Here in Texas, there's been a major split around the controversial Speaker of the House, Rep. Tom Craddick. These four Democrats (highlighted in red), who supported Speaker Craddick, drew challengers, and whether or not they win or lose -- coupled with other key TX House races we're watching in other threads -- could signal the potential defeat of Speaker Craddick.
To see a full list of how the TX House candidates are doing tonight, follow this link:
This past weekend I took a much needed vacation to Las Vegas, and imagine my surprise as I check into Bally's Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip and see none other that State Representative Dawnna Dukes.
Ross Ramsey at Texas Weekly deserves a hat tip for some diligent research and excellent reporting in breaking the Dukes campaign finance report and for those of you without a subscription, the Austin Political Report sums it up nicely.
To quote from that release, "The committee will oversee the process of addressing the issues of uncompensated hospital care and the establishment of market driven programs addressing the uninsured. Specifically, the committee will facilitate the design and development of any Medicaid waivers needed to affect reform."
Pretty important stuff for a lower-income East Austin district where Medicare and Medicaid are so vital to the community.
Who is the only thing missing from the hearing? Dawnna Dukes. Who needs a boring hearing on Medicaid when the seductive lure of the Las Vegas slots beckons.
Rep. Dawnna Dukes, the only "Democrat" on the Medicaid Reform Legislative Oversight Committee, actually skipped the hearing for a junket to Las Vegas. I wonder how that trip gets expensed on the next campaign finance report. I'd lay 10-1 odds that Bob Perry or some Republican lobby shop pick up the tab for that one as well.
Is Craddick funneling Bob Perry money through Hillco to Craddick D's?
The October monthly report filed by Hillco PAC with the Texas Ethics Commission is a fascinating read. I'd encourage all of you to take a look at it on the Texas Ethics Commission web site.
According to the ethics commission filings, and a recent Texas for Public Justice Lobby Watch report, Hillco PAC received $86,666 in contributions from 6 individuals, 5 of whom are Hillco employees. The 6th contributor to the Hillco PAC was none other than the largest Republican donor in the state of Texas, Houston homebuilder Bob Perry.
His $75,000 contribution to the Hillco PAC represented 87% of their contributions for the entire month.
Hillco spent around $90,000 in political expenditures for the month. Most of their contributions were a standard $1000 contribution to various state reps. and senators. However, 4 contributions raised some eyebrows for me.
Why did Hillco give $10,000 to Kevin Bailey, $10,000 to Dawnna Dukes, and $10,000 to Kino Flores. What do these three State Reps. have in common? I can think of three things; 1) They are all Craddick D's who have pledged their "absolute" loyalty to Speaker Craddick, 2) They are all potentially facing primary opponents, and 3) Each of them knows a direct contribution from Bob Perry wouldn't go over so well with Democratic primary voters in their deep blue district.
It has been well documented that primary opponents have already surfaced against Bailey and Flores, and the Austin political community continues to be full of chatter regarding a primary challenge to Dukes. Just ask Ron Wilson, Glenn Lewis, Jaime Capelo, Roberto Gutierrez, Al Edwards, what their primary voters thought of their allegiance to Speaker Craddick. Even Robert Puente made the decision to retire rather than fight in a primary, and he had over $200,000 in the bank. (Apparently loyalty to Craddick can be a costly decision.)
Obviously, Buddy Jones and Bill Miller are flowing Bob Perry money through their PAC to Craddick D's who appear to be in jeopardy. I assume this arrangement is carefully orchestrated by Craddick to make sure the Craddick D's who are facing democratic primary challenges have a way to get resources from one of his most prominent moneymen (Perry) without disclosing that on their own ethics filings. Considering the millions of dollars Bob Perry has contributed to candidates (mostly R's but also some D's), why didn't he just give the 10k directly to Kevin Bailey and Kino Flores and Dawnna Dukes? Why did he choose instead to funnel that money through Buddy Jones' PAC?
Armando Walle had a well-attended kick off for his primary campaign against Kevin Bailey (Craddick D- Houston).
