In case you missed it, here are just a few of the Texans who have made news in the past few weeks.
Wendy Davis!
Governing Magazine named State Senator Wendy Davis one of 12 State Legislators to watch in 2012. They write:
Democrats in the Texas Legislature lost significant ground in the 2010 elections. Still, Sen. Wendy Davis, who represents Fort Worth, used the limited tools available to her to achieve spectacular results. Hours before last year's session was to end, Davis filibustered a bill that included $4 billion in school cuts. That forced Republican Gov. Rick Perry -- who was on his way to becoming a presidential candidate -- to call a special session. It also turned Davis into "an icon among Democratic activists in Texas," says Mark P. Jones, a Rice University political scientist.
"Since the moment she stepped off the floor, supportive calls from all over the country flooded in, including lots of, 'Where can I send the check?'" says Genevieve Van Cleve, the deputy political director of Annie's List, a Texas-based group that recruits progressive women to run for office.
Early in life, Davis had a tough go of it. By age 19, Davis, whose mother had only a sixth-grade education, was divorced, had a baby and was living in a trailer park. She managed, however, to graduate first in her class from Texas Christian University, and then attended Harvard Law School. She served five terms on the Fort Worth City Council before winning a state Senate seat in 2008.
Davis' political career nearly came to an end in 2011 when a Republican-drawn redistricting map placed her in a GOP-friendly district. Luckily for her, a map drawn by federal judges put her in a more favorable situation -- albeit one that's no slam dunk either. Her 2012 re-election contest promises to be a high-profile, high-spending affair.
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Benita Veliz!
The San Antonio student and former valedictorian of Jefferson High School asked Republican front-runner Mitt Romney why he opposes the DREAM Act. Veliz faced deportation after she was pulled over for a routine traffic stop and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE. She was spared deportation last year and has become a spokeswoman for the DREAM Act.
"I was appalled when I heard Mitt Romney say he would veto the DREAM Act," Veliz, 26, told reporters during a conference call arranged by the Democratic National Committee.
"So many young people like me who were brought here so young; Mitt Romney's notion is not only insensitive - it's irresponsible," Veliz said.
During a campaign stop in Iowa last week, Romney pledged to veto legislation that would allow illegal immigrant children to become U.S. citizens.
He defended his stance during a televised interview Wednesday.
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Ellen Cohen!
The former State Legislator and recently elected Houston City Council Member may be the first Jewish council member in the city's history. Kudos to Houston, which is not only the largest city to have an openly LGBT mayor, but now gets to rack up another notable accomplishment in electing a diverse group of elected officials. The Houston Chronicle writes:
Cohen said it doesn't make her a pioneer, but she brings her Judaism with her to the job in subtle ways. Cohen said she has shared a joke with office neighbor Jerry Davis, an African-American councilman representing District B: He told her he loves bagels and lox, and she responded by disclosing her fondness for waffles and fried chicken. Both are menu items at the Davis family restaurant The Breakfast Klub.
Cohen also said she typically will not accept invitations on Friday nights because that's when she has Sabbath dinner with her family.
Cohen has a photo of what she jokingly calls "the Jewish caucus" from her days in the Texas House, where she served from 2007 through 2010. Cohen is posing in the photo with Speaker Joe Straus and Reps. Scott Hochberg and Elliott Naishtat.
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Taco Eating Beauty Queen!
This story will make you mad, hungry, or both. Miss San Antonio was recently stripped of her crowd by a State District judge after the beauty queen gained more weight than was allowed by her contract. Her contract? Yes, when the lovely Miss Domonique Ramirez won the title, she apparently signed a contract requiring her to maintain her weight. When the teen queen gained a few pounds, pageant organizers filed a suit to strip her of the title. From Reuters:
Woods and the Miss San Antonio organization stripped Ramirez of her crown in late January, charging that she was late to personal appearances, took part in at least one modeling engagement not sanctioned by the organization and, according to Woods, gained weight by eating "too many tacos."
Her contract required the 129-pound Ramirez to stay at the same weight as the day she won the pageant.
Woods said Ramirez had been given a written warning.
The story did not indicate how much weight she gained, but since it's a "scholarship competition" and not a bulimia achievement award it shouldn't matter, right?
Ed. note: The following is one of twenty races we are featuring in the Texas Political Report. Annie's List provided research and analysis for this race.
Rep. Donna Howard and Rep. Cohen share similar circumstances although their districts are very different: they have run and held districts that were previously held by Republicans by appealing to a relatively well-informed electorate. And they have won support from independent voters by serving as intelligent, common sense Democrats in districts where they have deep personal roots. They remain subject to targeting by Republicans because their districts were held by Republicans just five years ago, but their outstanding representation gives their oppponents little chance of winning. District 134 is home to Rice University and is one of the most affluent and well-educated in the entire state. It is also home to the highest concentration of ticket-splitting voters in the state, and one of the most closely divided in terms of partisanship. The 2008 Presidential election split 49.8% to 49.1% in favor of John McCain. Rep. Cohen, however, won with 55.5% of the vote, and polls from insider her district have shown that she is expected to win re-election handily.
