Posts Tagged ‘Steve Ogden’

One More Reason to Vote for Charles Schweitner Over Ben Bius

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

I’ve already mentioned that, despite having voted for Ben Bius against Steve Ogden in 2010, I wasn’t inclined to vote for Bius over Charles Schwertner in the Senate District 5 race. However, even if I weren’t so inclined, the news that Schwertner supports Governor Perry’s Budget Compact, while Bius opposes it, would be enough for me to vote for Schwertner over Bius.

I don’t want to oversell the budget compact. Getting Republicans to agree to it is the first step of a long (and no doubt frequently painful) process to get it implemented, and I don’t imagine that it will be the absolute “game changer” some have made it out to. And even if passed, it could all be undone in a single legislative session (especially if Democrats ever get their act together in Texas). But if it doesn’t yet create the ratchets for long-term control of the state government’s size, budget, and growth rate, it at least lays the groundwork for those ratchets to be implemented.

For that reason, among many others, I will be voting for Charles Schwertner (who Perry has endorsed) over Ben Bius in the Senate District 5 race, and urge any readers in SD5 to do the same.

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Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »

Texas State Senator Steve Ogden Won’t Seek Another Term

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

According to the Texas Tribune. Ogden is my state Senator, and it was something of a surprise that he ran in 2010. House District 52 Rep. Larry Gonzalez sent out a press release saying he was running for re-election to the House, but wasn’t looking to run for Ogden’s seat in the Senate. Conversely, Rep. Charles Schwertner of Georgetown announced he’s running for Ogden’s seat. Given how geographically sprawling and diverse Senate District 5 is, it wouldn’t surprise me to see other candidates jump into the race.

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Posted in Elections, Texas | No Comments »

Republican Primary on Tuesday, March 2: State Senate District 5, Ogden vs. Bius

Monday, March 1st, 2010

The State Senate District 5 race pits incumbent Steve Ogden vs. challenger Ben Bius.

Some news articles on the race:

  • A Statesmen article. Ogden’s semi-slam of the Tea Party movement doesn’t exactly endear himself to me. Yes, I’m sure you can find some Perot and Ron Paul supporters among it’s ranks, but to suggest it’s entirely made up of them is both unwise and politically tone-deaf.
  • The Bryan/College Station Eagle.
  • The Texas Tribune. It seems in the week between the Statesman article and this one, someone gave Odgen a clue-by-four, as he’s reined in his Tea Party criticisms.

I am irritated by the fact that Ogden’s campaign website features no obvious link for “issues” or “positions.” You would think that would be a pretty fundamental requirement when you’re running for office. Maybe Ogden thinks he’s above such things.

Ogden is no liberal; he’s been endorsed by the Young Conservative of Texas, among others. But he has been playing up the “old experienced hand” angle. (“Look at me! I’m an insider!”) He also voted against allowing concealed carry on college campuses, and initially supported Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor boondoggle.

Bius is generally good on the issues, but I don’t like the fact that he brags about his conservative, budget-cutting ways, then turns around and slags Ogden for derailing a retired teacher cost-of-living adjustment. “I’m for controlling spending, except when it costs me votes.” On the other hand, he gets points for making the ending of inter-generational welfare dependency a centerpiece of his campaign.

If the Statesman article is to be believed, Ogden has raised about 100x as much campaign money as Bius, which would suggest he’s a shoe-in. However, it’s a bad year for clueless Republican incumbents to dismiss Tea Party voters. Right now I’m leaning toward Bius as being the more conservative candidate.

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Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »