Texas Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Mar 29, 2006 at 07:36 PM CST

• In SD-18, Democrats voted for a primary candidate who dropped out of the race a month before the election. So now the nominee is someone who isn't planning on campaigning. Then again, should we expect more from primary voters that give us a run-off with Gene Kelly? The worst part? This seat is currently held by (retiring) Democrat Ken Armbrister. So there goes the only potentially competitive State Senate seat this fall. Republicans +1 for a 20-11 edge in the Senate. Great.


• Eye on Williamson County has a new site as well as a report on a Trans-Texas Corridor forum in which Strayhorn gets a standing ovation, Kinky gets laughed at, and Bell goes 'wishy-washy' in the eye of the reporter.  Then again, what would you expect from a room full of Republicans.


• Greg gives commentary on the TDP and Chairman Soechting's tenure coming to a close and makes the following point (besides the fact that Chairman Soechting has sadly endorsed Rep. Al "Sexy Cheerleader" Edwards in the primary with blogosphere candidate Borris Miles.)

  link: Well, not unlike your own thoughts, I can't claim to really have any hard & fast opinion on what difference it makes who's in charge of the party at this point. We've tried the "up & coming star" model with Bill White. We've tried the "reformed Republican" model with Molly Beth. We've tried the "guy with deep pockets" approach with Soechting. And at the end of the day, none of them really seemed to have an answer.

  At this point, I'm not entirely sure that Richie or Maxey do either. And I'm also not entirely sure what relevance it will make if either is in charge. There's no money for the State Party to really claim to be doing much for candidates. There's no real resources outside of basic data that they have to offer. So color me doubtful. I have some good friends who put in a lot of quality time doing their damnest with the TDP and I'd love to see their work make a difference and matter.

  But the real question is whether the concept of a State Party is really relevant anymore. I think it's that point that Jerome and Markos really left only lightly touched on in "Crashing the Gate." Effectively, the state party chair now is Fred Baron. Like it or not.

  Fred Baron being the head trial lawyer funding the entity known as the Texas Democratic Trust, which is responsible for paying the salary of most all the staff at the TDP, which consists of the old Martin Frost team headed by Matt Angle, also of the Lone Star Project. Got that?



• In San Antonio, incumbent Oscar Kazen loses in the final recount to Laura Salinas in the primary for County Court at Law #9. The Jeffersonian has back story here and here.


• Speaking of another recount... PD says we should know the results of Carter Casteel's recount tomorrow.


• Looks like Leininger pissed off Tommy Merritt, who won his election against a Leininger clone. Rep. Merritt already won one defamation lawsuit, he's still finding more ways to pick apart the Leininger clone. Good. Now Merritt will face Patrick Franklin in the fall.


• Register for the Texas Young Democrats Convention, April 21-23 here in Austin.