Presidential Vote in Dallas by House District

Community Organizer: Bob Romano (0.00 / 0)

Bob Romano (HD 105) is well-known in the Irving community. That might be why he got so many votes. He's been busy, too.

• Served 4 ½ years active duty in the United States Air Force during the Korean War era.
  
• Served as your Irving City Councilman - in Place 5 from 1999 to 2002.
  
• Irving resident and homeowner in District 105 for over 50 years.
  
• Served as Founder and Chairman of the Irving Veterans Memorial Park Committee. Worked for 7 years from the program inception to dedication.
  
• Served on the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission and the Preservation and Redevelopment Board.
  
• Served on the Dart Advisory Board.
  
• Served with the Irving Community Development Corporation.
  
• Served as Treasurer on the Committee for the Right to Vote.
  
• Associate in Arts and Sciences degree, NLC.
  
• Past President, IBM Quarter Century Club.
  
• Retired from IBM after 27 years of service in technical, management, staff and executive positions.
  

Also

• Charter member of the Holy Family of Nazareth Catholic Church.
  
• Member of the Irving Knights of Columbus.
  
• Member of the Irving Elks Lodge #2334
  
• Honorary Deputy Sheriff, Dallas County.
  

Veterans Memorial Park
644 Rock Island Road

A special veterans memorial was officially dedicated at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 23. The 76 names on the memorial are Irving residents who gave their lives in service to our country. These veterans served in wars and police actions conducted since the City of Irving was founded.  The first phase included nine flags and a parking lot. The Parks and Recreation Department will maintain the park.

"Thanks to the generous support of our community this memorial has become a reality," said Bob Romano, chairman of the Irving Veterans Memorial Park Committee. "We invite the public to join us for this special dedication."

Romano, a former councilman, presented the idea for the park to the City Council in 1998. Subsequently, the City Council authorized the use of the 1.9-acre site and provided seed money for the memorial project. The volunteer citizens committee has managed the construction of the park, the research of the veteran names and the fund-raising efforts. Several local businesses and residents have donated funds and in-kind services to make the memorial possible.

Veterans Memorial Park, Irving, Texas

Kudos to Mr. Romano. He's what it's all about.

Then there's Linda Harper-(why is her name hyphenated?) Brown:

Named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce, Linda helped attract Fortune 500 Companies, jobs and economic growth to Irving.

I don't see that economic growth. Since she is such an accomplished businesswoman (according to her bio) seems she could have figured out how to keep the Dallas Cowboys in Irving.

Maybe not.

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by: Elsbeth @ Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 04:07:32 AM UTC

Another view (0.00 / 0)

Bob has run several city Council races and never put much effort into any of them.  The one time he won, the prefrred candidate among local Democrats narrowly lost out on getting into the run off against a terrible reactionary incumbent.  The losing candidate and his supporters then grabbed Bob by the hair and dragged him across the run off finish line.

Bob started the Veterans Memorial but failed to raise the private funds to complete it as he pledged.  In 2006 Irivng voters had to bail it out with a bond election to finish the project after a decade!

Linda was good at sucking up to people with money.  

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by: irvingguy @ Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 17:08:33 PM UTC

Is this (0.00 / 0)

constructive criticism? I like to think you dance with the one that brung ya. No time for sour grapes, irvingguy. I've just read your previous comments and your previous diary on this same theme. Hey, Kirk England changed parties and I was not thrilled about that at the time. He was definitely a "Republican," too.

I have another story, too. I have at least two friends in Irving who are much more positive about Mr. Romano than you are. Neither had ever been part of the political process. Mr. Romano encouraged both her and her husband (both Hispanics) at their March 4th precinct convention to get involved and they were elected to attend their Democratic Senatorial District Convention. Both are now very engaged with politics.

That's another opinion about Mr. Romano for you. Maybe he's not the "professional politician" that Irving believes it deserves. But he's the Democrat we all need right now.

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by: Elsbeth @ Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 17:48:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I actually live here (0.00 / 0)

I've watched him throw away this state Rep seat TWICE.  You did remember that he ran as an independent in 2002, didn't you?  Democrats couldn't even find a candidate that year.

That is the true sign of his political leanings.  He had a clear path to the Democratic nomination in a year when three well funded candidates were running for US Senate, Governor, and Lt. Governor on the Democratic ticket.  He turned it down.

He has voted in the Republican primary in 1992, 1998 and 2000.

Persecution complexes are rife on the internet, Elsbeth, but face reality.  He suddenly won the Democratic primary in heavily Repubican precincts on election day in precincts like 4611, 4636, and 4640 even though all of those precincts swung hard right for Linda in November.

Romano was not the right candidate for the race this year.

Let it go.

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by: irvingguy @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 01:54:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Texas Democratic Party (0.00 / 0)

said this:

In a statement released by the Texas Democratic Party, Romano said, "In the coming days, my focus will be on doing everything I can to see that every ballot is counted and that every voter's intent is known. We must respect the voters, and protect the trust they have placed in our democracy. To that end, I intend to request a re-count of the ballots cast in this election."

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 02:41:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not the right candidate? (3.00 / 1)

You said, "Romano was not the right candidate for the race this year."  

He came within 25 votes of defeating a hyper-partisan, mean-spirited, reactionary opponent.  25 votes!  I appreciate the anti-Romano perspective of your postings, but I wonder if you're suggesting there was a better candidate.  If so, who was that?  

What did YOU do during the election?  It sounds like you're a supporter of Harper-Brown, which is fine, but undermines your credibility vis-a-vis Bob Romano's "right-ness" for the job.

I hope the recount changes the result.  But we should keep our eye on the ball -- getting rid of Linda Harper-Brown.      

DeeceX: making Texas safe for democracy

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by: DeeceX @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 16:22:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I attended the Romano vs Harper-Brown debate (3.00 / 1)

sponsored by the League of Women Voters in 2006.  Harper-Brown did not show up.  

Romano used the time well, and gave good reasons for his election.

I also attended a League of Women Voters debate for Harriet Miller and Tony Goolsby.  Like Harper-Brown, Goolsby did not show up.  

Harper-Brown well deserves the same kind of defeat that voters provided to the long disconnected Tony Goolsby.

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by: Tom Blackwell @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 08:36:49 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Got Lost on Priority List (0.00 / 0)

105 was on some radars.  However, I suspect that it just slide too low on the list of a region that had so many other priorities.  Dallas already had two protections, 106 and 107, and two strong targets, 101 and 102.  I'm not saying that this is an excuse, but it is what I believe happened.  (I actually wrote emails to Romano and several other candidates, shortly after the primary, encouraging them to go after their opponents for voting against HB 1919.  Every candidate except Romano either responded or put me on his/her email list.  Had Romano done so then I probably would have sent him money like I did with the other candidates.)

On a related topic, Branch gets a lot of cross over votes from Democrats.  He will be tough to beat.

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by: blank @ Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 21:08:34 PM UTC

E-mail List (0.00 / 0)

Well, I don't see him as an avid e-mailer. Nothing really wrong with that. ;)

irvingguy said in a previous comment that Romano had been a moderate Republican turned Democrat after 2004 and that Romano's Republican friends became Democrats (in the March '08 primary) and voted for him because they really wanted to defeat Ms. Harper-Brown which would explain why they didn't pay attention to the TDP's candidate. Oh, and these "Republicans" were part of Operation Chaos, too. Here it is.

So, apparently it was all part of that Rush Limbaugh-promoted Republican plot to help Hillary Clinton and Bob Romano, too.  And that's why Hillary won Texas and Romano won his primary. It was Rush.
 

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 01:12:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dan Branch gets crossovers? (0.00 / 0)

"blank", why do you believe that Dan Branch gets a lot of Democratic votes?  Who from our party is supporting him?  He was one of Bush's lead attorneys in the 2000 Bush v. Gore in Florida.

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by: Gangy @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 01:00:41 AM UTC

There was actually a group Democrats for Branch (0.00 / 0)

I know someone who received that mailer.  It was even signed by someone who attended the Democratic National Convention.  Branch outperformed McCain by 8 points and probably every other Republican in that district. He even out performed Lowell Cannaday.  

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by: tamsterbath @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 03:46:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Branch's amazing numbers (0.00 / 0)

I am well aware that Emil's campaign limped along with very little resources and party support.  However, doesn't it seem unbelievable that 8% of those who voted for Obama would vote for Branch?  If a Republican did not support the Bush/Cheney regime enough to vote for McCain's promises of more, why would they vote for one of Cheney's gang for state rep?  Why would a Democrat or Independent who likes Obama like Dan Branch?

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by: Gangy @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 04:12:22 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Obama won the higher income most (0.00 / 0)

educated demographics.  Highland/University Park is full of them.  They are the most likely ticket splitters too. Dan Branch had a huge amount of money and seems to be popular in his community.  

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by: tamsterbath @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 06:11:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Democrats remain annoyed with endorsements of Republican Branch (5.00 / 1)

Dan Branch is from the 'Ceverha wing' of the Republican Party.

