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Elections
November 14, 2006
Speaker's race fading
The news this week about the speaker’s race seems to be that there’s no speaker’s race.
Several sources — both Republican and Democrat — say they doubt a real race will develop, despite plenty of speculation and buzz among insiders. The fact remains that House Speaker Tom Craddick , R-Midland, has 109 pledge cards, and even though those are not binding, that’s plenty more than the 76 he needs. Plus, no clear challenger has emerged.
The effort to find a new speaker isn’t quite dead, but right now it seems like a longshot at best.
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May 9, 2006
Republican scores with labor
Perhaps overlooked: Big labor today endorsed Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson for re-election, marking the first time the Texas AFL-CIO has given its backing to a Republican for statewide office.
Patterson, seeking his second term at the General Land Office, faces Democratic nominee Valinda Hathcox, a political unknown, on the November ballot.
Ed Sills, spokesman for the 200,000-member state labor federation, said Patterson sought the endorsement. “He’s had an ongoing relationship with us,” Sill said, adding that Patterson has occasionally taken positions siding with labor since his time as a state senator from Pasadena.
Of Hathcox, Sills said: “She did not make those kinds of inroads.”
The federation otherwise endorsed Democrats for statewide posts, aside from not endorsing a candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission seat held by Elizabeth Ames Jones, a Republican who did not seek labor’s blessing. The Democratic choice for that position, Dale Henry, previously ran as a Republican for the commission.
“We don’t want our endorsement to be considered automatic for a Democrat,” Sills summed.
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April 18, 2006
Perry exhorts Travis County Reds
Gov. Rick Perry commiserated with Lake Travis Republicans on the occasional downs of being red (or Republican) in historically blue (or Democratic) Austin.
“Good guys are usually outnumbered in Travis County,” Perry told more than 200 guests at the Hills Country Club in the Lake Travis area. “It’s like being a member of the resistance movement in enemy territory.”
The former Democratic Texas House member said he switched years ago after liberals drove the party into the ditch.
And telling activists they are winning the political wars, inch by inch, Perry concluded; “I look forward to the day the entire state of Texas is all red.”
For the record, he wore a dark suit jacket, maybe blue.
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April 17, 2006
Madla to step down early
A San Antonio senator who lost his bid for re-election to a House challenger in March plans to resign early. Sen. Frank Madla, a Democrat, wrote Gov. Rick Perry today that he’ll resign effective May 31.
Making “the decision to depart at this time was not easy,” Madla said in his letter. “However, after many hours of thoughtful consideration and reflection, I ultimately decided that after 33 years of prioritizing public service, it was time to put my family first.”
Madla, 69, a senator since 1993 after two decades in the House, lost to Rep. Carlos Uresti in March.
He said today he hopes that whoever wins a special election to serve out his term benefits from the experience. Uresti — expected to win the heavily-DEmocratic district — said he woudl run in any special election to complete Madla’s current term.
“Whoever wins the election will have an opportunity to have a little extra seniority,” Madla said. “Whoever it is — I want to give that individual the opportunity.”
Madla said that he’d informed Perry of his plans, no one else.
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May 20, 2005
Fewer state elections in sight?
Figuring the state could save money — and that the public isn’t likely to miss them — the Senate voted Friday to do away with two uniform election dates. Cities, school districts and other political entities won’t be able to ask voters to go the polls the first Saturday in February or the second Saturday in September.
An analysis of House Bill 57, the legislation that includes the changes, states that less than 3 percent of political subdivisions hold elections on those two dates. Fewer elections would save political entities money.
The deleted dates were two of four election dates in Texas. Voters will still be asked to go to the polls in May, but the legislation approved Friday would change that from the first Saturday of May to the second. The November election schedule — the first Tuesday after the first Monday — remains the same.
The change, which passed with a minor amendment, will go back to the House for approval.
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May 11, 2005
Judge's decision on election code delayed
Judge Bob Perkins on Wednesday postponed until next month any decision on whether the state election code is unconstitutional and cannot be used to prosecute two officials with Texans for a Republican Majority.
Lawyers for Jim Ellis, an associate of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said they were encouraged that the judge was taking their constitutional challenge seriously. They have argued that the state election code is too vague to be the basis of a money laundering charge against Ellis.
A Travis County grand jury last fall indicted Ellis and John Colyandro, the political committee’s executive director, on money laundering charges arising from the 2002 legislative elections. They are accused of converting $190,000 in corporate money into campaign donations.
State law prohibits corporations or unions from making campaign contributions.
Colyandro’s lawyers argued today that the indictments should be set aside.
The trial is scheduled to resume on June 27.
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April 25, 2005
Kinky to Harvest Help from Jesse
Keep an eye out later this week for author-singer Kinky Friedman, who’s expected to harvest help in his independent gubernatorial bid from someone who helped professional wrestler Jesse Ventura win in Minnesota.
Friedman plans to tap Dean Barkley, who basically started the third-party movement in Minnesota, ran Ventura’s successful campaign for a term as governor and briefly served in the U.S. Senate after Ventura put him in the seat vacated by Paul Wellstone.
A Friedman spokeswoman (the loquacious author now has one) had nothing to spill on the matter except that reporters should be available Friday.
Barkley has a knack for tapping discontent among voters, according to University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs, who called him a “formidable political talent.”
Friedman won’t attend a committee hearing set for Wednesday on House Bill 1721, though his campaign intends to send folks. The proposal by Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin, permits voters in party primary elections to sign a petition enabling another party’s candidate to get on the general-election ballot.
Texas is the only state that still bars primary voters from signing petitions for others, according to the Libertarian Party of Texas, which supports the change.
Friedman, who now can reach the November 2006 ballot only by snagging sigs from people who skirt other primaries, could find his path to the ballot less treacherous.
Baxter said: “This bill has nothing to do with any particular candidate. It made sense. Ballot access is a good thing.�
