Posts Tagged ‘Dan Branch’
Thursday, July 16th, 2015
We’ve known, from the drips and dabs that slipped out, that the UT admissions scandal was worse than the Kroll report actually let on. But we didn’t know it was ten times worse:
At least 764 applicants initially denied admission to the University of Texas were admitted thanks to a backdoor program for the wealthy and politically connected administered by former president Bill Powers.
More than 200 of those applicants were admitted despite having their applications cancelled by the Admissions Office.
The total is more than 10 times the 73 applicants widely reported from an investigation paid for by the university and conducted by Kroll Associates. Kroll withheld the full findings from its 107-page final report.
More:
The Kroll investigation confirmed what had been common knowledge in the wealthy Dallas-area community of Highland Park, which includes UT Regent Wallace Hall and House Education Committee chair Dan Branch: students were getting into UT at extraordinary rates, despite bad grades.
UT admitted seven Highland Park students with grade point averages below 2.0 and SAT scores below 800.
Also this:
The very worst of the students UT admitted, the investigation showed, were clustered in the districts of Branch, House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio), and Sen. Kirk Watson, (D-Austin).
Straus has gone to even greater lengths than UT to cover up the abuses. He authorized a special committee operating behind the scenes in an effort to impeach Hall for asking too many questions about the admissions process.
A very cynical part of me wonders if this is the root of Straus’ stranglehold on the Speaker’s office: his power as the go-to fixer for getting unqualified students into UT.
If you hadn’t heard, Wallace Hall, who uncovered the scandal, is suing UT chancellor William McRaven for access to the documents Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has already said he’s entitled to.
Indeed, UT’s dishonest coverup may be a big factor in the Supreme Court in agreeing to hear an appeal on Fisher vs. University of Texas, “a 2008 lawsuit brought by a white student claiming the university’s diversity-seeking admissions system had unfairly deprived her of admission.”
The Dallas Observer‘s Jim Schutze (who, unlike myself, favors affirmative action) explains:
The court did receive a blistering friend-of-the-court brief (see copy below) from the Cato Institute, a conservative think-tank, in support of Fisher’s request to be heard again. The Cato brief called the court’s attention to an investigation of admissions at UT that grew out of the Hall disclosures. Cato told SCOTUS the investigation proved that UT’s “claimed diversity rationale is a sham.”
That would be new evidence, maybe. But if it goes to the university’s core integrity – if the university has been lying to the courts about why it handles admissions the way it does – then maybe it’s not so new. Maybe it goes right to the heart of the existing case.
We have talked here often before about revelations brought forward by Hall showing that the former president of the university and some of the regents were handing out undergraduate admissions to sons and daughters of influential state legislators the way favors of love are distributed in a bawdy house. But does that kind of corruption go to the affirmative action question?
Nobody knows if the Cato amicus brief played any role at all in the high court’s eventual decision to rehear Fisher. But if it did, this would be why: When the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 to send Fisher back down to the 5th Circuit, the court said the lower court needed to take a tougher look at the university’s admissions policies. The Supreme Court told the lower court not to just take the university at its word but to examine the university’s admissions closely under a doctrine called “strict scrutiny.”
The 5th Circuit basically said yeah, yeah, OK, we strict scrutinied them, and we still trust them. So the 5th Circuit upheld the university. Fisher appealed back to the Supreme Court saying the 5th Circuit hadn’t really done the strict scrutiny strictly enough.
Then along comes the Wallace Hall evidence of an under-the-table secret admissions program the university forgot to tell the courts about. In fact, Hall’s investigation found evidence of lying, destruction of documents, coercion – enough story lines for an entire season of The Sopranos, all having to do with UT admissions.
A Supreme Court case is likely to bring national attention to a scandal the local mainstream media has tried to downplay or bury. And if it turns out UT actually lied to the courts, well, that sort of thing tends to make federal judges a mite testy…
(Hat tip: Push junction.)