Rep. Cohen, as a cancer survivor, a widow and mother of two understands that Texas families must be able to afford their property taxes, health insurance and have access to quality public education, and those are the issues she will focus on this election. Sarah Davis, however, is a muddled mess in terms of policy and politics. A comparison of screen shots from (1) her website taken earlier this spring, and (2) the website content this fall indiciate a sudden lurcing to the right -- she's gone from a moderate Republican to turning almost Tea Party. What’s even more puzzling is that Sarah Davis signed in and voted for Hilary Clinton in 2008. Who is the real Sarah Davis? No idea, but it probably won't matter after November
Why Rep. Ellen Cohen Will Return Next Year
Rep. Cohen took House District 134 by storm in 2006, and she has earned greater support ever since. She serves on the Higher Education Committee as well as the powerful Appropriations Committee, and has been able to pass legislation that directly improves quality of life in her district. With more cash, a solid record, a top-notch team and proven leadership, Rep. Cohen would be tough for even the best GOP candidate to beat. Davis, however, can’t seem to stay firm on major policy points and even voted Democratic in the last election. Her campaign isn’t saying anything, so voters are left wondering who the real Sarah Davis actually is. Rep. Cohen should win the race.
We have removed the Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) report because of questions pertaining to how the report was done. TPJ has amended the report twice since our post went up. Both times, newly elected Democrats like Paula Hightower Pierson, Valinda Bolton, Ellen Cohen, and Juan Garica were proven to have done nothing wrong.
The purpose of the study is admirable, to track extravagant travel by elected officials paid for by lobbyist, the primary methodology used is too faulty for us to keep the study on our main page. Sadly, the data collected appears to have been sloppy at best.
While controversy surrounds the study, some facts are irrefutable. Rep. Mike Krusee is at fault.
Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Williamson County, a "lobby favorite." Krusee, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, took nine lobby-funded trips in the period reviewed, 2005 and 2006 through the eve of the November elections, the report said.
For instance, J. McCartt, a lobbyist whose clients include contractor Fluor Corp. and PBS&J, an engineering firm, flew Krusee to Las Vegas to deliver the keynote address at a PBS&J toll summit after the 2005 regular legislative session.
Krusee's office issued a statement Tuesday stating that he "learns from other parts of the country and innovative industries about how to get traffic moving, how to improve safety and how to build roads in cost-effective ways."
Training from groups like EMILY's List and Annie's List is not the same as PBS&J flying Krusee to Vegas or James Leininger taking Rick Perry to the Caribbean.
(Ed. note: The following is part of our ongoing series focusing on how Democrats won in Texas. Our first part focused on the work the Houston GLBT PAC did on the Ellen Cohen race. Today's piece is the second in the series. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
"Annie's List is changing the face of power in Texas politics by changing the playing field for women candidates."
That one line from the Annie's List website perfectly describes the focus and triumphs of one of the more successful Democratic organizations in Texas. Five of the seven new Democrats in the Texas House at the start of the 80th Regular Session will be women, and each and every one of them were Annie's List candidates.
Following the 2002 elections, Republicans regained the Texas House, and the number of Democratic women Representatives dropped to fourteen. In just two election cycles, that number has grown back to nineteen. This election cycle, Annie's List donated over $250,000 to their five targeted candidates:
Valinda Bolton in HD 47 ($80,000, won)
Paula Hightower-Pierson in HD 93 ($55,500 won)
Harriet Miller in HD 102 ($28,500, lost)
Kristi Thibaut in HD 133 ($25,500, lost)
Ellen Cohen in HD 134 ($23,500, won)
$10,000 to Katy Hubener in a special election in HD-106 last spring.
$10,000 to Democrat Rep. Donna Howard, an Annie's List candidate they helped elect in a special election last spring
For a better understanding of the success of Annie's List, I sat down with Robert Jones, Political Director for Annie's List, and the five field workers that he helped train to run their five targeted campaigns this election cycle. Each of the five workers are in their early twenties, and though all had some experience volunteering for campaigns before, none had ever taken on the role of helping run a campaign.
"There is no field where young people can gain experience and responsibility quicker, especially with training, than in politics," said Jones. "Hiring young adults is important for a number of reasons. They can adapt quickly and are eager and excited to work. And, to be honest, since they are an in-kind contribution from our PAC, it adds a level of accountability about how our contributions are used on the race."
To continue reading this story, click on the "There's More" link below.
Ed. note: This is a first in a series done by BOR examining how Democrats made significant gains in the Texas House this election cycle.
Ellen Cohen's victory on Tuesday was a sweet one for the GLBT community in Houston. For those of you who don't know Houston, Montrose is a progressive, urban neighborhood in Houston with a large GLBT community. Gentrification has changed the neighborhood somewhat over the past decade, but it's still the part of Houston that "looks like Austin", with bustling smoke filled cafes, funky thrift shops, and home of people with purple hair and leather boots. In 2003, re-districting split the neighborhood into two districts to dilute its voting power, with the eastern half going to Rep. Garnet Coleman and the western half going to Rep. Debra Danburg, who was defeated by Martha Wong, in part because she postured herself as a social moderate in 2002. But in the lege Wong voted against protecting GLBT youth in public schools, against same-sex marriage in committee and abstaining on the floor of the Texas House.