CAPPY McGARR  (Who?  ... Who?)  was elected to a position on the Credentials Committee of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, but again repeated his endorsement of Republican Dan Branch for the Texas House.  Many legitimate Democrats competed for this position on the committee, but in the end were told to stay home.  I have a collection of similar letters signed by McGarr from previous years, endorsing Branch.

McGarr says he supports Branch because of his votes on a handful of bills that were, essentially, non-partisan.  Many non-partisan bills are passed by the Legislature, some unanimously.

McGarr and the other letter signers, including ex Democratic State Senator DAVID CAIN, ignore the record of Republican Branch to support the kind of redistricting that ended opportunities for Texas to hold certain important committee chair positions in the US House of Representatives.  This was done with schemes to end the careers of Martin Frost and Charles Stenholm.  Branch is also a long time lieutenant of Speaker Tom Craddick.  Together Branch and Craddick have supported programs that redistribute wealth from the mainstream economy to those who act like they are on the board of ENRON.  Those include efforts that resulted in substantial increases in residential electric bills, that serve speculators in 'electricity futures.'  Branch's campaign Treasurer is none other than Mary Ceverha, wife of Bill Ceverha.  Bill Ceverha, now reportedly bankrupt, was Treasurer of Tom DeLay's "Texans for a Republican Majority" - - discussed in this and simlar articles:

http://www.statesman.com/news/...

Here is the Branch endorsement letter by the so-called "Dallas Democrats for Dan Branch" that I received on October 27, 2008.

Click here:

http://DemocraticResearch.Org/...

- -

Here's more on Bill Ceverha:

http://www.nndb.com/people/233...

These Republicans have no limits.

http://bbs.ethics.state.tx.us/...

- -

Texas Democratic Party Rules provide for removal of persons from party offices who endorse candidates of competing parties.  However this does not appear to apply to National Convention positions.  I am calling on our DNC members to enact a similar rule on those that serve at the National level.  I think these National Convention Committee members (including me) should have to sign statements agreeing to support all the party nominees.

I was pleased to vote for Democrat Emil Reichstadt.

If Mr. McGarr cared so much about District 108, why doesn't he move?  Dallas County voter registration records show he is registered in District 114 (Hartnett).

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by: Tom Blackwell @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 08:18:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

That letter (0.00 / 0)

from Dan Branch to Dallas Democrats that you've linked to...  uses the word Democrat instead of Democratic (ugh)...it must have worked. Asking people to vote their interests not their party and clearly stating it all.

Was their any kind of response to it at the time?

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 20:35:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

To clarify (0.00 / 0)

I mean the "letter" must have worked. Not the incorrect use of Democrat(ic). :)

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by: Elsbeth @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 20:40:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

We'll never really know (5.00 / 1)

if any real Democrats were influenced by the Cappy McGarr - David Cain letter endorsing Dan Branch.  I sent out an EMail to Democrats, my Yahoogroups and my lists with my comments in opposition to it.  (We'll have to examine the finance reports filed by Treasurer Mary Ceverha to see how much they spent to print and mail it.)  It's amazing that Mr. Cain would believe he has influence with Democrats, after closing his last term as a State Senator with votes against important issues featured in the Texas Democratic Party Platform.

Another letter I wrote on the issue of Robin Hood funding of the public schools was published in the Park Cities People the week before the election - - but it was not a direct response to the McGarr & Cain letter.

The district includes all of the Park Cities and several precincts to the South that were once part of Harryette Ehrhardt's district.  (The district includes her home.)  There are a number of Democratic precincts in the district.  Some people who live there tell us they have been substantially ignored by Mr. Branch's office.  I have to recommend that those people go to the offices of nearby Democrats (like Rep. Vaught & Anchia) with their issues - - particularly issues involving outrageous electric rates. (We hear Mr. Cain is now an electic utility lobbyist.)  It appears for them to have any real relief they will have to hope for a better result after the 2010 census and 2011 redistricting.  They should prepare their testimony now for the upcoming hearings on redistricting.

They can also hope that there are enough real Democrats in the House that initiatives in opposition to their interests will not get very far, and that old initiatives that hurt them will come to be reversed.

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by: Tom Blackwell @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 22:59:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I dont think the comments on Emil are quite fair (0.00 / 0)

The campaign had problems, but there were a hell of a lot of obstacles thrown in his way. No need for recriminations, let's just say that 39% reflects neither what Reichstadt could do nor what dems could do in that district under better circumstances. There were a lot of strong progressive activists working their tails off for him who believed in the party and the candidate.

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by: Joel @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 04:09:48 AM UTC

just wanted to say (0.00 / 0)

The post was from a contributor with ties to Dallas, not myself, but it was good insight for the most part and though it good to post.