Tags:Affirmative Action, Austin, Bill Powers, Cato Institute, Crime, Dan Branch, Fisher vs. University of Texas, Highland Park, Jim Schutze, Joe Straus, Ken Paxton, Kirk Watson, Kroll Report, Media Watch, Supreme Court, Texas, University of Texas, victimhood, Wallace Hall, William McRaven
Posted in Austin, Media Watch, Supreme Court, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 27th, 2014
According to the latest results.
Both Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton were hovering around 64-65% of the vote, which is pretty decisive.
Ryan Sitton is currently winning with 58% to Wayne Christian’s 42% for Railroad Commissioner. That’s a mild surprise to me, but down ballot races are harder to predict, and I did notice a late direct mail push from Sitton.
Sid Miller is currently leading Tommy Merritt 54-46% for Agriculture Commissioner, but they haven’t called the race yet.
On the Democrat’s side, David Alameel beat Larouchite Keisha Rogers fairly handily, 72% to 28%, for the chance to be slaughtered by John Cornyn in the Senate race. And Kinky Friedman appears to have lost to non-campaigning candidate Jim Hogan 55%-45% for Agriculture Commissioner. As to why, maybe Texas Democrats hate one or more of: Marijuana, Jews, country music singers, mystery writers, guys who smoke cigars, or guys named Kinky. Or they still hate him for running as an independent in 2006. Or they like guys with nice Anglo names. Take your pick.
More tomorrow (maybe).
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, 2014 Senate Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Kinky Friedman, Ryan Sitton, Sid Miller, Texas, Wayne Christian
Posted in Democrats, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 26th, 2014
Tomorrow is the Texas primary runoff, so now would be a good time to find your voting card and confirm your polling place.
A final roundup of runoff tidbits:
The Dallas Morning News says that Dan Patrick is poised to win due to his staunch opposition to illegal immigration. Oversimplified, but not entirely wrong. They also say Patrick has done a good job connecting with Ted Cruz supporters.
The end for Dewhurst draws nigh.
Dan Branch would have raised more money for the Attorney General race than Ken Paxton…were it not for the $1 million loan from Midland oilman Tim Dunn via Empower Texans PAC. Now you see why so many liberal reporters call Michael Quinn Sullivan the most powerful figure in Texas politics.
Talk show host Dana Loesch endorses Paxton. Less a move-the-needle endorsement than a reminder that conservatives are united on Paxton’s side.
Hey, that union Branch lobbied for totally wasn’t a member of the AFL-CIO…at least when he lobbied for it.
Governor Rick Perry took the unusual step of endorsing Sid Miller for Agriculture Commissioner over Tommy Merritt.
Some controversy over Miller’s campaign loan repayments.
On the Democrat side of the Ag Commissioner runoff, Kinky Friedman is running against an invisible opponent. “In the May 27 runoff the choice for the party’s faithful is either Friedman or Jim Hogan, a former dairy farmer who hasn’t campaigned for the office or even has a campaign website…Hogan could not be reached for comment because a phone number listed under his name was out of service and the Democratic Party of Texas did not respond to a request for other contact information.” Also, win or lose, Kinky said this is his last race.
Hogan seems to be taking a very Zen approach to campaigning.
One website has tried to fill the Jim Hogan void.
Here’s a Texas Tribune piece on the runoff between rich guy David Alameel and Larouchite Kesha Rogers for the Democratic Senate nomination. Fun as it would be to see Rogers upset Alameel, I don’t see it in the cards.
Finally, just in case you were unclear, Texas Monthly‘s Paul Burka is very upset that Republican primary voters continue to prefer actual Republicans over Republicans who act like Democrats once in office.
Here is who I will be voting for tomorrow (all of whom I expect to win):
Dan Patrick for Lt. Governor
Ken Paxton for Attorney General
Sid Miller for Agriculture Commissioner
Wayne Christian for Railroad Commissioner
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, 2014 Senate Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Alameel, David Dewhurst, Elections, Jim Hogan, Ken Paxton, Kesha Rogers, Kinky Friedman, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Paul Burka, Rick Perry, runoff, Texas
Posted in Border Control, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
For an example of how the cronyism scandal Wallace Hall uncovered is harming the University of Texas, take a look at UT’s law school.
