Stick, Opiela Contesting Stealing Elections
By Byron LaMasters
I can see the point of one commenter on Andrew's post with this one. Why is Jack Stick contesting the election of Mark Strama? Only challenging the elections of a Hispanic woman (Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles), and a Vietnamese-American man (Hubert Vo) would just kinda look bad, and might give some folks the wrong impression that Republicans in Texas only want to steal elections against minorities. So what's the solution? Throw in a challenge against a White guy, too.
The Austin American Statesman reports:
Republican state Rep. Jack Stick of Austin has become the latest House candidate to file a challenge over his Election Day defeat.
Democrat Mark Strama defeated Stick by 569 votes. Stick filed a challenge with the Texas House of Representatives through the Texas Secretary of State's Office on Thursday.
So yall know what to do. Donate to Mark Strama so he can afford to defend himself from those who want to usurp the democratic process and steal elections. (Strama also has a good deal of campaign debt, so your contribution will help retire that as well).
The San Antonio Express News has more:
A Republican legislator from Travis County, unseated by a challenger Nov. 2, has filed paperwork asking the GOP-majority Texas House to reverse the results and award him the seat or call a new election.
[...]
Earlier last week, Rep. Talmadge Heflin of Houston filed a contest of his 32-vote loss to Hubert Vo, his Democratic challenger, and Eric Opiela of Karnes City filed a contest of his 835-vote defeat at the hands of Democratic candidate Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles of Alice.
Vince has more over at Political State Report. When will Republicans stop trying to steal elections? Here's what the Austin American Statesman said in their editorial today:
Defeated state Rep. Talmadge Heflin of Houston is giving his Republican colleagues in the Texas House a major league headache by asking them to overturn election results that cost him his job.
[...]
It could be disastrous for the GOP if the committee recommends overturning Vo's victory and the full House membership seats Heflin. Vo is a Vietnamese immigrant who came to America after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and worked his way into a successful career in computer sales and real estate. His victory is not one the House Republicans can plunder without immense fallout.
Republicans already are accused of gerrymandering to assure the outcome of elections, of grabbing power voters didn't give them and changing the rules to protect their leaders. Awarding a House seat to a favored member who lost the vote could only be viewed as election theft through uncontained GOP arrogance.
Majority party arrogance is an issue nationally as well as in Texas. U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who strong-armed the Legislature into the redistricting mess that the U.S. Supreme Court has questioned, has serious ethical problems. The U.S. House this month changed its rules to protect DeLay in the event he is indicted for campaign violations.
[...]
Heflin is asking his House colleagues to give him the seat he didn't win anyway. They should reject that path because it is the way to more rancor, bitterness and another disastrous legislative session.
The Texas Democratic Party has the wall of shame on their website for the three thieves:
After Democrats gained seats in the Legislature for the first time in a generation Republicans are getting desperate. Three of the defeated incumbents are trying to steal the elections right before our eyes, filing election contests in the Craddick Cartel run House. Talmadge Heflin was narrowly defeated by Democrat Hubert Vo, Jack Stick was beat by more than 500 votes by Democrat Mark Strama and Eric Opiela was defeated by almost a thousand votes by Democrat Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles, and now all of them want to overthrow the will of the people. Keep checking with TXDemocrats.org to find out the latest on GOP attempts to deny the people the representatives they chose!
With the exception that Eric Opiela is not an incumbent, it's hard to argue with the TDP folks. More thoughts on the election contests at mUUsings.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at November 30, 2004 12:06 AM
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Eric Opiela is not an incumbent, you're right. But he acted like one during his campaign, and his supporters boasted that with Rick Perry personally behind their candidate, they couldn't lose.
Perry has lost a lot of political prestige on this one. The voters rejected his "chosen one" pretty decisively -- 800-plus votes is a wide margin in this day and age -- and people on the ground here in Jim Wells County say Perry is pushing Opiela to challenge the election in the House.
So once again the arrogance of the corrupt Republican regime in Austin seems to be trying to overturn the will of local voters.
Opiela and Stick are just there to give the Republicans cover for overturning the results of the Hubert Vo's victory over Talmadge Heflin.
They are going to take three elections, give two back, and then claim that they are being fair about it.
Their whole endgame here is to keep Heflin, and not lose any seats. Craddick even said at a fundraiser in September that the Republican wouldn't lose seats ANY year that he was Speaker.
Opiela and Stick are just there to give the Republicans cover for overturning the results of the Hubert Vo's victory over Talmadge Heflin.
They are going to take three elections, give two back, and then claim that they are being fair about it.
Their whole endgame here is to keep Heflin, and not lose any seats. Craddick even said at a fundraiser in September that the Republican wouldn't lose seats ANY year that he was Speaker.
