There will be a considerable amount of endorsements for the next few weeks. From now on, I'm going to just link all endorsements for campaigns here (we won't include personal endorsements - you can go to candidate websites if you want to see them). I'll update the list every morning with the latest endorsements, put those above the fold, and all other, older endorsements move below the fold.
I'll promote this so it stays near the top, too.
Also, since there have been over 400 comments about endorsements over the last 14 days, I'm not allowing comments on this thread. If you all want to say something, feel free to go crazy on a different post.
Campaign season is underway! Even though we don't know for sure when our primary will be or what races will make it on to the ballot, that hasn't stopped the wheels from turning in several contested Democratic races here in Travis County. There are 10 contested primary elections within Travis County, for four countywide positions (District Attorney, Sheriff, Tax Assessor Collector, 167th District Judge) and several Constable and County Commissioner seats.
Today, the Austin Central Labor Council held their endorsement meeting, deciding on contested races on the ballot here in Travis County. Rick Cofer, Austin CLC COPE Chair, forwarded BOR their endorsements from today's meeting. I have added an (i) to indicate incumbents.
2012 CLC ENDORSEMENTS
Greg Hamilton (i) for Sheriff
Bruce Elfant for Tax Assessor-Collector*
Ron Davis (i) for County Commissioner, Precinct 1
Karen Huber (i) for County Commissioner, Precinct 3*
Danny Thomas (i) for Constable, Precinct 1*
Adan Ballesteros (i) for Constable, Precinct 2*
Sally Hernandez for Constable, Precinct 3*
Maria Canchola (i) for Constable, Precinct 4*
*Unanimous Endorsement
The CLC voted to make a Dual Endorsement of David Wahlberg and Efrain De La Fuente in the race for 167th District Judge.
The CLC voted to make No Endorsement in the race for Travis County District Attorney.
The CLC voted unanimously to endorse ALL unopposed Travis County Democratic Primary candidates.
The CLC voted to recommend to the State AFL-CIO COPE that the State COPE endorse Lloyd Doggett, Ciro Rodriguez and Dan Grant in their respective congressional districts under the current interim map ordered by the San Antonio three judge panel.
Thank you to all of the labor union members, candidates and staff that participated in today's candidate screening.
And as we've seen through the early stages of the primary, the District Attorney race had some action in the endorsement forum. To earn the CLC endorsement, a candidate must have two thirds of the votes present in favor of endorsing. Cofer said that initially the Amalgamated Transportation workers moved for a dual endorsement. Cofer made a substitute motion to endorse Rosemary Lehmberg. There was a 18-12 vote in favor of Lehmberg, not enough to meet the 2/3rds threshold. A vote on the original motion of a dual endorsement also failed. As a result, Jack Kirfman made a substitute motion for no endorsement in the DA's race, which passed.
Congratulations to all of the endorsed candidates!
Yesterday I noted the seemingly early nature of the Houston Chronicle's election endorsements and mused that maybe other papers would be joining suit this year. While the Dallas Morning News isn't starting with the top of the ticket, they have joined the fray in announcing their slate of judicial endorsements at the local level and now for statewide offices.
In all 3 of the contested Supreme Court races they have opted for the Republican candidates.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has developed a reputation as a court that turns its back on verdicts that need a second or third look.
It's easy to see why. Seven of the nine judges have backgrounds as prosecutors, and the presiding judge once campaigned as "pro-prosecutor." Court-watchers recite a list of marquee cases of failed justice. The court's tilt is a concern, considering that Texas leads the nation in executions and has far more DNA-proven miscarriages of justice than any other state.
The Nov. 2 election for Place 6 on the court is an opportunity for a rebalancing. Austin defense attorney Keith Hampton, running against veteran Judge Michael Keasler, has the legal credentials and a perspective now missing on the court: If elected, he would be the only member to have involvement in a capital murder case from indictment all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
With a whole six weeks before Election Day, the Houston Chronicle has come out with the first major newspaper endorsement in the Governor's race. Their decision was hometown favorite Bill White and it's a strong one. I've posted the opening portion below but encourage you to read the full endorsement here.
While the endorsement of White may not be surprising given that it's his hometown paper, the timing is something to note. Historically the Chronicle has been one of the last to issue their endorsements, sometimes waiting until after Early Voting has finished to weigh in with their thoughts. With Governor Perry refusing to meet with editorial boards, it's possible that the Chronicle won't be the first paper to move up their endorsement process this year.
Time for a change: The Chronicle endorses former Houston Mayor Bill White for governor of Texas. HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 18, 2010, 4:05PM
Texas faces an unprecedented budget deficit estimated at $21 billion, faltering health care and public education systems, and demands for new energy sources and transportation funding. For nearly a decade, Rick Perry - the longest-serving governor in Lone Star history - has been at the helm of an increasingly wayward ship.
Texas can't afford four more years of Perry's leadership.
The governor has shown a distaste for dealing with budget details, fobbing them off on the Legislature and even suggesting in a recent news conference that Comptroller Susan Combs had better uses of her time than issuing deficit projections.
Fortunately, voters have the opportunity to replace Republican Perry with former Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat with credentials as a successful lawyer, corporate CEO and public servant who demonstrated his management capabilities and hard-work ethic during a six-year tenure at City Hall. As he did in Houston, White can bring innovative financial solutions, a passion for environmental protection, and a strong bipartisan and ethical commitment to a governor's office tarnished by charges of cronyism, partisanship and catering to contributors at the expense of constituents.
"Today our state is being run like a political machine to perpetuate Rick Perry in office," said White during his screening with the Chronicle editorial board. Gov. Perry has declined to meet with Texas newspaper editorial boards.
"People want a governor who can bring people together to get things done," White continued. "Leadership is not dividing the state into red teams and blue teams, playing people off against each other. Leadership is not having citizens and journalists have to pry information out of the government when it's funded by the taxpayers."
This year, The Daily Texan asked every candidate in the University of Texas student elections for his or her position on the issue of guns in classrooms.
The NRA has worked hard to make keeping schools free of guns appear to be a partisan issue, but the Texan's fearlessness in asking about the issue in its endorsements demonstrates that student leaders aren't buying it. More tellingly, only two candidates are listed as "in favor" of guns in classrooms.
This time last year, there were two bills in the Texas Legislature that would have allowed students to carry guns in classrooms. Both bills were ultimately caught in the Texas House, after one (SB 1164) passed the Senate, in part because of the time and energy spent by student leaders on the issue.
Although Students for Gun-Free Schools was created as a response to such bills, the organization pursues other strategies for preventing campus violence as well. "Our focuses are access to mental health, and various measures which can keep at-risk students from falling through the cracks," said SGFS's Southwestern University chapter president.
The organization's statewide director, John Woods, had this to say: "There's not a lot of violence on college campuses, and we'd like to keep it that way. But over thirty thousand people are killed every year by guns -- that's more than terrorism worldwide most years. We have a responsibility to make students aware of these issues."
Volunteers with SGFS have also put together resolutions against guns in classrooms and in favor of closing the gun show loophole. They plan to introduce these at some precinct meetings Tuesday, in an attempt to unify the Texas Democratic Party around common sense public safety issues.
"Our biggest obstacle right now is getting the word out about our organization," said Woods. "There are so many troubling things happening in Texas that sometimes keeping our classrooms safe gets pushed to the back of the line. Students know about what we're doing, but parents generally don't."
Campus-wide elections begin Tuesday at 9 AM and end Wednesday at 5 PM. Voting may be done online at utsg.org, or at computers on campus.
Last night, nearly a dozen Democratic clubs were represented at the Travis County Democratic Candidates' Forum in East Austin. Of those clubs, seven issued endorsements in statewide and local races.
Below are the results; a key is located at the bottom to decode the club acronyms. Also to note, the Austin Tejano Democrats do not endorse in statewide races which is left to the statewide organization which supports White, Chavez-Thompson, Uribe and Gilbert.. Circle C Democrats do not endorse in the JP or County Commissioner races in which they are not located.
Governor
Bill White: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
Lt. Governor
Ronnie Earle: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, TED (dual)
Linda Chavez-Thompson: CCYD, NETCO, TED (dual)
For the statewide candidates, I don't think there was ever a question that these informed Democrats were every going to endorse anyone other than White & Gilbert. In the two low information races, it's interesting that Hector Uribe also took a clean sweep while the Lt. Gov primary was a mixed bag. Chavez-Thompson may be the pick of statewide insiders, but Earle seems to be more comfortable choice for Austin voters which won't be surprising since he's an Austin boy.
331st District Court David Crain: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
County Court at Law #3 John Lipscombe: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
As we head farther down ballot, a couple of candidates are breathing easier tonight. Rebecca Bell-Metereau is going to feel better coming away with a clean sweep in order to help maximize her ability to avoid a runoff in her 4-way race in massive district with little money. Brown & Crain's clean sweeps are reassuring against last minute opponents. Sage won back some momentum in the 299th race (and won a runoff with Leonard Martinez in the ATD group) but it's likely that the 299th will be a runoff between Sage and Montford regardless.
The big winner of the judicial races is John Lipscombe who was not expected to win an majority of endorsements tonight but swept the 5 that did endorse. Lipscombe tied among the Austin Tejano Democrats- a club that Seelig should have won outright. Circle C was split by a vote or two and doesn't endorse in those situations.
Travis County Commissioner, Pct 4
Margaret Gomez: BAD
Raul Alvarez: ATD, CAAAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
In this race, CAPD issued no endorsement and Circle C did not have it on the ballot. This was a needed series of wins for Alvarez.
Justice of the Peace, Pct 1 Yvonne Williams: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, NETCO, TED
Daniel Bradford: CCYD
Justice of the Peace, Pct 2 Karin Crump: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
Justice of the Peace, Pct 5 Herb Evans: ATD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED
Nothing unexpected here. BAD had no endorsement in JP5 because of a ballot error and may re-endorse later. Bradford failed to make much of a dent in the JP1 open seat even though this was the first time many people had actually heard from his opponent.
One final note on this set of endorsements. One thing that is pretty clear is how efficient the Austin Democratic Machine can be. You can tell where it is engaged or disengaged. For instance, Shami can't buy off any of it and probably won't win a single endorsement in Austin anyways. The Machine doesn't care about the Lt. Governor's race and that was the most split race tonight. The Machine is fully lined up behind Cliff Brown & David Crain. It has blessed Amy Clark Meachum to steamroll over Jan Patterson and that is happening perfectly.
The biggest test was County Court at Law #3 and tonight's results will give comfort to any wobbly players to go with Lipscombe. The Machine isn't in full agreement or engagement yet in the 299th District Court race because of the last minute array of candidates but will probably organize itself in the runoff. And in the JP races- the Machine recognizes that Williams is the chosen African American replacement for that district and while she's relatively unknown, she's got the nod of support. There are a couple of different machines in the Commissioner 4 race which are pulling in different directions (and without much direction).
Today, the San Antonio Express-News endorsed Julian Castro for Mayor. This is a key development because the candidate that wins the endorsement of the Express-News usually goes on to win the mayoral race. In 2005 and 2007, the E-N endorsed Hardberger for Mayor and he won both times. In 2001, the E-N endorsed Ed Garza, and Garza won.
The Express-News editorial notes that of the three main candidates in the race, Julian Castro is the best prepared and offers the best choice for the city. Notably, the editorial noted Castro's emphasis on and vision for economic growth as one of the main reasons for their endorsement. The newspaper also noted that most of the business community is now backing Castro in this race. With early voting in the race starting on Monday, the Express-News endorsement will give Castro a major advantage as it will probably influence many undecided voters.
The Statesman's endorsement of McCracken praises him as a leader who has learned from his mistakes and is ready to lead Austin into the future by investing in clean energy, biotech and digital businesses.
McCracken has a broad view of what Austin needs and how City Hall should manage in a budget crunch. He can build alliances and should be a visible, active mayor. We have not always agreed with McCracken, and he has made his share of mistakes on the council, but he seems to learn from them.
The endorsement, although expected, gives a definite boost to McCracken's campaign, although it could be off set by what seems to be a likely upcoming endorsement by the Austin Chronicle of Lee Leffingwell.
Place 1: Chris Riley
Nearly everyone, including the Statesman, seems to think that both Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos are able candidates who would do a great job for Austin on the City Council.
While little separates Cavazos and Riley in their campaigns, Riley has more experience and we believe is ready for the City Council. Cavazos has a good career ahead of her and with a bit more seasoning will be an even better candidate.
No matter the result in Place 1, the consensus is that Austin will have elected a well-qualified and prepared council member.
The Statesman also endorsed incumbents Mike Martinez and Shery Cole along with Bill Spelman, a former council member who is running unopposed.
Click here to view this site's Mayoral & City Council Endorsements.
More local endorsements have been released.
NXNW Democrats
Mayor: Lee Leffingwell
Place 1: Perla Cavazos & Chris Riley (dual)
Place 2: Mike Martinez
Place 5: Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sheryl Cole
Mexican American Democrats of Austin
Mayor: Lee Leffingwell
Place 1: Perla Cavazos
Place 2: Jose Quintero
Place 5: Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sam Osemene
Sierra Club
Mayor: Lee Leffingwell
Place 1: Chris Riley
Place 2: Mike Martinez
Place 5: Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sheryl Cole
So in short, Leffingwell continues to steamroll the club endorsements (still at 100%), the Place 1 endorsements continue to be split, Bill Spelman continues to have no opponent, and a butterfly ballot is clearly responsible for Mike Martinez losing the endorsement of the Mexican American Democrats.