According to Erik Telford: “Only 59 percent of its graduates passed the most recent Texas Bar Examination, placing UT dead last among Texas’ nine law schools despite it being by far the most highly regarded school of the nine.”
Speaker Joe Straus and two of his top lieutenants in the Texas House, Reps. Dan Branch and Jim Pitts, sent more letters to the president of the University of Texas on behalf of applicants than anyone else whose correspondence was included in a recent inquiry into admissions favoritism.
Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s office recently reviewed 86 “recommendation” letters, almost all of them from lawmakers, sent to UT President Bill Powers instead of through the proper channels.
In addition to Straus, the Fox piece fingers Democratic State Senator Judith Zaffrini (who is on the higher education committee) as one of the biggest cronyism abusers, and one who was not shy about sending letters for well-connected applicants. Telford:
Of the 90 UT Law School graduates who have failed the bar exam twice in recent years, 12 — or 13 percent — came from Zaffrini’s hometown of Laredo, which comprises less than 1 percent of the state’s population. It’s a suspicious correlation, as previous investigations of Zaffrini found that the senator has attempted to use her political clout to skirt the admissions process at least three times in the past. Six more double-flunkers have connections to Straus’ political machine.
While Zaffrini and Straus may possibly have muscled several of their unqualified hometown cronies into their state’s flagship public law school, many other state lawmakers appear to have snuck their children and employees through UT Law’s back door. The sons of Zaffrini, State Sen. John Carona and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts each graduated from UT Law and promptly failed the bar exam three times, as did the chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego [Democrat], and State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez [Democrat], who attended UT Law while serving in office.
Carona was defeated by Don Huffines in March, and Dan Branch is about to be retired by Ken Paxton. It is the likes of Straus and Zaffrini who should be removed from public office for participating in the scandal, not Wallace Hall for exposing it.
Tags:Austin, cronyism, Dan Branch, Eddie Rodriguez, Erik Telford, Jim Pitts, Joe Straus, John Carona, Judith Zaffrini, Pete Gallego, Texas, University of Texas, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Texas | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 12th, 2014
The Texas House Transparency Committee voted to impeach University of Texas regent Wallace Hall.
Hall’s case will go to the full Texas House of Representatives. If a majority of the members of the House approve of the case’s merits, it will go to the Senate, where members will convene as a court to make a final decision. If the Senate concurs with the committee’s recommendation, Hall will be the first non-elected official to be impeached in Texas history.
His crime? “Hall’s unreasonable and burdensome requests from records and information from UT Austin violated, and continue to violate, the Texas Education Code, the Texas Penal Code, the Board of Regents Rules and Regulations, and the best interests of the [UT System].”
Translation: Hall found evidence of our sacred system of kickbacks and cronyism, and we’ll never forgive him for that.
The Wall Street Journal: Hall “asked uncomfortable questions about lawmakers getting special favors at the state-funded school and has become a political target…Hall’s real offense has been to expose a cozy and possibly corrupt relationship between politicians and the university.”
Michael Quinn Sullivan:
That targeting, of course, has been handled by Speaker Joe Straus’ falsely named “transparency” committee co-chaired by Dan Flynn and Carol Alvarado. The committee has operated like a witch hunt, denying UT Regent Wallace Hall the ability to defend himself while impeaching his character.
Recent revelations that the committee’s “report” (created by an outside counsel chummy with the corrupt university administration) contained out-right lies should be enough to cause lawmakers to impeach not Wallace Hall but the members of the committee!
As Tony McDonald wrote several days agoo, Dan Flynn is trying to weasel out of his responsibility for the cover-up only after his committee’s work product was shown to be a fraud.