Please read the Community Guidelines and How to Rate Comments.

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by: Karl-Thomas Musselman @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 04:59:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

demographic shifts (3.00 / 2)

All of these districts in north and east dallas were helped by the Obama surge, but I wanted to share light on the recent demographic and political shifts in districts like 101 and 102. The Republicans still believe that these districts look like the ones they drew in 2001 through the LRB triumvirate of Cornyn, Strayhorn, and Dewhurst.

In 101, many Republicans and conservatives are leaving Mesquite area to move to Forney/Crandall, or to retire in one of those lake communities like Cedar Creek Lake or Lake Palestine in east texas. They have relied on the white evangelicals and old line Mesquite Republicans who don't have the pull anymore. Black and hispanic middle class families are replacing them in the new developments in Mesquite and Balch Springs. Credit goes to the Miklos campaign for working the district, knocking on every door and running a smart campaign against a candidate who thought his name id and service as mayor would carry him through. Robert will do a great job as state rep in this district.

In 102, High turnout along the Democratic middle class and high Democratic apartment precints along the LBJ corridor, and tamping down Republican margins in far north dallas and lake highlands was the key to victory. Carol and her tireless volunteers knocked on every door they could find, and made thousands of calls. This district has been shifting in these areas east of I-75 for years. The engineers and scientists of texas instruments and other companies are fiscally conservative but socially moderate. A good deal of them also live in district 112. They are the swing vote, and many of them have swung Democratic in the last two elections. The large african american vote in the district was energized and turned out. In the far north dallas area, the older Republicans are starting to move out and younger, more moderate affluent families are moving in.  Carol lives in Lake Highlands, an area where the single family home neighborhoods vote 65-35 GOP. She was able to bring that vote down to 55-45 in two precincts, and actually won one her home precinct that normally votes 65% Republican. She was a great candidate who has a strong organization in the district and will be a great representative for the entire district.

What we've seen is that once these urban-suburban Democrats win these first tough races, they get re-elected and the GOP has a hard time winning them back.

We need to target 105, 108, and give Hartnett a tough race in 114. I've heard that Branch wants to run for AG, but he may stay in the house.

I'm sure someone in Tarrant will do an analysis on what's going on there. I saw it knocking on doors for Chris Turner, but I believe Obama won the city of Arlington.

Dan Dodd deserves a good deal of credit in Collin County. Obama won more  precincts there than any Presidential Democrat in 30 years. I'd watch Jerry Madden's seat in the next two to three election cycles.  

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by: philtx @ Sun Nov 16, 2008 at 15:40:42 PM UTC

Good analysis Phil (0.00 / 0)

Can you share it Thursday night?

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by: tamsterbath @ Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 03:57:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

We dont know how many people voted in the pres. election (0.00 / 0)

but not the state rep. But it appears that Branch got about 3k Obama voters. Thats about 5% of the 108 statehouse electorate. Is that an appealing Democratic presidential pick, or an appealing (to the voters) Republican Statehouse pick?

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by: Joel @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 00:07:49 AM UTC

or something else! (0.00 / 0)

It's hard for me to imagine hardcore rich Republicans choosing only Obama as their non-straight-party vote.  It's also hard to imagine Obamafiles choosing Dan Branch.  Can someone explain this to me more convincingly?

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by: Gangy @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 03:18:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Branch gets more votes than McCain and more than Obama (3.00 / 1)

Branch got 3,452 more votes than did McCain in 108.  Branch got 5,942 more votes than Obama did in 108.  There were 169 voters in 108 who did not vote in the presidential race.  There were 3245 voters who did not vote in the state rep. race.  I don't understand how Branch could be that much more popular than each of the two main presidential candidates.  

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by: Gangy @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 05:23:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

If Branch got 3.4k more votes than McCain (0.00 / 0)

and there are so limited a number of Presidential abstentions, the only conclusion possible is that Branch swung about 3.3k Obama voters.
That's what happened. How did he do it, and how can we prevent it from happening again?

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by: Joel @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 05:38:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Simple... the Obama voters were not Democrats. They were Republicans. (0.00 / 0)

Better to say that Obama swung Branch voters to him.

Don't believe me?   Think about the example of the #1 Park Cities Republican, Wick Allison.

Chance to win these folks at the state level?  Come up with a well-known, moderate, charismatic Democrat from the area.  Dunno who that is.  

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by: Crispini @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 13:55:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

We hear the Ceverha wing of the Republican Party (3.00 / 1)

intends to run Dan Branch for a Statewide office in 2010.

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by: Tom Blackwell @ Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 23:05:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]