Burnt Orange Report

University Democrats Endorsements for 2005 Contitutional Amendment Election

By Damon McCullar

I would like to apologize to my readers (i.e. fan base, especially Baby Snooks...love ya Snooks!) that I've not been writing much lately. My laptop suffered a material failure (i.e. it broke) and I will be sans computer for a few weeks. I will try to keep up my weekly segments, but otherwise I might fall off the radar for awhile.

Last night, University Democrats received a report from the issues committee and debated the proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot for 2005. University Democrats had the following endorsements:

State Constitutional Amendments
1 – Oppose
2 – Oppose
3 – Support
4 – Support
5 – Oppose
6 – Support
7 – Oppose
8 – Oppose
9 – Oppose

The wording of the proposed amendments can be found here. Analysis from the Texas Legislative Counsel can be found here.

University Democrats also voted to support all Travis County Bond Propositions on the ballot in November.

Get Galvan-ized?

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Odd Online Video award goes to Houston City Council Candidate for Place 3 At Large James Partsch-Galvan. His website, www.galvan.org forwards to the City of Houston site for some reason, but click here to get weirded out by the video ad and get 'galvanized for the revolution'.

Slightly less odd, though with his own pair of blackened glasses, the Kinky ad for those that somehow missed it (I never realized we didn't front page that one).

Oh, and check out http://www.dcdebate.com/ which just launched. I note that they are using WordPress which I'm a big fan of and using on a site that is almost ready for linkage here.

Mobile, AL Elects First Black Mayor

By Phillip Martin

On Tuesday, Sam Jones was elected as mayor of Mobile, Alabama, making him the first African American to serve as mayor of that community. From the Mobile Register:

"This is a new era," Jones told an enthusiastic throng at the Ashbury Hotel and Suites along Interstate 65, where he made his entry behind a brass band playing Mardi Gras tunes. "People throughout this community have come together to chart a new direction for the city of Mobile...this is no time to be divided."

The article points out that Mobile's population is about 50 percent white and 46 percent black, making it an even balance for the community. Mobile joins Birmingham and Selma as other Alabama cities to have elected black mayors.

"I'd really like to see us get to the point where race is not an issue for us, not just in voting, but in how we live in Mobile," Jones said Tuesday while the polls were open. "We're still some ways away from that. I'm realistic about that. But that should be our goal."

One of the first jobs of Mayor-Elect Jones will be to help Mobile rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. A brief article in Industry Week points out that, while much of the national attention has been paid to New Orleans and Louisiana, both Alabama and Mississippi are facing significant economic losses from the storm.

In Alabama, the hurricane "devastated the Alabama state docks in Mobile, smashing barges, flooding warehouses and inundating piers at the 12th largest port in the country. . . . The damage also puts a temporary crimp in the $9-billion-a-year export business that sends Alabama's coal, medical instruments, chemicals and timber around the globe."

Mobile is located right on the Gulf Coast. FEMA has earmarked $5.2 million in disaster aid for Mobile and surrounding areas, as well as 1.17 million liters of water, 9.7 million pounds of ice, and 1.26 million MREs throughout the disaster area.

A Breakthrough Ad

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Thank to PinkDome for bringing this to our attention, but for progressives and the GLBT community, this ad by candidate Brian Ellner for Manhattan Borough President is really powerful. Take a look.

Here's a listing of all the candidates and some background on this wide open race.

Hackett Election - FINAL (for now)

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This is a new thread; I was tired of writing on the old one. Not that there will be many updates from here because I feel this will drag into the morning but here is the latest and a quick recap.

FINAL RESULTS

DEM - PAUL HACKETT 55151 48.25%
REP - JEAN SCHMIDT 59132 51.74%

(That's just under a 4000 vote gap from the rest of Clermont's 91 now reported precincts. But only a 3.5% win for Schmidt if it holds. I think this falls into being a major Big Deal, according to even the Cook Political Report.)

note: And just to cover our bases WCPO reports their final numbers slightly lower overall, but about the same margin. It will be resolved by morning though I'm tempted to believe the first set as it's from the Hamilton County Board of Elections, not the media.

And from Mydd.com

It's tied 50-50 percent, with 870 votes separating Hackett from the lead. And all that's left is the 91 Precincts in Clermont County.

* The reason the 91 precincts have not reported in Clermont County has to do with problems with the voting machines there. They are being counted by hand. Stay tuned. Gather everything you can about voting "irregularities" in the district. Be ready to use the f-word, and I'm not talking about "fuck."

from a mydd.com commentor

It was reported on the news at 10 that Clermont was slow becuase of the extreme humidity causing the ballots to stick. That report was from a Republican at the Schmidt camp.

Now I'm not one to call fraud all that soon or easily and I'm not about to now. But I'm also not on the ground up there. I'd keep an eye on MyDD or the Swing State Project for updates henceforth.

Results Tonight- Updating

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

In an hour the polls will be closed. Results should start flowing in here, here, or here. A number of counties are using punch cards so that may slow things down some, others are using optical scan. There are no Diebold machines in this district for this election.

Texans, it's about inspiration tonight. We've already won but let's see if we pick up a Congressional Seat while we are at it. You also have 2285 reasons to be proud.

I'll be sitting on the Swing State Project tonight as well for updates. Bless the Ohio-2 blog, it's bandwidth went overboard earlier today and is now dead.

UPDATE:

Here is an interactive visual. Then go compare these and ANY numbers to what the final numbers were in the last Republican blowout election in this district last fall at CNN.

Absentee Ballots in from Hamilton.
Absentee Ballots in from Brown. Hackett wins Brown absentee 53-47!

UPDATE

Brown has now counted more ballots, Hackett extends lead to 56%-43%!

New better soure for total results is now Channel Cincinnati.

Paul Hackett (D) 6,562 51%
Jean Schmidt (R) 6,276 49%

This isn't supposed to happen folks. 7% Reporting. A lot of this absentee.

UPDATE

WCPO now ahead of the other sources in reporting.

US HOUSE Ohio 2nd Dist
175 precincts of 753 reporting (23% Reporting)
PAUL HACKETT 13,512 51%
JEAN SCHMIDT 12,802 49%

UPDATE:

Looks like Brown is done counting though their numbers don't seem to be reflected correctly on some other aggregate pages. Final Brown County (was 72% Republican in Portman's 04 race) with 24% county turnout...

PAUL HACKETT (DEM) . . . . . . . 3,950 55.92
JEAN SCHMIDT (REP) . . . . . . . 3,100 43.88

UPDATE

Moving to Extended Entry. MyDD posts the counties weight vote wise for the overall district.

I almost can't believe it right now. Though Brown updated their vote totals some above, Other counties are now coming out with initial numbers here (I know it's slow loading). Moving to extended entry.

Clermont County:

Schmidt: 1,158 votes (61%)
Hackett: 750 votes (39%)

0% of precincts reporting
absentee ballots reporting

Hamilton County:

Schmidt: 8,859 votes (48%)
Hackett: 9,475 votes (52%)
123 out of 342 precincts reporting

Warren County:

Schmidt: 4,608 votes (57%)
Hackett: 3,523 votes (43%)
61 of 89 precincts reporting

Brown County:

Schmidt: 1,692 votes (43%)
Hackett: 2,279 votes (57%)

100% of precincts reporting

Pike County:

Schmidt: 611 votes (39%)
Hackett: 965 votes (61%)

12 of 24 precincts reporting

Adams County:

Schmidt: 944 votes (42%)
Hackett: 1,298 votes (58%)

12 of 35 precincts reporting

Scioto County:

Schmidt: 1,213 votes (34%)
Hackett: 2,379 votes (66%)

50 out of 70 precincts reporting

UPDATE

Turnout higher than expected reports Mydd. Clermont results coming in, found here. Need to limit damage in this county. 100 of 191 Precincts Reporting.

JEAN SCHMIDT 7869 56.24%
PAUL HACKETT 6099 43.59%

Overall viw WCPO...