Sullivan also fingers the politicians most responsible for the with hunt as David Dewhurst, Dan Branch and Joe Straus.
TPPF’s Tom Lindsay:
For exercising his right and duty to request information of one of the universities he is entrusted with overseeing, Wallace Hall now faces impeachment and possibly jail. The biggest losers in all this are Texas college students, their parents, and taxpayers. This vote is a powerful deterrent to future efforts to ensure transparency in government, and therefore directly contrary to the best interest of our public higher-education system.”
The cockroaches and worms hate it when you pick up the rock they’re hiding under…
Tags:Austin, Dan Branch, David Dewhurst, Joe Straus, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, University of Texas, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Texas, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
Friday, April 4th, 2014
My taxes and family health issues have curtailed blogging somewhat, so here are some statewide race updates, some of which stretch back to just after the primary:
The Weekly Standard covers the Abbott campaign.
One Abbott supporter in Edinburg, former state representative Aaron Peña, is a Democrat-turned-Republican with strong ties to the valley. He says his fellow Hispanic Texans may vote Democratic, but they are traditionalists on cultural issues, including abortion. Davis may be popular with the liberal set in Austin, but she doesn’t offer much to Peña’s constituents, he says.
Also this:
Davis herself doesn’t appear to be making much effort to court the Valley vote, or any vote for that matter. She’s noticeably inconspicuous on the trail, and even friendly media have a hard time finding her.
Davis gives a speech in Midland to sparse attendance. “Davis showed up to an almost empty room but despite the crickets, she told me she felt comfortable.” Ouch!
How Davis benefited from her law firm doing government bond work while she was a state senator.
At least she’s changed her logo from the sinking ship, even if the new logo looks a little familiar…
“Two Dewhurst aides quit amid campaign feuding about tactics.” This is not exactly the sign of a well-oiled campaign machine…
Paul Burka even goes so far as to say that Dewhurst is toast: “The reality is that Dewhurst has been politically dead since the night of the Wendy Davis filibuster, and he has no hope to retain his office. Unless something very strange happens, Dan Patrick is a lock to be the state’s next lieutenant governor.” I’d say he’s been politically dead since losing to Ted Cruz in 2012…
Rick Casey not only thinks Dan Patrick will win, he thinks “Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will be more powerful than Gov. Greg Abbott.” Agree on the first, disagree on the second, mainly because Greg Abbott is a lot more formidable than Dewhurst. It’s an interesting piece, despite making (I believe) some subtly wrong assumptions about Tea Party politics.
State of play piece by Ross Ramsey.
Movement conservatives in Texas — a label that includes fiscal and social conservatives, Tea Partyers and the religious right — seem to be forming up behind Dan Patrick, a state senator running for lieutenant governor; Ken Paxton, a state senator running for attorney general; and Wayne Christian, a former state representative running for railroad commissioner. Each finished ahead of the establishment candidate in his race — in Patrick’s case, the incumbent lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst.
Ramsey also notes money switching to conservative challengers. Plus this: “Every Republican senator has probably given some private thought to state Sen. John Carona’s loss to Donald Huffines, and that kind of private thinking often leads to changed voting patterns.”
Dan Patrick endorsed by Buc-ees. If they throw in free fudge, this race is so over…
Mike Huckabee endorses Ken Paxton. That probably means more to Huckabee than Paxton…
14 Texas state house republicans ask Dan Branch to withdraw.
Democratic Agricultural Commissioner candidate Kinky Friedman calls marijuana farms the future of Texas.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Elections, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, Kinky Friedman, marijuana, Midland, Mike Huckabee, Paul Burka, Republicans, Rick Casey, Ross Ramsey, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2014
A very brief look at last night’s primary results:
John Cornyn won, but couldn’t break 60% against a field of underfunded challengers.
The Democratic Senate runoff is going to be between the big-spender David Alameel and the LaRouche candidate Kesha Rogers.