Armando Walle had a great turnout the other night at his campaign kickoff for Texas House District 140. Linda at My Dee Dee's Pie Shoppe & Café is a great Democrat and her place is beautiful. Enjoying the fare were more than 100 family members, friends and supporters of Armando's bid for State Representative. Armando's wife, Debbie Dimas Walle, stood with him as he was warmly introduced by State Representative Ana E. Hernandez. Ana and Armando have been friends since their days as student leaders at the University of Houston.
This is an interesting primary to watch. Bailey represents a strong democratic district that is overwhelmingly Hispanic and African American. The last census data showed the district with just over 135,000 people and of that 109,159 are minorities.
The voter turnout is low in the district with a tad under 8,000 people voting in 2006. This is a district were community involvement and endorsements go along way. Without seeing any Bailey endorsements yet, Walle (the challenger), seems to be a front runner in both counts.
As an active community leader and six-year staff member to Congressman Gene Green, Armando is honored to have his former boss' support along with the support of District 140 precinct chairs, educators and business leaders. Among those in attendance Wednesday night were District H Council Member Adrian Garcia, longtime residents Sandra and Alfred Ortega, Frumencio Reyes of the Harris County Tejano Democrats, Martha Griffin, attorneys Lupe Navarro and Alfonso Kennard and even some fellow parishioners from St. Charles on Tidwell. Armando's roots in the district run deep as was evident on Wednesday night.
Walle's campaign seems to be focused on Bailey's early and strong support for Craddick seems to be the cornerstone of his campaign.
Representative Hernandez told the crowd that Democrats in the Texas House need Armando's leadership on crucial issues facing our state. Armando's remarks focused on fully restoring funding for children's health insurance, providing access to higher education and dealing with criminal justice issues. Armando did mention that the current Representative wasn't always voting in the interests of his constituents. Time and time again, Armando said, the incumbent sided with the Republican leadership against his constituents or failed to cast votes on matters important to the families in District 140. Armando pledged to work hard, to always put the needs of District 140 above politics and to stay true to the values of the district.
Of course, we support Democratic candidates, but Bailey's support for Craddick and the Republican leadership is a problem. As with any other Craddick D, announcing support to vote against Craddick and Turner (Craddick's Speaker Pro Tem) needs to be done now and with out hesitation. If not, we support any candidate willing to better represent their district and work to end the pay to play model instituted by Craddick and his top lieutenants in the House.
(This is a response to the post I made on Monday updating the Craddick D's. It's definitely worth a read. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
In response to a previous post on the Craddick D's, I'd like to offer a different perspective.
Tom Craddick is the single biggest roadblock to a more progressive agenda ever seeing the light of day in Texas! For example, if you believe in health care for kids and the elderly, more funding for public and higher education, progressive and reasonable tax policy that benefits the middle class, and a cleaner environment, then your single biggest obstacle is Tom Craddick.
When a member votes for Craddick, he or she votes for the person who is the single biggest roadblock to our core democratic values. What they do afterwards is almost irrelevant, because they just empowered the guy who will NOT allow good, meaningful things to happen. They can vote all day to fully restore CHIP, but when they start the session voting for the guy who will block it, then the game is rigged before it ever begins. The end result is a partial restoration of CHIP (which Craddick had to do anyway since his R's were getting killed at the polls on that issue). I would argue that for a handful of the biggest issues facing the state, the single biggest vote you cast is the vote for Speaker; in many ways it's the only one that matters since it dictates so much of what will inevitably happen on the House Floor. You can't exactly say, "I voted for Hitler, but damn if I didn't fight him all the way after that". Give me a break.
Some stories just slip through the cracks when there is an interesting U.S. Senate primary going on. Not sure if you noticed, but the primary map is getting interesting around the state.