580 precincts of 753 reporting
JEAN SCHMIDT 45,134 52%
PAUL HACKETT 42,342 48%

UPDATE

Looks like we are going to close out the night by less than 1000 votes down, meaning automatic recount. Though by any any all pre-forcasted standards, this was an absolute blow to the GOP, Jerome suggests to gather any info about possibly irregularities for the automatic recount. Hell, we don't need to win it to have won, but it sure would be nice to.

91 precints remaining in Clermont (which broke for Schmidt but is down 21 points from the last Congressional election there)

DEM - PAUL HACKETT 48811 49.56%
REP - JEAN SCHMIDT 49681 50.44%

UPDATE:

Doesn't look like there will be a recount for sure, and heck, I don't think I could stand to go through with one. Let's use the narrative we have, not get embroiled in a recount. There is no way the Republicans can say they won tonight on every level except one. Because they didn't gain a seat. They lost tens of percentage point, credibility, and soon the spin war.

Are we ready for 2006 Texas?

24 Hours from Now

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

This time tomorrow night the special election in OH-2 should be over. But what happens between now and then will make all the difference for Paul Hackett (and if one more BOR reader donates $25 to put our Texas efforts over $2,200 and BOR's over $200 as a result, I'll be content and not mention it again).

But what has happened up to this point is short of amazing. Though we may not win (and though we may!) we have done more than fight the good fight. We have been inspired and are testing a concept that should be the standard for our Party in 2006. Call it a "50 State Strategy". Call it the "Run. Everywhere" Strategy. It's about us realizing that in a political world where the focus is on each individual election we lose sight of the bigger picture and that hurts the person who runs for office the next go round.

It's about Party Building. It's about Spreading the Message. And it's also about Hope.

We will never "Change the Equation" as Austin elections guru Glen Maxey would say if we keep fighting over a shrinking pool of voters in fewer and fewer districts per cycle. Is Glen leading the No Nonsense in November campaign just because he has November 8 in mind? Hardly.

It's about using the campaign to spread a message that gay people aren't straight people's worst enemy in this state. It's about changing minds and building support so that even if we lose, we shift 10% of people's minds about equal rights. We shift national polls by a few points permanently because Texas moved. We prepare ourselves for decades down the road when equal marriage rights become a reality. And we shift the end date of that realization sooner.

And it's more than that. It's about the Texas House in 2006. You think the results and data garnered off of NNiN won't be used to help unseat Todd Baxter, Martha Wong, and grab Keel's open seat? Just because every other office other than Governor seems to be generating little interest from Democrats in 2006 doesn't mean we shouldn't be running in them. The candidate in 2010 will be thankful for the groundwork laid now. And what the hell, in the worst case we might actually win a couple.

So here's the deal. If you are reading this and can physically make it to Ohio, go. If you can spare a brother a dime, do so. But above anything else, take this concept to heart as we prepare to Step Up and fight the good fight for our future, as a state and a Party.

Honorary Texan: $2,050.25 - Update

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Thanks to two more BOR Contributors who pitched in $40 to the cause and a $50 donation from someone who came from a comment of mine over at the SwingStateProject, we've now exceeded the $2,000 mark with 52 contributors.

In this MyDD post, you can see that on Thursday, Hackett registered the most blog posts in a day to date. That also happened to be the same day we launched our Honorary Texan Project, so all of you who wrote about it, that's you. Everything's bigger with Texas...

New Totals...

Richard Morrison - $1385.20
Burnt Orange Report - $175.02
PinkDome - $80.01
Other Texas Bloggers - $70.00
Daily Kos Diary - $60.02
Off the Kuff - $50.00
Swing State Project - $50.00 $60.00
SaveTexasReps - $25.00

And now after long last, we thank Greg, the originator of the idea, for donating $25.00. We look forward as well Greg getting back to Texas politics next week.

Texans for Hackett- Update!

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wow. I honestly didn't expect our Honorary Texan project to be this successful and was hoping that at least the awareness of Paul Hackett's race would get to more Texans because of the effort.

