BREAKING: Final Provisional Ballots Give Harper-Brown 20 Vote Lead

What a story! (0.00 / 0)

Like Mike Krusee in 2006, Harper-Brown will -- if she escapes at all -- survive by the skin of her teeth against an inexperienced, underfunded candidate.  I have always thought her richly deserving of such ignominy.  

Surely the target on her back for the 2010 elections must be bigger than Texas Stadiun in Irving!    

DeeceX: making Texas safe for democracy

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by: DeeceX @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 04:46:49 AM UTC

bouncing an idea off the wall (0.00 / 0)

So the Vo-Heflin race was decided by a similar margin, and it went to the House to decide.  The committee hearings and everything weren't decided until close to February, long after the first day of session.

Now, I think that race went to the House because Heflin was alleging voter fraud.  If this race is pushed to the House to decide, that means Linda Harper Brown won't be seated and sworn in for the speaker's race, right?  Which means Republicans have a 75-74 working majority for the Speaker's election, and LHB's signature on that "gang of 13" document was worthless. Does that make sense?

Maybe Rep. Hartnett could comment on this as well, since he's now registered on BOR.  He managed the Vo-Heflin process incredibly well as master of discovery.  I'm honestly curious if a challenge would remove LHB's vote during the election of speaker - and on the flipside, if the same thing happened to Hopson, would we lose a vote on our side?

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by: Joe @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 05:13:35 AM UTC

Provisional ballots... (0.00 / 0)

They are proving to be far more important than anyone thought and of course provide the perfect means of manipulating a race. Particularly a race where the House, rather than the voters, might decide who won.

As for Will Hartnett, interesting how the Republicans love BOR as much as everyone else, he knows nothing of flip sides. He likes those two-headed coins.

Wonder if Kay Bailey Hutchison is lurking about.    

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by: Baby Snooks @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 11:48:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

not over by a long shot (0.00 / 0)

there is a recount and a challenge still left.

furthermore, mail ballots can be disqualified during the recount process for 1,000 reasons.

while i'm certainly holding out hope, the focus doesn't change: holding our caucus together and aligning with enough reasonable members in the opposition to change the House leadership.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 15:39:39 PM UTC

So sad to see so little candidate campaigning in 105 this cycle. (0.00 / 0)

Thank God Irving now has such a strong crop of precinct chairs across the city now.  Over 85% of populated precincts in HD 105 now have a precinct chair.

They walked, they called, they mailed, they did everything they were supposed to and I am so proud of them.

The new guard Democrats in Irving would do very well for themselves to inspect carefully the candidates offering themselves for office in 2010 to make sure they are young enough, vigorous enough, and tough enough to campaign effectively: raise truly adequate money, run professional campaigns, and actually try to turn out the Democratic vote in Democratic precincts.  

We must run young Democratic candidates now to take over western Dallas County in the future.

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by: irvingguy @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 15:40:45 PM UTC

To Irving Guy... (5.00 / 1)

Apparently Mr. Romano campaigned like mad because not only did he whip the "young Democratic" candidate in the primary he has yet but will once all the votes are counted whip Linda Harper-Brown.

You would do well to back the Democrat in the race not some import that no one has met.  Sorry you have hard feelings about Mr. Romano but he is the candidate and if he wants it he should have it with even your support.

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by: meow.meow.kitty @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 18:38:19 PM UTC

Cutting the kitty's claws (3.00 / 1)

Mr. Romano, though a nice man, is a moderate Republican who is part of a small group of moderate Irving Republicans who have always loathed Linda Harper-Brown and worked behind the scenes to defeat her.  Hopefully they will openly work to defeat her for re-nomination in 2010.

Mr. Romano voted in three Republican primaries between 1992 and 2004, according to VAN.  He never voted in a Democratic primary until he was running in it.

Mr. Romano won the 2008 primary because of heavy election day turnout in the Democratic primary in Republican precincts, after losing the early vote.  Anyone remember Operation Chaos? With the expected civil war between Perry and Hutchison in the 2010 GOP primary those voters will vote in their own primary.  

Democratic voters hopefully will recall that Mr. Romano failed three times to take the seat (don't forget, he ran as an Independent in 2002) even as a Democratic wave swept Irving and nominate someone who will work effectively enough and hard enough defeat meow.meow.kitty's probable employer, Mrs. Linda Harper-Brown.

And the then 76 year old Mr. Romano will have time to go deer hunting, as he told the Dallas Morning News he would rather be doing as the provisional ballots were being counted.

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by: irvingguy @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 22:07:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Romano asked for a recount (0.00 / 0)

DMN 11/11/08
Democrat Bob Romano seeks recount after losing Texas House District 105 race
04:28 PM CST on Tuesday, November 11, 2008
By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News

Democrat Bob Romano said this afternoon he will ask for a recount in his bid to unseat Republican State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown - a race that came down to 20 votes in the incumbent's favor among more than 40,000 ballots cast.

Ms. Harper-Brown held on in the razor-thin House District 105 race, when a Dallas County ballot board on Monday accepted 61 provisional ballots, despite Republican allegations of impropriety.

Her already tiny lead shrank -- from 34 to 20 votes -- after the provisional and overseas ballots were added to initial returns.

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by: sonia @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 22:26:07 PM UTC

To Irving Guy... (0.00 / 0)

Nice try, however there are tons of Republicans who have recently switched parties (ie Kirk England and many, many Dallas County Judicial candidates)  Does that mean that they aren't fit for service as Democrats?  

By your standard the only mark of a Democrat is that they actually voted in the Democratic primary.  That would leave tons of our elected officials out of the question.  

As far as the Democratic primary results, are you saying that Rush Limbaugh is working to elect Bob Romano in our primary?  Really, you must be kidding me.

I actually believe that it is you...Mr. Irving Guy who wants Linda Harper-Brown to win.  The balance of the House hangs with this election do you really want the Republican to win just because the HDCC, TDP, and the Irving Democrats left this election on the table because they were sore about the primary election?

Oh and by the way, there was no evidence that Mr. Romano's primary opponent had ever voted in a Democratic primary before this election.  Are you saying he's not fit for service?

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by: meow.meow.kitty @ Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 00:04:08 AM UTC

Ken Mayfield's Republican friends (0.00 / 0)

Voted for Rose Renfro in the Democratic primary two years ago.  If Scott Chase had won that primary we would have had an additional seat on the Dallas County Commissioners court.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if Harper-Brown's supporters voted for Romano in the D primary this year.

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by: tamsterbath @ Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 04:14:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Really Ken Mayfield's Friends... (0.00 / 0)

No kidding.  You're saying that Ken Mayfield's friends came over to the Democratic primary to vote for Rose Renfroe and that was the reason her opponent lost?

And now I'm hearing that Rush Limbaugh instructed folks to vote for Bob Romano in a primary.  Please this is just too much for me to swallow.

I think that we should give credit where credit is due.  Bob Romano won because he won.  Not because of some conspiracy.  We should have respect for him for running and winning.  And same with Rose Renfroe.

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by: meow.meow.kitty @ Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 16:34:53 PM UTC