The past 5 days TexBlog PAC has been raising money for Dan Barrett. Barrett won a plurality in this Fort Worth House seat against Republican Mark Shelton, and momentum is on the Democratic side.
We have already raised $764 of our $1200 goal and we still have until Wednesday to raise the rest. But don't support Dan because we tell you, let's talk about the race for House District 97 in Fort Worth. The importance of this runoff extends far beyond the districts boundaries.
Mark Shelton is Tom Craddick's guy. A candidate willing to sacrifice the needs of his district to protect a man who believes the Speaker has absolute power over the House. Just last Thursday, Tom Craddick had an afternoon fundraiser for Shelton at the Austin Club. While we are raising small donations from every Texan, Shelton only seems to be raising large donations from Republican lobbyists ready to pay to play.
As if to show the stark differences between the candidates, the United Educators Association has already endorsed Dan Barrett. So Shelton has support from one of the most corrupt Speakers in Texas history and Barrett has the support of Texas teachers. The release puts it simply:
The United Educators Association announced today their endorsement of Dan Barrett for Texas House of Representatives in District 97. The United Educators Association is an independent association representing more than 16,000 Texas public school employees in North Texas.
"Dan Barrett earned the endorsement of UEA through his commitment to the students, teachers and the Texas public education system" said Executive Director of UEA Larry Shaw.
Democrat Dan Barrett was the top vote getter in the November 6th Special Election to replace retiring State Representative Anna Mowery. He is facing Republican Mark Shelton in a run-off election expected to be held December 11th. Support of public education is expected to be a major issue in the election, with Barrett supporting public education and opposing vouchers and Shelton endorsing the use of public tax dollars to support a voucher program for private unregulated schools.
"We have to improve our public education system so it is second to none," stated Barrett whose mother was a secretary in the public school system for many years.
Other groups appear to be lining up to support Barrett as well. Rumors are circulating that many big name PACs, unions and organizations will be joining TexBlog PAC and UEA once the Election Date is set.
While education groups are lining up to support Barrett in the Fort Worth special election, Dr. Mark Shelton shows how naïve he is about public policy and his own profession. In a recent forum, Shelton talks about chips… not sure what chips is (other than what I eat during the game on Thanksgiving). As a doctor and a pediatrician, you would think Shelton would know that SCHIP (not chips) is a program designed to help uninsured children get the medical attention they need. Shelton opposes the State Children's Insurance Program saying the incentives are "wrong and perverse".
This is one of the few times you really need to click a link. So please watch the League of Women Voters forum here.
Here are some of the highlights that show that Shelton is just plain wrong:
That he has it exactly backwards, CHIP creates incentives for children to see their doctor before getting so sick they end up in the emergency room;
That CHIP has nothing to do with Medicaid, principally because working families (who can't afford private insurance) are actually buying insurance while Medicaid is a benefit for the needy;
That the man he backs for Speaker is behind all the cuts and mismanagement that cost 200,000 children their access to health care;
That it's amazing, of all people, a pediatrician is, as he might put it, so "wrong in the perverse."
Shelton is clearly bad for his district and the state of Texas. He plays dirty political tricks to win elections and has no clue about the biggest issues of our day.
Democrat Dan Barrett led in all voting for the race to replace Rep. Anna Mowery in House District 97. You can see the full numbers from my post on the race, and I've reproduced the important results below:
Candidate
Early Vote
Percent
Total Votes
Percent
Dan Barrett (D)
1918
32.48%
5575
31.54%
Mark M. Shelton (R)
1138
19.27%
4047
22.89%
Bob Leonard (R)
1287
21.8%
3294
18.63%
Craig Goldman (R)
956
16.19%
2947
16.67%
Total Votes Cast
5905
17678
Given those results, let's look at the "price per vote" based on the 8-day out report -- therefore not even counting the cash-on-hand that was spent in the final days, the $25,000 contribution to Leonard in the final days, or the $50,000 Shelton loaned to his own campaign:
Candidate
Total Votes
Expenditures
Average "Price-per-vote"
Dan Barrett (D)
5575
$35,877
$6.44
Mark M. Shelton (R)
4047
$37,096
$9.17
Bob Leonard (R)
3294
$83,096
$25.23
Craig Goldman (R)
2947
$107,327
$36.42
Totals
15368
$263,396
$17.14
Democrat Dan Barrett got almost twice as many votes as Craddick's top candidate, Craig Goldman, and he did so by only spending 17.7%as much per vote. IMAGINE what can be done with a well-funded campaign!
Barrett leads going into the runoff, and that's with spending the least amount of cash of any competitor. Now that he's proved he can compete, Barrett is sure to get the attention of Democrats across the state. And who knows what will happen in the run-off, especially given the stakes.
Barrett is on the right side of many of the issues, too. He's an unquestionable supporter of CHIP, and is opposed to the expanding boondoggle that is the Trans-Texas Corridor. And, perhaps most importantly, he is clearly opposed to Speaker Craddick -- successfully using Craddick in the "6 pawns" direct mail piece. And running against Craddick, as the numbers showed us tonight, is a successfuly strategy.
Craig Goldman, who finished fourth, was strongly backed by Speaker Craddick and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Craddick even showed up and hosted a fundraiser for Goldman in Austin. And what did Craddick's support earn him? Fourth place. Craddick's support automatically taints any candidate it touches -- actually harming candidates in the process.
This very well could prove the different for Barrett, and allow him to win the special election. Shelton, who is heading for the run-off, is also a strong supporter of Craddick. Is he just as doomed to meet his fate? Only time will tell, but a year out from one of the most important election cycles in the history of the Texas House, the Republican Speaker is performing terribly.
All the numbers are below. Feel free to talk about any other races -- national or local -- in those posts or here. If you're looking for it, Swing State Project has a list of all the national elections they're watching on one page.
From Kirk McPike: Democrat Joel Burns is well ahead in the early vote returns in the special election for Fort Worth City Council District 9. Burns is running to complete the unexpired term of Wendy Davis, who is likely to be the Democratic candidate against state Senator Kim Brimer in 2008. Updated results can be found here. In a crowded field of six candidates, Burns almost came out of early vote strong enough to not need a run-off. Perhaps election day voting will drive his numbers north of 50. Republican political consultant Chris Turner trails in distant third place, as of early voting.
This thread will keep you up to date on all the latest news regarding the race to fill the vacancy in House District 97. Here is the link to the Secretary of State's website, in case you're looking for more up-to-the-minute results.
Final update: With 45 of 45 precincts reporting, here are the numbers.
Candidate
Early Vote
Percent
Total Votes
Percent
Dan Barrett (D)
1918
32.48%
5575
31.54%
Mark M. Shelton (R)
1138
19.27%
4047
22.89%
Bob Leonard (R)
1287
21.8%
3294
18.63%
Craig Goldman (R)
956
16.19%
2947
16.67%
Jeff Humber (R)
273
4.62%
925
5.23%
Chris Hatch (R)
201
3.4%
515
2.91%
James Dean Schull (R)
132
2.24%
375
2.12%
Total Votes Cast
5905
17678
As a refresher, Dan Barrett is (of course), the one and only Demcorat running, someone who we beleive will make the run-off at least. Bob Leonard received a $25,000 kick from Charles Butt yesterday (who has financed many of the Parent PAC groups), and he has not officially said whether or not he would support Speaker Craddick. Craig Goldman is considered the "Craddick candidate" in the race.
Matt wrote earlier about possible voter suppression in Tarrant County. We're going to try and get more information for you on that as the night progresses. In the mean time, comment away in the post below.
This thread will be for the 16 constitutional amendments before Texas voters. We'll try to update these numbers every half hour or so, but here's the link to the Secretary of State page.
Here's the numbers as of approximately 8:20pm:
Prop 15: Creation of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
In favor: 63.54%
Against: 36.46%
See all the results below -- all the propositions are passing as of 8:00pm. I'll probably only update these once more before we get the final tallies in, since nothing is close, and because I'm trying to write a philosophy paper about the ethics of free trade. Remember, I'm a couple thousand miles away and still doing all this for you, oh loyal reader. Show some appreciation by donating to the TexBlog PAC.
On top of 16 Constitutional Amendments, District 9 has Six running in a special election because Councilwoman Wendy Davis resigned to challenge Kim Brimer in SD-10.
As the Star-Telegram reports:
The flier has been distributed to voters in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of Rosemont and Worth Heights in south Fort Worth, county officials said. Both neighborhoods are in District 9.
The Tarrant County district attorney's office has assigned two investigators to collect information on who distributed the flier, said Marvin Collins, chief of the office's civil division. So far, county officials have very little information.
"If the intent was to confuse people, then that was a despicable thing to do," Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn said.
the first declared Democrat candidate for the open HD 97 seat vacated by Anna Mowery is 2006 candidate Dan Barrett. Dan declared, to approving applause, "a Democrat is going to win District 97!".
Dan's a great candidate, excellent lawyer, and gave Mowery a good fight in 2006 picking up 41% of the vote in a strong Republican district. If we can avoid a multiple candidate battle in this November special election you can expect that any and all resources throughout the county will descend upon 97. By the way, Dan's performance marked the strongest by a Democrat against Mowery, who traditionally won by 60% or more, but only managed 55% in 2006.
Looking at the Secretary of State's site today, it seems like the Democrats in HD 97 agree that Dan Barrett is a solid candidate and excitingly he is the only Democrat in the race.
Because of the 6 vs. 1 nature of this race, the race is likely to have a runoff and the Democrat has a great chance of being in that runoff. With a December runoff, turnout will be incredibly low, and anything is possible if Democrats can stay motivated and turnout.
The real trick is going to see how bad the Republicans attack each other, and I bet it gets ugly.
(Some of you will remember Matt H. from when he was a guest writer here at BOR. Now he's working on a special election in Georgia. The places we go... - promoted by KT)
I'm currently working with the James Marlow campaign (check out their blog, which is an important special election to fill the seat vacated by the late Charlie Norwood.
What's so important about this race? Marlow is the only candidate talking seriously about the war, while his main opponent said "it's not a big issue in our district."
Do you know one of the best ways you can help end the war in Iraq and start an honorable withdrawal? Help me convince voters in a red district that the President is wrong on Iraq and to vote for me in a special election next month to override the President's veto of troop funding and an honorable withdrawal.
I'm James Marlow and I'm a Democratic candidate running for Congress in Georgia to fill the seat vacated by Charles Norwood.
Our military has done its job - it won the war against Saddam Hussein’s armed forces four years ago, it removed his government from power, and it brought him to justice. The Bush Administration, however, failed to plan for the day after the war was won, and our brave men and women in uniform are still putting themselves at risk every day because of it.
Americans voted to end the war in November. The President didn't listen. For most of the country, voters don't get another say for another 18 months. Fortunately, we have another accountability moment coming up with national implications. On June 19, Georgia voters will decide whether to end the war by voting for me or to stay stuck in somebody else's civil war for years to come by voting for one of my Republican opponents who blindly support the President's position.
As expected, the Dallas Mayor race is headed to a runoff, between the two top fundraisers in the race: Tom Leppert and BOR honorable mention Ed Oakley. BOR honorable mention Don Hill was a distant third. BOR endorsed candidate Sam Coats ran sixth. I do want to give some mad props to Jennifer Gale, as KT alluded to earlier. Ms Gale is a transsexual homeless former Marine who has run for office multiple times. She managed to finish in ninth place out of the eleven candidates!
Other BOR endorsed candidates, Councilmembers Pauline Medrano and Angela Hunt both won decisive victories. Joseph Hernandez and Betty Culbreath will both be sent into June runoffs in their respective races. Jill Kotvis barely missed making a runoff by less than a percentage point. And as for me, John McClelland, I lost by a decisive margin.
Click here for the Dallas County joint election totals.
