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.
Tonight saw the largest number of club endorsements in one day that we'll see in the Austin municipal elections. With nearly 10 clubs present at tonight's multi-club endorsement forum, 6 of those have released their choices tonight. A few (West Austin Democrats, Northeast Travis County Democrats, and Circle C Democrats are releasing theirs as soon as tomorrow).
Here are the results we have. I've included an acronym key at the bottom.
Mayor
Lee Leffingwell picked up all 6 tonight announced tonight for a clean sweep and from I was able to confirm from SAD, CCYD, and CAAAD, by wide margins as high as 90% of the vote. I should also note that I've been informed that Lee has recently won the endorsement of the St. Edward's College Democrats and 50 Travis County Democratic precinct chairs. Now if only I had a filled in map of all the precincts they represented!
Leffingwell -> SAD::BAD::CAAAD::CCYD::TED::CAPD
Place 1
Perla Cavazos and Chris Riley continued their pattern of splitting endorsements. TED dual endorsed. In terms of value, SAD is the biggest immediate prize for Perla as it has a large membership and has in past years down some mail to Triple D's south of the river. Chris got value in CCYD and CAAAD which tend to have better volunteer power and CCYDs is important because there is talk again of a potential mail piece for candidates co-endorsed by CCYD and University Democrats.
Cavazos was +1 on Riley tonight, but Riley was +1 on Cavazos among the GLBT groups last night. And they split the public safety unions. So out of this set, neither one has really claimed any momentum.
Mike Martinez won all 6. His last minute opponent Jose Quintero is at a real disadvantage in filing late as they had no chance to compete in these endorsements.
Martinez -> SAD::BAD::CAAAD::CCYD::TED::CAPD
Place 5
Bill Spelman is a councilman-elect. He wasn't even listed on some ballots so he won everything either by voting or by default.
Place 6
Sheryl Cole won all 6. Just as last night, there is scattered opposition votes which is likely what her actual election results will turn out to be like. The only question is whether Sam Osemene will cross the Meeker Mark (22.6%). Of course, the Jennifer Kim Mark is 27% which he could also cross given it's just a 2-way race.
Cole -> SAD::BAD::CAAAD::CCYD::TED::CAPD
SAD= South Austin Democrats
BAD= Black Austin Democrats
CAAAD= Capital Area Asian American Democrats
CCYD= Capital City Young Democrats
TED= Texas Environmental Democrats of Austin
CAPD= Capital Area Progressive Democrats
Last night, Thursday, April 03, the Capital City Young Democrats (CCYD) held its endorsement election for the upcoming Austin municipal election on May 10, 2008.
CCYD endorsed the following candidates:
Austin Community College Board of Trustees, Place 1 Tim Mahoney
Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees, District 3 Jerry Garcia
I am proud to have received the enthusiastic endorsement of the Texas AFL-CIO and other Labor groups representing more than 230,000 working men and women across the state.
Every progressive movement in our nation's modern history has come about because of Organized Labor's courage and steadfast refusal to take its eye off the ball -- protecting the health and well-being of the great American middle class.
It has been great to have so many candidates come to talk about their vision for their office, about why they do what they do, and how it can affect and improve the communities in which they move. And now we have the difficult and exciting task of endorsing among the many qualified candidates.
We have chosen to endorse in the following races:
TCDP Chair (Fidel Acevedo or Andy Brown)
Travis County Court #8 (Carlos Barrera or John Lipscombe)
98th District Court (Andy Hatchcock or Rhonda Hurley)
CD 10 (Larry Joe Doherty or Dan Grant)
Travis County Tax Assessor Collector (Glen Maxey or Nelda Wells Spears)
I'd like to invite you to join me this afternoon as we welcome Sen. Barack Obama back to Texas!
As many of you know, I've endorsed Obama for President because he has the unique ability to unite our nation to tackle the challenges that affect us all.
Feel free to watch my YouTube endorsement, and I hope to see you this afternoon at The Backyard. Doors open at 3:00pm, and volunteers should arrive at 1:00pm.
(Here is your chance to see one of the most dynamic Presidential candidates we have had in a long time. I had a chance to hear and meet Barack during the Garcia campaign in 2006. If you can make it San Antonio on Sunday, do so. You will not be disappointed.
- promoted by M. Eddie Rodriguez)
Rep. Juan Garcia recently won a legislative race that no one thought he could win. He beat a long-time incumbent in a Corpus Christi district that was over 60% Republican. But like Obama, Garcia ran on a strong message of change, and the voters responded. He just finished his first Texas legislative session, and he has bright political future ahead of him.
This Sunday, Obama is coming back to Texas, and Rep. Garcia will be there. Tickets are $25, so click here to RSVP. Supporters can win a free ticket by signing up to volunteer. Let's show Barack a big Texas welcome. Our goal is to raise $10,000 from small donors in one summer afternoon. We can do it!
WHO: Sen. Barack Obama WHAT: San Antonio Grassroots Fundraiser WHEN: Sunday, June 24 - 1:00 PM WHERE: Sunset Station, 1174 East Commerce St (Parking available at the Alamodome)
Click below to see Rep. Garcia's endorsement letter and YouTube video invitation...
