Texas Megathread

[badgate]

He should paint a picture of Dew and Patrick debating.


Did anybody watch the WFAA debate this week? HILARIOUS.

[jimrtex]

Have you guys seen this Dewhurst attack ad on Patrick?

The Ballad of Dannie Goeb

After the primary, two top people in the Dewhurst campaign quit, over what was described as a dispute over the direction of the campaign.  It was reported that persons close to Dewhurst's wife were being consulted.

So his original campaign staff said we aren't going into the gutter.   His wife insisted that he should.

[Indy Texas]

Have you guys seen this Dewhurst attack ad on Patrick?

The Ballad of Dannie Goeb

After the primary, two top people in the Dewhurst campaign quit, over what was described as a dispute over the direction of the campaign.  It was reported that persons close to Dewhurst's wife were being consulted.

So his original campaign staff said we aren't going into the gutter.   His wife insisted that he should.

I've always been kind of skeptical of Tricia Dewhurst. She strikes me as a very self-serving, calculating person. Before she married David Dewhurst, she was married to Teel Bivins, a very wealthy Republican state senator much older than she is. Teel Bivins was the Ambassador to Sweden in the Bush years and was stricken with a degenerative brain disease. She turned around and divorced him and while he was dying in hospice care, she was marrying her new catch, the Lieutenant Governor. She had a daughter with Bivins, Carolyn, whom David Dewhurst frequently refers to as "his daughter" despite the fact that he is not her father and Dewhurst has no children of his own.

David Dewhurst has his own spotty marital history. In the '90s, he was married to a former beauty pageant queen who was repeatedly arrested for drunk driving and forced into rehab following an intervention.

Of course the Faith, Family, Freedom Party likes to keep all of that under wraps.

[badgate]

Barry Smitherman endorsed Dan Branch in AG runoff
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/20140508-barry-smitherman-endorses-former-foe-dan-branch-for-texas-attorney-general.ece#cxrecs_s

[jimrtex]

Ron Paul supports David Dewhurst LMFAO.

Dewhurst is said to back legislation to repatriate the state's "university gold" from New York City.

[Maxwell]

It didn't help Dewhurst when his other opponent endorsed him against Cruz in the Senate primary, so I'm not sure it will work here either. It may lower the margin a bit, but I think Dewhurst losing is a pretty sure thing even with all of these controversies on Patrick coming out of the woodwork.

[Indy Texas]

If Patrick is the nominee, I have to wonder if Dewhurst might wage a write-in campaign or if some other Republican might launch an independent bid.

Or if the RPT doesn't just throw Patrick to the wolves and figure he'll either be dragged across the finish line with Abbott or Leticia Van de Putte will win and the Republican Senate will take away whatever ability she has to do anything.

[TX Conservative Dem]

If Van de Putte wins, she'll need to COMPROMISE with the GOP-controlled State Senate.

I can't see them bitching about a Democratic LG and making her irrelevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Governor_of_Texas

[jimrtex]

If Patrick is the nominee, I have to wonder if Dewhurst might wage a write-in campaign or if some other Republican might launch an independent bid.

Or if the RPT doesn't just throw Patrick to the wolves and figure he'll either be dragged across the finish line with Abbott or Leticia Van de Putte will win and the Republican Senate will take away whatever ability she has to do anything.

In Texas, you have to file as an independent candidate in December (2013), and then collect your signatures after the primary.  Remember the "Save Yourself for Kinky", when voters were urged to eschew the primary so that they could sign Friedman's petition in 2006.

Maria Luisa Alvarado, the Democratic Lt.Governor candidate in 2006 indicated that she was going to run as an independent this year, but it is not clear that she filed.  Her former web site domain is now available.

Texas has a sore-loser law that prohibits a primary loser from running as a write-in candidate for the same office.   So Patterson could run for Land Commissioner and Dewhurst could run for senator, and Staples could run for Ag Commissioner, but none could run for Lieutenant Governor as a write-in candidate.

[jimrtex]

Ron Paul supports David Dewhurst LMFAO.

Dewhurst is said to back legislation to repatriate the state's "university gold" from New York City.

I thought that was after Ron Paul said he supports him

Ron Paul Supports David Dewhurst in Texas Runoff Election

This article says that Dewhurst made the claim on here:

(Youtube)Ron Paul's Revolution TV - David Dewhurst

Interestingly, the claim was made at the time (2012) that Sam Malone was dropped by KSEV because Malone supported Ted Cruz against Dewhurst in the senate race, while Patrick was supporting Dewhurst.

I checked on HB 3505.  It got a hearing in a appropriations subcommittee late in the session.  So either Dewhurst is not so effective; or Dewhurst is getting desperate.

[badgate]

Dewhurst as write-in vs. Cornyn might be fun.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Dewhurst would need to keep hitting Patrick hard in the TV Ads.

[Indy Texas]

If Patrick is the nominee, I have to wonder if Dewhurst might wage a write-in campaign or if some other Republican might launch an independent bid.

Or if the RPT doesn't just throw Patrick to the wolves and figure he'll either be dragged across the finish line with Abbott or Leticia Van de Putte will win and the Republican Senate will take away whatever ability she has to do anything.