Clay Robinson wrote a week ago that some “Craddick D’s” are more likely than others to garner primary opponents than others. His list included:
Among the so-called "Craddick Democrats" — Democratic House members viewed as loyal to Craddick, including a number of committee chairmen — those most likely to draw opponents in their party's primary include Kevin Bailey of Houston, Robert Puente of San Antonio, Aaron Peña of Edinburg and Kino Flores of Mission.
Two of those men have either a declared opponent or one looking at the possibilities--Aramando Walle and Roland Gutierrez has started making the moves to challenge Kevin Bailey and Robert Puente respectively.
Armando Walle, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Houston, is preparing to challenge Bailey, and San Antonio Councilman Roland Gutierrez is considering a race against Puente.
Another race of interest is Rick Noriega’s seat. Since Noriega cannot run for both a state and federal office his House Seat will be opening up. House District 145 has a few candidates interested.
Elias De La Garza, owner of a busy Gulf Freeway fronted insurance office, is being wooed for the House District 145 race as an alternative to Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and other potential contenders the local Democratic establishment might rally behind as a replacement for Noriega if Noriega gives up the seat.
There's also speculation Roy Morales, a retired Air Force Lt. Col. who ran twice for city council in the last two years, might run for the HD 145 race as a Republican in 2008.
All of these seats are known for being strong Democratic areas. While the newly created TexBlog PAC isn’t going to be involved in influencing the outcomes of these races, we will do our best to continue to cover them. If you have tips, news, or comments please feel free to write a journal or e-mail me at matt@burntorangereport.com.
Robert Puente (Craddick D- San Antonio) hasn’t been getting much good press in his hometown lately. The Express-News editorializes recent revelations of unethical practices between Puente, the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and lobbyist Marc Rodriguez.
The relationship between Puente and Marc A. Rodriguez became clear when the two reportedly entered a real estate venture together in Hays County, south of Austin.
Legislation to create a special utility district to include the venture came before the House Natural Resources Committee, which Puente chairs.
The San Antonio Democrat recused himself from the vote, but the issue raised eyebrows.
Now, reports that Puente bought a house on the city's South Side a year ago and sold it to Rodriguez in October at a profit have muddied the waters even more.
As a lobbyist, Rodriguez frequently asks Puente to carry bills on behalf of his clients. In addition, Puente, a lawyer, provided legal services to Rodriguez in a family matter in 2005, receiving a fee of between $5,000 and $10,000.
Roland Gutierrez, San Antonio City Council member, has taken notice of Puente’s actions.
"I can't judge Robert and I'm not going to," he said. "But politics is black and white because it involves a public trust.
"When it's gray, it's often regarded as black in the eyes of the public," he said.
In yesterday’s Express-News article, Jamie Castillo highlights the Puente/Rodriguez housing deal.
n addition to carrying various pieces of legislation that impacted Rodriguez's clients, Puente is a participant with Rodriguez in a joint real estate venture in Hays County.
And, according to an article published in Sunday's Express-News, Puente bought a foreclosed-upon house last year and turned around and sold it to Rodriguez four months later.
Puente cleared at least $24,000 in the transaction, which he said he used as part of his $140,000 investment in the Hays County deal.
(After Haggerty's Speech last night we have some new information. Make sure we're right and tell them how you feel. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Can the Craddick D's find redemption? Will they publicly support ending the Craddick regime? We remember the Craddick 15. We remember them picking ambition above helping Texas teachers. We remember them wanting chairmanships and plush committee assignments instead of ensuring our children had health insurance.
Now it is time for the Craddick 15 to remember the bigger pictuer- the greater good. Eddie Lucio III and Patrick Rose have publicly said that they no longer stand with Craddick. Call them and say thank you.
For the other 13, tell them to remember the broken promises. Tell them to remember that their constituents need them. Tell them to remember that the House is in turmoil and this Speaker has created a constitutional crisis. Tell them to stand up against Craddick, and tell them we will remember what happens in these final hours.
Now is the time for good Democrats to stand up.
These are their Capitol office numbers. Explain the importance of today's votes and ask where they stand on Craddick remaining as Speaker. Report back in the comments and we'll update this table.