Houston's GLBT community was ready for change, and Ellen Cohen's race was an unprecedented campaign for the Houston GLBT Political Caucus (HGLBTPC). In no other race in Texas has the GLBT community ever involved itself as deeply in a campaign as it did in this race. Our field campaign included:
Starting blockwalking at the beginning of August, twice a week, every week, up until the election. Targeting the five precincts that make up West Montrose, we knocked over 4,300 doors for Ellen Cohen. The HGLBTPC is an all-volunteer organization, and yet our blockwalking made up one-fifth of Cohen's field campaign.
Distributing over 2,500 voter registration cards in Montrose, dropping 1,200 voter registration cards at the homes of unregistered voters and mailing 1,300 voter registraion cards to progressive and GLBT people we had identified at gay bars and the Pride Parade who weren't registered to vote.
Raising over $15,000 for the Cohen campaign ($7,000 from Houston's GLBT community, $3,000 from Equality Texas, and $5,000 from Human Rights Campaign).
Sending three pieces of direct mail (our endorsement card twice and this piece on Wong) to the 9,100 GLBT and progressive voters we had identified in HD-134. That last part was the outcome of over three years of work in HD-134. During last year's campaign against Texas' marriage amendment, we were thinking long-term about our work in a fight we knew we would likely lose. The Houston GLBT Political Caucus vigorously blockwalked in Montrose identifying voters who were opposed to the marriage amendment.
Staffing the five precincts in Montrose with volunteers for the twelve hours the polls were open.
What's the signifigance of this election for the GLBT community?
As of 2:40 a.m., with eight precincts yet to report, Juan Garcia was down by 250 votes in his race to unseat incumbent Rep. Gene Seaman in Corpus Christi and surrounding counties. However, reports are that the one remaining precinct is heavily Democrat, and that without about 1/3 of those ballots counted, Garcia is leading (and expected to hold). Though not official yet, Democrats might have picked up a net of five seats.
Every incumbent House Democrat won, as well. Reps. Hopson and Cook held onto their rural seats, as did Reps. McReynolds, Homer, and Farabee. Rep. Vo held off Talmadge Heflin in Houston -- a tremendous protection for Democrats. And in our two open seats, Joe Heflin held onto Speaker Laney's seat in a race many prognosticators had written off as a loss for Democrats. Heflin held on to defeat Landtroop, and Farias held Rep. Uresti's seat in San Antonio.
The Houston Chronicle has an editorial today about negative advertising, including Rick Perry's beer commercial parodies and Martha Wong's "Blame Canada!" TV ad.
Coming out of Texas, though, the ads from Gov. Rick Perry and state Rep. Martha Wong say a little too much about the values to which they're pandering. It's not enough that they look silly themselves. They also manage to make Texans look like ignorant xenophobes.
Wong's offering is a TV cartoon sequence purporting to depict Democratic rival Ellen Cohen. It features a male voiceover with a faux Canadian accent intoning, "Hello. I'm Ellen Cohen, the tax-increase lady. And I moved here from Canada, the land of big government and big taxes."
As Chronicle columnist Rick Casey notes, Cohen, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, did in fact move here from Canada — about 30 years ago. But then, many Houstonians, including Wong's family, came from elsewhere. So it's a little odd to attribute the Ellen Cohen of the mid-1960s with responsibility for Canada's tax code and system of government.
It goes on to say that Wong's ad (among others) "reflect the familiar contempt of politicians and their campaign managers for the voters' intelligence and powers of discernment." You sure know how to end a campaign, Martha!
Rep. Martha Wong's campaign has officially gone desperate:
Is this not the worst ad possible for this district? HD 134 makes up (by and large) an educated, affluent section of Houston; two-thirds of people in the district have a bachelor's degree or higher. Why on earth would anyone think this ad would be effective? Can you imagine if this ad ran in HD 48 here in Austin -- how much people would laugh?
I think the Martha Wong campaign just lost. Go help Ellen Cohen make it certain...and enjoy the laugh this afternoon.
Mother Jones has a great profile of the race between Ellen Cohen and Martha Wong going on in Houston right now. It's a good article and you should read the whole thing, but this graf pretty much says it all about Martha Wong:
As Wong climbed the rungs of power at the state Capitol, however, she seemed to cast aside many groups that define her district. For example, environmentalists have been drawing attention to extraordinarily high ozone levels in the part of Houston that Wong represents, yet Wong voted against five separate clean air measures. Schools are a big issue in the highly educated district, yet Wong, a former elementary school principal, opposed a bipartisan proposal to raise teacher salaries. Wong acknowledges that voters in her district are independent-minded yet in an interview couldn’t cite a single instance in which she’d voted against her party.
No amount of red tape is going to cover up Martha Wong's record.