In Texas, you have to file as an independent candidate in December (2013), and then collect your signatures after the primary.  Remember the "Save Yourself for Kinky", when voters were urged to eschew the primary so that they could sign Friedman's petition in 2006.

Maria Luisa Alvarado, the Democratic Lt.Governor candidate in 2006 indicated that she was going to run as an independent this year, but it is not clear that she filed.  Her former web site domain is now available.

Texas has a sore-loser law that prohibits a primary loser from running as a write-in candidate for the same office.   So Patterson could run for Land Commissioner and Dewhurst could run for senator, and Staples could run for Ag Commissioner, but none could run for Lieutenant Governor as a write-in candidate.

I thought the sore loser law only applied to running as an independent candidate on the ballot. I thought anyone could declare themselves as a write-in candidate.

[jimrtex]

I thought the sore loser law only applied to running as an independent candidate on the ballot. I thought anyone could declare themselves as a write-in candidate.

Election Code 162.015(b)  You can run for a different office as a write-in, so Dewhust could run for senator or governor, Patterson for land commissioner, and Staples for ag commissioner.

The law on independent candidates is even more strict.  If you voted in a primary for the office in question, you can't run as an independent.   But this is consistent with the law that you can't sign an independent petition, if you voted in a primary for that office.  In practice this doesn't matter too much since independent candidates must make a declaration of candidacy in December (2013).

[jimrtex]

The final ballots in the SD-4 special election are stuck on a ferry between Bolivar and Galveston.

[badgate]

Small, but the special election to replace Ft. Worth City Councilman Joel Burns was held tonight.

They will be going to a runoff between Ann Zadeh and Ed Lasiter.

This is the council district that Wendy Davis represented. Many see Joel Burns as having a bright political future but he announced he was leaving for a one-year program at the Kennedy School earlier this year. Most Dems (including myself) hope he will run for state Senate or something else when he returns.

If Konni Burton or Mark Shelton win SD10, Burns would be a great candidate to challenge them in 2018.

[Indy Texas]

State Senate District 4 Special Election Results

St. Rep. Brandon Creighton (R) - 13,705 - 45.2%
St. Rep. Steve Toth (R) - 7,193 - 23.7%
Gordy Bunch (R) - 6,612 - 21.8%
Michael Galloway (R) - 2,818 - 9.3%

Creighton and Toth, both of whom are sitting state representatives, will go to a run-off. Creighton is an extremely conservative Establishment Republican. Toth is a Tea Partier to the extreme - a fundamentalist Christian pool contractor from The Woodlands first elected in 2010 after defeating moderate Republican lawmaker Rob Eissler.

Gordy Bunch is a businessman from The Woodlands who has never held elected office. He gave off a kind of David Dewhurst-esque "rich Republican trying to pretend to be a Tea Partier" vibe.

Michael Galloway held this senate seat back in the '90s and was considered part of the Gingrich era Republican Revolution. Unfortunately, this means he is too liberal by the current standards of the Republican Party. That combined with his many years out of office could account for his poor showing.

[badgate]

Kesha Rogers on here senate candidacy
http://tribtalk.org/2014/05/19/why-me-and-not-david-alameel/

Also titled: I can't believe it's not from the onion.

[IceSpear]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Thanks Texas Democrats, for not bothering to google your candidates before you vote.

[badgate]

FWIW, here is Alameel's op-ed.
http://tribtalk.org/2014/05/19/why-me-and-not-kesha-rogers/

[TX Conservative Dem]

Texas Democrats haven't recovered since Richards got the boot in 1994 and getting swept out of all remaining statewide offices in 1998.

[Indy Texas]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Thanks Texas Democrats, for not bothering to google your candidates before you vote.

I think the sad reality is that a lot of African-American primary voters probably voted for Kesha Rogers for no other reason than that her name "sounded black." (She also happens to be black, but I doubt most people were paying enough attention to know even that.)

[jimrtex]

Early voting for Monday in Top 15 counties:

GOP 29.6 (vs 19.6 in primary)
Dems 9.8 (vs 18.6 in primary)

Top 15 includes Travis, El Paso, Hidalgo, and Cameron, which makes it appear more balanced.

GOP vote in Harris County up 130%, where they outnumbered Dems 7 to 1.   Up 79% in Montgomery where they outnumber Dems 44:1.  GOP vote up 93% in Collin, where they outnumber Dems 16:1.

Patrick and Paxton are nominated.

[TX Conservative Dem]

I already knew Dewhurst was finished once Cruz punked him in the 2012 U.S. Senate GOP primary runoff (see West Virginia punking Clemson in 2011 Orange Bowl). On the State Attorney General campaign, I'm holding out hope for Branch to pull off the upset.

What about the primary nomination runoffs for Agriculture Commissioner and Railroad Commissioner, Place 1 ?

[Flake]

I already knew Dewhurst was finished once Cruz punked him in the 2012 U.S. Senate GOP primary runoff (see West Virginia punking Clemson in 2011 Orange Bowl). On the State Attorney General campaign, I'm holding out hope for Branch to pull off the upset.

What about the primary nomination runoffs for Agriculture Commissioner and Railroad Commissioner, Place 1 ?

I never thought someone would ask that. It's like a NYE what-if timeline.