Housing & Community Services
- Housing
- Environmental & Health Services
- Management Services
- Public Information Office
- Intergovernmental Services
- Strategic Customer Services
- Efficiency Team
- Office of Emergency Management
- Fair Housing
- Office of Environmental Quality
- Trinity Watershed Management
- Trinity River Corridor Project
- Streets/River Levee Operations
- Public Works/Floodplain Management
Additionally, the zoo was privatized.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Best,
Shawn
Shawn McCoy
Communications Director
Tom Leppert for Senate
Thanks to Shawn McCoy and Tom Leppert for providing this information.
I am very far indeed from an expert on Dallas’ budget process, but I hope to take a look at the official budget numbers over the next few days to confirm the information above. My first impression from the FY2011 budget suggests that they may very well be credible, as official numbers show Dallas budget was cut by just 1.5% between FY2010 and FY2011, showing at least fiscal restraint here in the midst of the Great Obama Recession.
At some point I also hope to take a look at the mentioned Trinity Watershed Management, a subject that includes the controversial Trinity River Toll Road project, a complex subject on which I don’t feel I yet have a firm handle.
Tags:Dallas, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tom Leppert
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
First here’s an extensive piece on State Senator Dan Patrick’s work in the 82nd Legislative session. There’s the usual minimum of liberal bias, including the now requisite “drastic cuts in public education” lie the MSM feels a need to trot out in every roundup, but the piece is otherwise information.
In this companion piece, Patrick talks about the possibility of running for the Senate, and not a little bit about David Dewhurst’s financial resources. He’s non-committal in the piece, but it does sound more like he’s leaning toward a run in the Lt. Governor’s race in 2014 than the Senate race.
Tags:Dan Patrick, Texas, Texas Senate Race
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. Here are a few follow-ups to previously covered stories:
Politico’s David Catanese says that David Dewhurst is going to jump into the Senate race.
After months of dawdling, the Obama Administration finally changes its mind and declares Texas a wildfire disaster area. Better late than never, I suppose.
Another ex-Gingrich staffer climbs aboard the Rick Perry bandwagon (albeit with a group urging him to run, not Perry himself).
In the course of naming Rick Perry the “winner” of the recent legislative session, the Texas Tribune’s Jay Root repeats the lie that Education funding was decreased in the recent session, rather than receiving a slight increase. Does the MSM just believe that if they repeat the lie enough times people will believe it’s true?
A Daily Kossack looks over the phony-baloney PPP Texas senate race poll and stills comes up gloomy about Democratic chances. Also manages to display his ignorance, stating “On the Democratic side, the only announced candidate is retired Gen. Ricardo Sanchez,” not only ignoring declared Democratic candidate Sean Hubbard, but also his appeal for votes on Daily Kos. I guess it’s just a case of the far left hand not knowing what the other far left hand is doing…
I hope everyone is enjoying their July 4th weekend, even though those of us in drought-stricken central Texas won’t be firing off any fireworks this year…
Tags:2012 Election, David Catanese, Elections, LinkSwarm, Newt Gingrich, Ricardo Sanchez, Rick Perry, Sean Hubbard, Texas, Texas Senate Race, wildfire
Posted in Democrats, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Some tidbits on the race as the first half of the year comes to a close:
I was out of town for the weekend, so you’ve probably already seen news of the Texas Senatorial Forum in Houston. If not, here’s coverage.
Over on Red State, Ted Cruz calls on Republicans to to hold firm on the debt ceiling debate. And asks for campaign donations.
Speaking of Red State and Cruz, he’s one of five senate candidates promoted by Erick Erickson as worthy on your donations. (Jeff Flake of Arizona, Adam Hasner of Florida, Josh Mandel of Ohio and Don Stenberg of Nebraska are the other four.)
The Washington Times offers up a pretty competent roundup of the race.
Hotline on Call also does a roundup following the departure of the Williamses…and fails to mention Elizabeth Ames Jones at all. I can’t say that I blame them.
Speaking of Jones, she continues her interview tour of small Texas newspapers with The Gonzales Cannon.
VoteVets.org, the George Soros-funded Democratic Party front group, has sent out a fundraising appeal for Ricardo Sanchez. Some lefty sorts, still bitter over Abu Ghraib, are less than enthused.
Speaking of Sanchez, Matt S. Dowling thinks he’s been so silent the last few months that he puts his face on a milk carton.
Anyone know what happened to The Race to Replace Kay Bailey Hutchison? Neither the blog nor the Twitter feed has been updated since June 2…
Today is the last day for donations to be recorded in the current fundraising quarter, so it wouldn’t be a bad time to donate to the candidate of your choice in whatever races they’re running in. I’ll report on the Senate total as soon as they’re up (expect them to start trickling out about the middle of July), but in the meantime, here are some nifty charts the FEC put up for the first quarter fundraising efforts.
Tags:2012 Election, Abu Ghraib, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Ricardo Sanchez, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
Last week it was Michael Williams. This week it’s Roger Williams switching from running for the Senate to running for House District 33. I don’t know if Joe Barton’s decision to stick to the sixth had any effect on his decision or not, but it sets up a Williams vs. Williams showdown for District 33. (Although unlike Michael Williams, Roger Williams has already managed to update his website the day the switch was announced.)
The favorite for District 33? Michael Williams is the one with the heaviest conservative movement credentials, and having an outspoken, articulate black conservative in congress would be a big benefit at the national level. But Roger Williams has some significant endorsement firepower, including George H. W. and Barbara Bush, sitting Congresswoman Kay Granger, and Nolan and Ruth Ryan.
In the Senate race, I suspect Roger Williams decision will probably benefit Cruz and Leppert about equally, with Cruz picking up more of Williams voters, but potentially freeing up more donors in Leppert’s natural Metroplex base to donate to his campaign.
Now, with the Special Session adjourning, all eyes on the Senate race turn to see whether David Dewhurst jumps in or not…
Tags:2012 Election, David Dewhurst, Michael Williams, Roger Williams, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas Senate Race, Tom Leppert
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 4 Comments »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
He certainly sounds like a candidate here:
“Tricia [Dewhurst’s wife] and I have prayed about it. I’m not here to be making any announcement; I’d rather be doing that in a couple of weeks,” Dewhurst said. “I love Texas … and for anyone going to Washington, it’s a hardship. But I just think there seems to be a lack of understanding in Washington as to how to balance budgets and treat people fairly and be civil and address entitlements.”
Dewhurst entering the race would be bad news for all the declared candidates, but probably worse for Tom Leppert than anyone else, since Dewhurst almost automatically locks up the “establishment /business” candidate slot in a runoff (or possibly wins the primary outright, if he’s willing to carpet-bomb the race with money). His jumping in might also prod State Sen. Dan Patrick to jump in as well, since there’s no love lost between the two.
Tags:2012 Election, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Texas, Texas Senate Race
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »