TX-22: Olson is Republican nominee

[Nutmeg]

It seems he has beaten Smelly Skl-Gbbs in the primary runoff.

Good for Republican prospects against Lampson, certainly.

[Sam Spade]

No kidding.  Anyway, there are no results on the SOS website, but this is what the Houston Chronicle is reporting...

http://www.chron.com/

61% of precincts in
Pete Olson 14,673 67.3%   
Shelley Sekula Gibbs 7,125 32.7%

[Alcon]

No Draculac**nt? 

[Keystone Phil]

No Draculac**nt? 

Schmidt was re-nominated earlier this year.

[Sam Spade]

No Draculac**nt? 

Looks like the only people voting for her are the ones who voted for her the first time around.  Not surprised.

78% in
Pete Olson 16,147 68.2%
   
Shelley Sekula Gibbs 7,531 31.8%

[Meeker]

A State House member lost his runoff 76-24. Anyone know what he did?

[Sam Spade]

A State House member lost his runoff 76-24. Anyone know what he did?

Took me a little while to find where this was - HD 81. 

I really have no clue - this is out there in the middle of the oil patch (Odessa - West Texas) where I know very little.  Probably no Dem opponent here and one wouldn't stand a chance anyway (as opposed to the "really" rural areas).

Your guess is as good as mine.

[jimrtex]

A State House member lost his runoff 76-24. Anyone know what he did?

Took me a little while to find where this was - HD 81. 

I really have no clue - this is out there in the middle of the oil patch (Odessa - West Texas) where I know very little.  Probably no Dem opponent here and one wouldn't stand a chance anyway (as opposed to the "really" rural areas).

Your guess is as good as mine.

Buddy West has served 8 terms, but has health problems, and at the end of the last session, he made a speech that he said might be his last before the House.  He is currently undergoing kidney dialysis.

That is probably why he drew 3 opponents in the primary.  Since first winning election in 1992, where he had to win a primary and the general election, he had not been opposed in any election until 2004, when a Demorat ran against him, and in 2006 when he had a Libertarian opponent.

There was the issue of his somewhat equivocal support for Tom Craddick for Speaker, who is from Midland; and he refused to debate his opponent in the runoff.

[Padfoot]

No Draculac**nt? 

Schmidt was re-nominated earlier this year.

lol 

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

[minionofmidas]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

They accepted "Dracula c**nt" as a spelling for "Sekula-Gibbs", would they have for Olson?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

They accepted "Dracula c**nt" as a spelling for "Sekula-Gibbs", would they have for Olson?

They accepted it as a tacked-on middle name—I believe the actual vote was for "Shelly Dracula c**nt Gibs" (sic).  Her first and last name were there, it was clearly a vote for Sekula-Gibbs, albeit one with commentary attached.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

They accepted "Dracula c**nt" as a spelling for "Sekula-Gibbs", would they have for Olson?

It should have been accepted as an early vote for Clinton in the Presidential primary.

[Kevinstat]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

They accepted "Dracula c**nt" as a spelling for "Sekula-Gibbs", would they have for Olson?

They accepted it as a tacked-on middle name—I believe the actual vote was for "Shelly Dracula c**nt Gibs" (sic).  Her first and last name were there, it was clearly a vote for Sekula-Gibbs, albeit one with commentary attached.

Am I the only one who questions whether that voter intended his vote to count as one for Shelly Sekula-Gibbs (the main Republican write-in candidate, to bring her one vote closer to defeating any opponent including Nick Lampson)?  I'm surprised it was counted.  If the race had been recount close, or even if Sekula-Gibbs had clearly won, the Democrats would surely have raised a big stink over that vote being counted for her.  Perhaps they had anyway, and I just wasn't paying attention.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Am I the only one who questions whether that voter intended his vote to count as one for Shelly Sekula-Gibbs (the main Republican write-in candidate, to bring her one vote closer to defeating any opponent including Nick Lampson)?  I'm surprised it was counted.  If the race had been recount close, or even if Sekula-Gibbs had clearly won, the Democrats would surely have raised a big stink over that vote being counted for her.  Perhaps they had anyway, and I just wasn't paying attention.

There have been plenty of times where I would have wanted my vote to count for someone, but would have savored the opportunity to insult them in the process   I would have counted it.

[jimrtex]

Am I the only one who questions whether that voter intended his vote to count as one for Shelly Sekula-Gibbs (the main Republican write-in candidate, to bring her one vote closer to defeating any opponent including Nick Lampson)?  I'm surprised it was counted.  If the race had been recount close, or even if Sekula-Gibbs had clearly won, the Democrats would surely have raised a big stink over that vote being counted for her.  Perhaps they had anyway, and I just wasn't paying attention.

If her name had been on the ballot, and a voter had marked an X and written a comment, it would have counted.

The write-in votes in most of the counties were machine-readable (for a write-in vote, you click on the write-in box, and then are presented a screen with the letters of the alphabet, which you select one-by-one to spell out names).  But the Secretary of State ruled that the computers could not be pre-programmed to recognize any spellings.  However, it was permitted that as soon as one spelling was recognized as valid, that all matches for that spelling could be accepted.  In the one county that used optically scanned ballots, ballots with write-ins were projected onto a screen and then the counting board made a decision on each one.

I very much doubt that the write-in with comments was made on one of the regular voting machines.  It is simply an awful lot of work to enter a long name.  I did this in a city election.  The particular candidate had a hyphenated last name.  The candidate had also included another name (perhaps a maiden name), and that wouldn't fit.  I don't think it was even possible to include the first name and both parts of the last name.

[minionofmidas]

There were lots of such write-ins. Someone posted a link once, some were pretty hilarious. Some of them, I wouldn't have been entirely sure if the person intended to write in Shelly Sekula-Gibbs or Tom DeLay.
Bottom line, really: Her name didn't hurt her.

[Alcon]

Does anyone know where a copy of that list is?  Trip down Memory Lane...

[jimrtex]

Does anyone know where a copy of that list is?  Trip down Memory Lane...

Turkeys of the Year

[jimrtex]

Bottom line, really: Her name didn't hurt her.

Unless it led to voters to not attempting to write-in.

Undervotes were from 11-15% in the district.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Olson would have been so much easier for write-in voters to spell in 2006...

They accepted "Dracula c**nt" as a spelling for "Sekula-Gibbs", would they have for Olson?

They accepted it as a tacked-on middle name—I believe the actual vote was for "Shelly Dracula c**nt Gibs" (sic).  Her first and last name were there, it was clearly a vote for Sekula-Gibbs, albeit one with commentary attached.

almost as funny, a bipartisan electoral committee accepted 28 pages of spellings of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs's name. Not 28 spellings, 28 PAGES of spellings.

[Alcon]

Does anyone know where a copy of that list is?  Trip down Memory Lane...

Turkeys of the Year

Ah yes, congressional candidate Snelly Gibbr.

Thanks