When State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) first announced her U.S. Senate exploratory committee in July 2008, she had the support of twelve other Republican state senators.
At the time, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst had made no public comment on whether he would consider entering the possible special election to fill Kay Bailey Hutchison's senate seat.
Fast forward almost a year and a couple things have changed. First, Dewhurst recently finally did make a statement leaving the door open to a run for the U.S. Senate, in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman.
"If the Senate job came open, I would probably give it a hard look," [Dewhurst] said. "I think that seat needs to stay in Republican hands."
As Dewhurst, the presiding officer of the Texas State Senate and a two term Republican statewide office holder with deep pockets, made his possible interest in the Senate seat known, you might have expected some of the Republican state senators to begin to waffle on their early committments to Shapiro.
Instead, the opposite happened. Shapiro picked up the endorsements of Sens. Kip Averitt and Mike Jackson, leaving Steve Ogden, Dan Patrick, Jeff Wentworth and Tommy Williams as the only Republican senators not publicly backing Shapiro's candidacy.
Given that Wentworth has been telling that newspapers that Dewhurst should not "abuse that power we give him," it is probably safe to say the San Antonio Republican is not eagerly awaiting a Dewhurst Senate candidacy, either.
So either (1) David Dewhurst has so little respect among the members of the legislative body he has presided over for two terms that nearly none of them want to support him for higher office or (2) he is not running for the U.S. Senate.
Of course, if not the former, it certainly could be both.
The two Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate, former comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White, hold significant advantages in cash on hand over their Republican opponents after the first fundraising quarter.
John Sharp reported receiving $2,516,833 in loans and contributions this quarter to finish with $2,432,675 on hand. The number, in itself, is impressive but as Gardner Selby points out, we should reserve judgement until we learn how much of that money was from personal loans. Today, when asked, the Sharp campaign declined to disclose that information.
Both Democrats hold big advantages over the Republican candidates.
Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams leads the Republican contenders with $388,628 on hand, but that number is less impressive when the $200,000 in personal loans are taken into account. State Sen. Florence Shapiro had just over $310,000 on hand, while Railroad Commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams have $164,663 and $113,957 on hand, respectively.
The Democratic money advantage, however, may not last. Well financed candidates such as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who would pour his personal wealth into a campaign, and Attorney General Greg Abbott are also said to be considering the race.
When the amount of Sharp's personal loans are known, we will have a better idea of how the money race is shaping up on the Democratic side.
SB 1364 would "curtail te practice of pulling students out of classes to receive additional tutoring, primarily for TAKS remediation."
Groups like the Texas Music Educators Association are pushing the bill hard, as they tell "horror stories" of students consistently missing class for TAKS tutoring.
The bill will help protect students' opportunties to study fine arts and other enrichment subjects so important t their success.
Students should not be pulled from one academic subject (e.g., fine arts) and miss out on the knowledge to study for another.
Grades should not be given to students for a subject from which the stuent is consistently absent for remediation in another subject.
There has to be a way to give extra help to the students who need it while still allowing them to be exposed to beneficial fine arts classes like Music and Art.
While most do not expect any opposition on the floor, if you would like to contact your senator about this bill, you can find their contact information here.
Go below the jump to watch the YouTube video of the press conference.
Public education remains the top priority for Texans across the state, according to a new poll commissioned by the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA). The poll was conducted by professionals who did polling for both President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain -- this isn't a partisan poll. This is reality.
More importantly, a clear majority of Texans -- and people of all political parties -- believe that the state is spending too little on public education:
Question: Is state government spending too little, too much, or about the right amount on public education?
Too Little
About the right amount
Too Much
All Voters
60%
24%
10%
Democrats
71%
21%
3%
Independents
61%
17%
13%
Republicans
51%
29%
13%
Public School Parents
64%
23%
5%
The poll goes into great detail on a number of other important issues. Among them are the attitudes towards giving teachers a pay raise -- specifically, the argument of an across-the-board pay raise versus a merit-pay system. Here are the numbers:
If additional state money is allocated for teacher pay raises, should the pay raise be given to all teachers to raise the overall standard of teacher pay, and to attract and retain better teachers, OR should the pay raise be targeted to those teachers whose students show improvement on state standardized test scores?
Across-the-Board Pay Raise
Merit Pay Based Pay Raise
All Voters
57%
35%
Democrats
62%
31%
Independents
49%
38%
Republicans
56%
35%
Public School Parents
61%
31%
Finally, one more question I wanted to raise everyone's attention to -- the issue of what role standardized testing should play in the accountability system. Governor Rick Perry and State Senator Florence Shapiro are always harping about accountability, accountability, accountability. Well -- read this, policy makers:
What role should standardized tests play in the school accountability system?
63% -- The state test should be included in determining if a student passes a course – but should not be more important than the work done during the school year.
16% -- The state test should not be considered at all in determining whether or not a student passes a course.
15% -- The state test should be a major factor in determining if a student passes a course – but not the only factor.
3% --The state test should be the only factor in determining if a student passes a course.
Despite a tight state budget, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Texas voters believe that providing more state resources for public education is a solid investment that is necessary to secure our economic future.
Simply put, Texans – Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike – know that in today’s global economy, education is a wise investment that will not crash in tough times.
The Houston Chronicle has reported that Houston Mayor Bill White raised more than $640,000 in the final 15 days of 2008 for his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
White began the year with $737,000 on hand. That number includes a $120,287 contribution he made to his own campaign.
More than $640,000 in 15 days is a very impressive number. In 2007, Senate candidate Rick Noriega reported raising about $570,000 after close to three months of fundraising. RG Ratcliffe pointed out that in fifteen days White raised roughly one quarter of what Noriega raised during his entire campaign.
John Sharp, the only other declared Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, did not start raising money until this year. Like White, Sharp is expected to contribute some of his own money to his campaign.
On the Republican side of the race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchsion, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams began the year with $131,000 on hand, while Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones has $145,000 and state Sen. Florence Shapiro has $375,556.
All of this and we do not even know when the election will be.
Last Thursday, Texas Monthly political writer Paul Burka attempted to explain the possible line of succession, challenges, pressures, cock blocks, and puppeteering going on in the Texas Republican Party during the next two years.
Needless to say, reading it might leave your head spinning.
Well, anything that can't be explained with words can be explained by a totally ridiculous chart. So on that note, I present to you my masterpiece. Click here for the gigantic printable version.
Different election years bring many changes but, in Texas, there seems to be at least one constant: speculation that John Sharp will run for statewide office.
Sharp, the former comptroller who lost bids for Lieutenant Governor in 1998 and 2002, has been rumored to be considering a run for either Governor or the U.S. Senate.
While many commenters on BOR have said (accurately, I believe) that Sharp would be a fairly weak candidate in a Democratic Primary, Clay Robison wrote an article that once again suggests that Sharp would run for Hutchison's seat ... in a special election.
Running in a special election with many candidates would allow Sharp, who still has fairly high name ID compared to other potential candidates like Florence Shapiro and Elizabeth Ames Jones, to side-step the problems he may have with the Democratic Party faithful.
Sometimes, the political itch just won't go away. Friends of former Comptroller John Sharp, who has lost two races for lieutenant governor and has long eyed the governor's office, say he now is focusing on a U.S. Senate seat ...
Sharp, a Democrat, has been mostly overlooked in the speculation, and he is shy about talking to reporters about his plans. But friends say he has been making the rounds, shoring up potential political and financial support, etc.
Some fellow Democrats believe Sharp's chance to win another statewide office has come and gone. And they believe he may have hurt himself within his party by helping Perry win passage of a new business tax two years ago, when the Legislature was facing a Texas Supreme Court deadline to make school finance changes.
But Sharp wouldn't be running in a Democratic primary. He would be running in a potentially wide-open special election.
The dynamics of a special election will be markedly different than a typical primary/general. At least one potential candidate, John Sharp, seems to be preparing to take advantage of the expected special election.
State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) announced she is forming a U.S. Senate exploratory committee this morning.
Shapiro, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, will seek the seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison, who, the press release says, "has already announced she will either leave the U.S. Senate at the end of her current term (which runs through 2012) or sooner."
This is a big step for Shapiro and it seems like she wouldn't have taken it unless she was pretty certain that Hutchison would be running for Governor in 2010.
Shapiro says she will begin traveling the state to meet with voters soon. This very early announcement seems to acknowledge the fact that a relatively unknown state senator like Shapiro will have a tough time in this race, especially if it shapes up to be a short-time window special election in which a well-financed candidate like David Dewhurst (or John Sharp?) could have a significant advantage.
Shapiro's list of supporters, however, is fairly impressive. It includes 15 of the 19 13 of the 18 Republican senators.
You can read more about the story and view Shapiro's press release at Quorum Report.
What about on the Democratic side? Who do you want to run for this seat?
The Statesman's Postcards from the Lege blog is reporting that state Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) is considering running for the U.S. Senate if Kay Bailey Hutchison returns to Texas to run for Governor.
Bryan Eppstein, a consultant to Shapiro, says, “At this time it’s just an interest in running and it’s a growing interest.” Eppstein also threw in the obligatory “she’s getting encouraged to run” bit.
Here’s how the scenario might play out: Hutchison leaves the Senate in 2009 to run for governor. Gov. Rick Perry then appoints someone to fill her seat, but there is an election in 2010 (some say it might be sooner than that) in which the voters would decide who the next senator is. Shapiro, assuming she’s not the person appointed by Perry (or even if she is) would jump into that race.
Texas Weekly reporteded Thursday that she’s planning to form an exploratory committee. Eppstein wouldn’t directly answer whether she has such plans.
Shapiro’s move could materialize about a year after she told the American-Statesman’s Gardner Selby that she’d welcome a chance to be in the U.S. Senate.
“It is a position obviously that anybody that’s an elected official would covet,” she said in April 2007. “It’s not something I’ve even been planning at all to date … I haven’t really thought about it very much.”
One of the commenters from the Statesman blog, Dan Cain, may have said it best:
The more comically tragic instance here is that a state senator from Plano, Texas has herself convinced she would be a viable candidate. I presume she is from the Rick Perry school of hobnailed boot politics.
Any Democratic names come to mind for this potential race?
(This was written by House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam, not by a staff writer of BOR. We continue to be proud of our Democratic leaders and look forward to a Democratic Speaker. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Today, House Democrats stand at 70 seats strong.
No one predicted we would be this strong this fast. Not in 2001, when the Legislative Redistrict Board drew a map designed to elect 98 Republicans -- almost two-thirds of the Texas House. And not in 2002, when 88 Republicans were elected to the House.
I believe the secret to our success rests in our refusal to give up the hard fight for our constituents and our ability to work together. But as we get away from Austin, we don't always know what is going on with our Democratic House colleagues. If you don't know what's happening to our friends, you should.
Here's but one example:
Recently, Rep. Allen Vaught politely declined to meet with a potential opponent of Dan Branch. Allen explained that, in the greater interest of Dallas County, he did not think he should be personally involved in county House races. This is Allen's choice, and certainly understandable.
Imagine Allen's surprise when he received a copy of the invitation to former Rep. Bill Keffer's fundraiser this month. Of course, you can guess correctly that Linda Harper-Brown's name is on it; heck, she did the same against Republican incumbents during the 2006 primaries. But you might be surprised by some of the other host names: Joe Driver, Ken Paxton, Jim Jackson, and Jodie Laubenberg. Oh, and Rep. Dan Branch. But wait, you say, Joe Driver isn't like Harper-Brown? And Paxton has always treated other members with respect, hasn't he? And this is how Mr. Branch says thank you to Allen Vaught?
This is being duplicated across the state. These incidents are neither isolated nor uncalculated. We must recognize the great effort our Republican colleagues are making, as incumbent elected officials, to actively campaign against Democratic House members. We must understand that when our Republican colleagues go after one of us, they are going after all of us. You might be in a safe district and say to yourself, "Well, they are not coming after me," but the truth is that when they attack one of us, they attack all of us. Their goal is to weaken our collective voice by defeating us one by one.