As expected, both Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis won their gubernatorial primaries. But Abbott garnered 91% and over 1.2 million votes, the most of any candidate for any office. By contrast, Davis got 432,000 votes and won 79% of the vote against underfunded challenger Ray Madrigal, indicating a distinct enthusiasm gap despite Davis’ nationwide MSM cheer-leading corps.
Dan Patrick’s early lead over incumbent David Dewhurst in the Lt. Governor’s race held up. Patrick pulled in 550,742 votes for 41.5% of the vote, while Dewhurst got 376,164 votes for 28.3%. Maybe Dewhurst can carpet-bomb the runoff with money, but that’s an awful big gap to make up. We knew that Dewhurst losing to Cruz in 2012 hurt him; now we know how much.
Ken Paxton takes the lead into the runoff with 566,080 votes over Dan Branch’s 426,561.
Glenn Hegar is hovering right at the threshold of beating Harvey Hildebran outright in the Comptroller race.
George P. Bush garnered 934,501 to win the Land Commissioner primary…or over twice as many votes as Wendy Davis.
Sid Miller (410,273) and Tommy Merritt (248,568) are heading for a runoff for Agricultural Commissioner, leaving Joe Straus ally Eric Opiela out in the cold.
All the Ted Cruz-endorsed Supreme Court incumbents won their races.
Super-tight runoff in U.S. House District 23 between Francisco “Quico” Canseco and Will Hurd to face Democratic incumbent Pete Gallego. Canseco held the seat before Gallego, and whoever wins the runoff has a good chance of taking the swing seat back.
Katrina Pierson was unable to unseat Pete Sessions in U.S. House District 32, garnering 36.4% of the vote. As I feared, Sarah Palin’s endorsement came to late to truly capitalize on it in fundraising.
Matt McCall did even better, where he and another challenger kept Lamar Smith at 60.4% in U.S. House District 21. Though they won their primaries, Sessions and Smith might be vulnerable to further challenges in 2016.
As far as I can tell, every U.S. or statewide incumbent Republican either won or is leading their race. Except David Dewhurst.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Alameel, David Dewhurst, Elections, Eric Opiela, Francisco "Quico" Canseco, George P. Bush, Glenn Hegar, Greg Abbott, John Cornyn, Katrina Pierson, Ken Paxton, Kesha Rogers, Matt McCall, Pete Sessions, Republicans, Sid Miller, Ted Cruz, Texas, Tommy Merritt, Wendy Davis
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2014
In comparison to the Lt. Governor’s race, the Attorney General’s race is relatively straightforward: There’s a conservative favorite (State Senator Ken Paxton), the well-funded big business republican (State Senator Dan Branch), and a longshot (Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman). A recent poll shows Branch at 42%, Paxton at 38%, and Smitherman a distant third at 20%. But the further down the ballot you get, the less accurate polls tend to be, so take that with a grain of salt.
Ken Paxton is a solid conservative that the majority of movement conservatives in the state have gotten behind (I’d guess that support is running about 85% among state conservatives compared to 15% for Smitherman). He’s also racked up an impressive list of conservative endorsements, including Texans for Fiscal Responsibility,
And while Paxton hasn’t been formally endorsed by Ted Cruz, he is getting a lot of mileage out of the Cruz quote that he’s “a tireless conservative warrior.”
By contrast, I haven’t heard a single conservative say they’re supporting state Representative Dan Branch, who is perceived as a RINO in the David Dewhurst mold (without the record of achievement) and an ally of Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. The representative of tony Highland Park, “his main support base appears to be establishment Republicans.” He’s a business favorite and has tapped extensive fundraising resources in the Metroplex. His attempt to rebrand himself as a Tea Party conservative is pretty laughable: Says the Houston Chronicle editorial board:
a respected GOP state representative from Dallas whose moderate positions and pragmatic approaches to governance frequently align with those of Speaker Joe Straus. Running for attorney general, Branch is portraying himself as the most conservative candidate in the race (a laughable claim), a raging anti-Obaman, a tea-party firebrand and an anti-abortion crusader. We haven’t seen such an extreme re-branding effort since the late Phyllis Diller’s plastic surgeries.