UPDATE: But in the past two days, as of this writing, 42 49 people have contributed $1,200 $1,925.25 at an average of $28.45 $39.29 per donation. Can we make it to 50 donors or $2000 this weekend? Will one of our Burnt Orange readers step up to the task of putting us over one of these marks (or both!)? We are now the 37th highest list on ActBlue! And check out Annatopia's scoop on what Hackett's opponent's campaign manager does while running a Family Values campaign. The website CollarMe.com comes into play...

NOTE: Totals for SaveTexasReps corrected and moved to Richard Morrison for credit due to a refcode error.

Richard Morrison - $705.20 $1385.20
Burnt Orange Report - $135.02
PinkDome - $80.01
Daily Kos Diary - $60.02
Off the Kuff - $50.00
Other Texas Bloggers - $45.00 $70.00
SaveTexasReps - $25.00
Greg's Opinion - Lots of clickthroughs but no donors yet :(

Thanks to all of those below who have posted about this effort and to all those I haven’t caught yet. Remember, it's not too late to donate. And be sure to check out the DCCC's ad which just went live in the district, it's a good one (if you realize that Gov. Taft there has approval rating less than 20%). And keep up with the Swing State Project for the latest on the ground news.

PinkDome

Greg Wythe

The Red State

Annatopia

Common Sense

Ohio 2nd

Brains and Eggs

Texas Truth Serum

Latinos for Texas

Eye on Williamson County

Save Texas Reps (And in this case Ohio too!)

Southpaw

Stout Dem Blog

National Journal Blogometer

Ohio 2nd

Texas Politics Blog

--Added--
Houtopia

Brown Bag Blog

Plus, look what happens when you search for Honorary Texan right now. And here are the results of our own blogburst for Honorary Texan Paul Hackett.

Texas Thursday: Paul Hackett

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Inspired by Greg Wythe when he bestowed the title of Honorary Texan on Paul Hackett, Texas Bloggers, led by Burnt Orange Report, Off the Kuff, PinkDome, and Greg’s Opinion are calling today upon all Texans (and friends of Texas) to join ranks and donate towards the very cause we have been arguing for this past week- Run Everywhere, because it's what our Party and our Democracy needs.

His success is our success, not just as Texas Democrats, but as Democrats period.

"Paul Hackett is hereby granted "Temporary Texan" status from now and election day in the Ohio 2nd (August 2). I'm pretty sure I have no legal standing whatsoever to convey Texan-ship, but who am I to let that stop me?"

Certainly not us Greg. So join us today, in a special edition, Texas Thursday, for Honorary Texan Paul Hackett. Let's roll.

I'll be tracking the results through the day from various blogs as well as from Daily Kos contributors.

No Nonsense In November Lauches Website

By Damon McCullar

Former State Rep. Glen Maxey and Company have launched www.nononsenseinnovember.com. This is a website where folks can go to:

Get updates about campaign activities and find out how to work to defeat the amendment in your area and download tools you can use to organize in your area.

Pledge to vote against the proposition and send a message that you will not be a part of this nonsense that would use our most sacred document – the Constitution – to discriminate against someTexasfamilies.

Volunteer to fight the amendment. Our regional offices will be fully staffed and in high gear in August, and we’ll need committed people like you to help us.

Donate to the cause. We are less than 15 weeks away from the vote and have much to do throughout the state. A well-funded campaign is critical to maximizing voter turnout. Because this is a ballot measure, our PAC can take money from individuals, churches, corporations, just about anyone who wishes to support us, except foreign nationals.

Glen will also be doing a radio special on Lamda Weekly, the nation's oldest continuous gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender talk radio show. The special will be on Sunday, July 31st at 1pm. Lamda Weekly can be heard on KNON, 89.3 on the FM band in North Texas or at www.KNON.org. Click "Listen Now" for live streaming audio.

Alliance for Social Justice: University of Texas Brigade
In other news, a group has been started on the campus of UT to oppose the amendment banning same-sex marriage in Texas. It's called The Alliance for Social Justice: University of Texas Brigade. It's a group of concerned students, staff and faculty that will be educating other students about the amendment, create
unique and powerful demonstrations against the initiative, and host weekly meetings to stay unified. The group is on Yahoo Groups. Check it out. There will be an organizational meeting on Thursday and I should have more about the group after that.

A Note From Glen Maxey

By Damon McCullar

Glen posted this comment to my post about the campaign against the same-sex marriage ban that will be on the ballot this fall. I thought it deserved to be moved to the front page. Take it away Glen:

When life give you lemons, you make lemonade. The folks who proposed this amendment wanted to use it as an organizing tool for their political purposes. Well, I have news for them. We're going to take the issue head on and win this thing. But however it comes out, there will be on the ground results for our side that will stagger us all. This is not a four month battle, it's a war. We're in it for the long haul.

If you want to help or just endorse the campaign, drop me a line at Glen@NoNonsenseinNovember.com

Glen Maxey

Former Rep. Glen Maxey To Head Fight Against Same-Sex Marriage Ban

By Damon McCullar

From the LGRL release:

AUSTIN, TX - Former State Representative Glen Maxey of Austin has been named Campaign Director in the mounting effort to keep discriminatory language out of the Texas Constitution.

"We are excited and pleased to announce that the search for a campaign director to lead the coalition of Texans opposed to HJR 6 has been concluded, and that one of the premier political organizers in Texas will be at the helm," announced Jill Ireland and John Hintz, co-chairs of the Board of Directors of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas. "Glen Maxey will bring his thirty-five years of experience to this critical civil rights battle to stop the enshrinement in our state Constitution of this unnecessary and discriminatory ballot measure."

Maxey will lead the effort to defeat the constitutional amendment prohibiting recognition of civil marriage or civil unions between persons of the same gender which the Legislature has placed on the November, 2005 statewide ballot.

"I'm eager to use my experience to bring a broad coalition of fair-minded Texans together to say 'No' to this nonsense in November. With public education, health care access, and rational and fair tax policy languishing, the Legislature spent their time and our tax dollars enacting this divisive, unnecessary amendment. They now are asking Texans to rubber stamp their efforts to deny many Texans the basic civil rights to protect their relationships and their family's property and inheritance rights, hospital visitation, and the hundreds of other rights and responsibilities brought by a civil marriage or civil union," said Maxey.

"This political wedge issue is a diversion from the real work the legislature failed to address. Texans understand that same-sex marriages are already illegal in Texas and that it is nonsense to, for the first time in history, use the most sacred document of the State of Texas, our Constitution, as a vehicle to deny rights, instead of protect people's rights," continued Maxey.

"Most Texans are embarrassed that they are being asked to ratify this kind of bigotry. We will mobilize them to act this November and vote to stop this nonsense."

Maxey, 53, is a native of Baytown, Texas and holds a Masters Degree in Education and a B.S. in Social Rehabilitation and Social Services from Sam Houston State University. He has a 35 year career in political activism, campaign management, and public policy. He has participated in hundreds of electoral campaigns ranging from municipal, county and school elections to Presidential campaigns and issue referendums. He was instrumental in the historic grass roots effort that helped elect Governor Ann Richards in 1990 and was the Texas statewide coordinator for Gov. Howard Dean's campaign in 2004. He has been an integral part of statewide campaigns for over three decades. His leadership in 2004 resulted in a historic voter turnout in Travis County local elections.

Long active in politics, he was a legislative aide to two state senators from 1981 to 1986, followed by four years as the Executive Director and lead lobbyist for the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, where he led the efforts to enact rational HIV/AIDS policy during the hysteria of the AIDS epidemic in a hostile legislative environment.

He was elected to the Texas House in 1991 and made history as the first openly gay elected official in Texas. He served six terms in the Legislature before retiring in 2003. Serving on the Public Health, Human Services, and Appropriations Committees, he earned a reputation for being an expert on the legislative process, and he passed hundreds of bills during his tenure. He earned Legislator of the Year awards from dozens of organizations ranging from Common Cause and the Gray Panthers to the Sierra Club and the Texas Nurses Association. He was recognized as the House leader in the efforts to create the Children's Health Insurance Program, which brought health insurance coverage to 500,000 kids, and for his work on disability issues.