Just check out these incredible numbers in the HD 129 race!
Contributions
Expenditures
Cash on Hand
Democrat Sherrie Matula
$125,823.77
$61,554.36
$136,934.03
Republican John Davis
$46,562.51
$49,618.73
$62,046.25
Matula's Advantage
$79,261.26
$11,935.63
$74,887.78
Democrat Sherrie Matula also received the endorsement of the Texas Parent PAC today, who wrote in their endorsement:
“Unlike her opponent, Sherrie Matula represents the mainstream views and interests of parents and children, taxpayers and businesses,” said Darci Hubbard of Houston, Texas Parent PAC Board member. “Bay Area families deserve an independent representative of the highest integrity who will consistently stand up for their needs.”
Matula was first endorsed by the TexBlog PAC many months ago. We recognized the extraordinary opportunity we had in this seat, and have been working hard for her this whole time.
Now -- with the recent endorsements and these great fundraising dollars -- we should expect to see some real money come in from the more traditional fundraising donors.
(Help me make Sherrie Matula's race one of the DLCC's "Essential Races" for 2008! Click here to nominate Sherrie.)
I will admit it: I am a political cynic.
It isn't often that I contract a case of what Billy Bob Thornton's character in Primary Colors called "True Believerism." It takes someone special--and a special campaign--to make me dust off the mantle of a cynic and really believe.
For me, this year, that candidate is Sherrie Matula.
Sherrie is running for State Representative in House District 129, a Harris County district including Clear Lake, part of Houston, and more.
On May 23, 2005, Rep. John Davis shouted those words from the floor of the Texas House of Representatives. At the time, Rep. Davis was defending private school vouchers (can be seen following this link, and going to the 7:34:31 point of the video). Now, Rep. Davis may be facing a possible upset in his bid for re-election to House District 129.
Rep. Davis is under investigation by the Texas Ethics Commission for possible misappropriation of up to $100,000 in campaign contributions. The story -- which first broke on Musings, one of our fellow Texas blogs, over three weeks ago -- has shaken up the race and forced many around the state to take notice.
Rep. Davis is running against Democrat Sherrie Matula. Matula recently was endorsed by the Texas Parent PAC (Chronicle, Kuff). Capitol Inside recently published a "sleeper" list of House races, and one of the races they featured was the HD 129 race. From their site (subscription required) and an article titled, "Potential Sleeper Candidates Starting to Show Up on Radar":
Matula - a retired teacher and former school board member - is challenging Republican State Rep. John Davis of Houston in HD 129 in southeast Harris County. A longtime Democratic activist, Matula is a member of the Texas State Teachers Association board and a Clear Lake Area Symphony Society member who's in line to be president...Matula is pushing ethics reform amid questions that have been raised about Davis' campaign spending.
The latest campaign and expenditures report shows an advantage for the incumbent Republican, but it also shows that Matula has spent as nearly as much as Rep. Davis over the past several months:
Rep. John Davis -- $37,561.42 in contributions, $25,508.18 expenditures, $30,340.17 COH.
Sherrie Matula -- $16,875.06 in contributions, $23,890.83 in expenditures, $10,279.31 COH.
There's still a strong Republican majority that Matula will have to overcome, but coming down the stretch, she has some distinctive advantanges: the ethics scandal facing Rep. Davis, endorsements from Parent PAC, and enough money to stay within close range.