And that’s from the MSM. Most conservative activists I’ve talked too are considerably less kind…
A Branch ad:
A lot of conservatives supported Barry Smitherman‘s run for Railroad Commissioner, but support for his Attorney General run is pretty thin on the ground (David Bellow and some pro-life endorsements being notable exceptions). Red State’s Erick Erickson goes so far as to call Smitherman “an establishment tool.” I think that rather overstates things, but there’s a lot of sentiment that Smitherman has overstated his resume as a Harris County prosecutor, and has tried to move up the statewide ladder too far, too fast, with too thin a resume.
A Smitherman ad:
Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face (I kid you not) Sam Houston (a trial lawyer unrelated to the hero of San Jacinto, who lost a 2008 Supreme Court race) in the general election.
Some race tidbits:
Wrangling over an unsuccessful Ken Paxton investment.
Here’s Smitherman’s attack site against Paxton. While it’s not quite as weak tea as the Chinese lawsuit bit Dewhurst tried to use against Cruz, the bag has still been seeped two or three times…
The man Smitherman wants to succeed as Attorney General is less than thrilled at his criticism of the way the state child support division is run. “As attorney general, I’ve elevated the Texas Child Support Division to number one in the entire nation. Under my leadership we’ve collected more than $28 billion in child support, but we also have achieved one the highest rankings in the nation for efficiency.”
Back in 2010, Smitherman was a big fan of smart meters.
Smitherman pays a blogger covering the race for consulting services. (Just for the record, I ain’t been paid nothin’ by nobody for political blogging, unless you count free soda and pizza at Ted Cruz headquarters after I endorsed him…)
Evidently Smitherman’s position on the death penalty isn’t quite as unwavering as he would lead you to believe.
Branch gets endorsed by the Houston Chronicle.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Barry Smitherman, Dan Branch, Elections, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 31st, 2013
I thought I would do a better job of keeping tabs on Texas statewide races, but there are just too many for me to do a good job tracking all of them. Going into next year, I’ll try to do a decent job of keeping track of the Governor’s Race (Spoiler: Greg Abbot wallops Wendy Davis), the Lt. Governor’s race, and the Attorney General’s race, and tidbits on any other races will just be a bonus. (If you know of any sites doing extensive coverage of the Ag Commissioner or Comptroller races, let me know.)
Here’s a roundup that will include some oldish news.
The most hilarious liberal initiative in the Texas governor’s race has to be Lady Parts Justice PAC. No, this is not an Instapundit parody. Liberals have actually reduced half American citizens to their genitalia. “Ladies! Why think with your brain when you can think with your vagina?”
Wendy Davis hires out-of-state consultant to run her campaign. This is my shocked face.
On the Democratic side, Wendy Davis and a Reynaldo “Ray” Madŕigal have filed for governor (I’m assuming it’s the same Madrigal who pulled in 5.7% in a run for Corpus Christi Mayor in 2012) and outgoing El Paso Mayor John F. Cook is running for Land Commissioner.
Interview with Madrigal:
Greg Abbott pledges to keep Texas budgets small.
Abbot and Davis wrangle over redistricting lawyers fees.
Davis is not ready for prime time. “All this leaves me seriously wondering whether Davis’ campaign has any chance of winning in 2014. Or worse: whether Davis didn’t take the Valley seriously enough to come here polished and ready and with her A-team. Surely this type of poor venue and repetitive shallow non-statements and unprofessional media handling wouldn’t play, in say, a Dallas crowd.” And that’s from a liberal Democrat.
There was a Lt. Governor’s debate:
kcentv.com – KCEN HD – Waco, Temple, and Killeen
Todd Staples releases a good list of heavy hitting donors.
David Dewhurst releases a better one. Harlan Crow, Jerry Jones, Red McCombs and Drayton MacLane all stick out as particularly heavy hitters. (Another name, Kevin Eltife, is probably best know as a Republican state senator who wants to raise taxes.)
David Dewhurst has a campaign video out:
Jerry Patterson touts his 2nd Amendment credentials:
Dan Patrick touts the endorsement of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
A closer look at how Michael Quinn Sullivan and TFR do endorsements.
Democratic State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio makes her Lt. Governor’s run official.
Attorney General candidate Ken Paxton racks up over 220 East Texas endorsements for his Attorney General bid.
Paxton also campaigned in East Texas.
He also announced the endorsement of Ted Cruz for Senate chairman Kelly Shackelford:
As well as state senator Brian Birdwell
The Texas Tribune does a roundup of the AG race, noting Paxton had won 6 out of 6 straw polls, while Dan Branch raised the most money (including a check from George W. Bush).
Meanwhile, AG candidate Barry Smitherman touts his right to life endorsements.
AG candidate Dan Branch vowed to defend Texas Voter ID Laws. I doubt that’s a differentiator among GOP candidate…
Branch also picked up a lot of business endorsements, including Texas Association of Builders’ HOMEPAC, the Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND, and the Texas Apartment Association. It was always pretty clear Branch was going to get the lion’s share of “moneybags PACs” endorsements…
Susan Combs endorses Glenn Hegar for Comptroller.
Sid Miller is running for Agricultural Commissioner, and he’s already wrapped up endorsements from Young Conservatives of Texas, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and Ted Nugent.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Democrats, Elections, Glenn Hegar, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Ken Paxton, Leticia Van de Putte, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Ray Madrigal, Republicans, Sid Miller, Susan Combs, Texas, Todd Staples, video, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas, unions | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
Slowly but surely I’m digging out from my post-Worldcon backlog, so I hope to do more on various statewide races soon-ish (for certain values of “soon-ish” that work out to “before the end of the year”).
Greg Abbott reaches out to Hispanics.
He also promises to keep the Texas economy rolling.
Liberal fossil Paul Burka reiterates that Wendy Davis is doomed.
Battleground Texas is all in on Davis.
And speaking of Battleground Texas, proving they’re super classy, they made fun of Abbott being in a wheelchair.
Official Abbott announcement on Wendy Davis entering the race.
Abbott further said that he’s not worried about Wendy Davis.
Today Davis announced fundraisers in Conroe, Magnolia, and Waco. Ha, just kidding! She’s raising money in New York and Washington, D.C.. Good. The more money she takes from national Democrats, they less they can spend on races they might actually win.
Davis’ “true, natural constituency is the national, mainstream media.”
Davis used to be all-abortion, all the time, but that issue is now strangely missing from her speeches.
Longshot Tom Pauken is touting an Amarillo forum straw poll where he garnered 57% of the vote. Longshot Libertarian Kathie Glass came in second. I think these results are about as significant as that one straw poll Glenn Addison won in 2011.
Republican longshot Lisa Fritsch enters the Governor’s race. Here’s her website.
I do wonder why none of these longshots have considered taking on George P. Bush in the Land Commissioner’s race.
David Dewhurst calls for Obama’s impeachment. Somehow I sincerely doubt that U.S. Senator David Dewhurst would be making such a declaration…
Jerry Patterson suggests kicking four states out of the union. The piece notes this proposal was tongue-in-cheek. It also notes that Patterson was author of the Texas Concealed Carry law back in 1995, which I had forgotten.
Attorney General candidates Ken Paxton and Dan Branch roll out dueling legal endorsements.
Paxton campaigned in Midland.
Kinky Friedman is going to run for Agricultural Commissioner again as a Democrat, running on a marijuana legalization platform.
George P. Bush raised money for his Land Commissioner’s race in Dripping Springs.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Dan Branch, George P. Bush, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Kathie Glass, Ken Paxton, Kinky Friedman, Lisa Fritsch, Paul Burka, Republicans, Texas, Tom Pauken, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Media Watch, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »