The Dallas Morning News released endorsements in 3 of the 11 state house races it plans to cover this cycle. All three this round happen to be for the Democratic candidates.
Carol Kent (D) in HD-102 the challenger to incumbent Rep. Tony Goolsby...
Veteran Rep. Tony Goolsby has served 10 terms in the Texas House. Longevity doesn't equal leadership, however. Mr. Goolsby is known for constituent work and as a reliable conservative vote. But he has had 19 years to break into the ranks of leaders who could boost the fortunes of the region and future of the state. That hasn't taken place.
Ouch.
Rep. Kirk England (D) in HD-106 over his challenger Karen Wiegman.
Incumbent Kirk England gets our nod over challenger Karen Wiegman, chiefly because Mr. England has a more realistic view of school funding and the role of government. Ms. Wiegman offered either unrealistic or purely ideological ideas.
Mr. England, 47, was elected to this seat as a Republican in 2006 and is seeking re-election as a Democrat. He says he changed parties last year because the GOP leadership in Austin "had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent."
And Rep. Yvonne Davis (D) in HD-111 over her challenger Homer Fincannon, who was barely mentioned other than owning a pest control service. Now, what other Republican did we once know that was an exterminator...
Our guest on this week's episode of Who's Blue is State Representative Kirk England. I contacted Representative England in hopes of talking about his decision in greater detail and learning a little bit more about the newest Democrat in the State House, and he accommodated me with some candid discussion. A partial transcript is after the break.
Representative Kirk England's decision shows courage and commitment to his district. Time and again, Representative England has stood up against the extreme partisan Republican leadership in Austin that has continually failed our state. He's a fighter for the people who elected him to serve and I am very pleased to welcome him to the Texas Democratic Party.
-- Boyd Richie, Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party
"This decision was not made lightly, but I believe I can get more done on the issues we care about as a Democrat. Of course, I have many close friends, supporters and even family members that are Republicans. But when I went to Austin, I saw firsthand the agenda of the Republican leadership, along with the strong arm tactics used in enforcing that agenda. I realized that the leadership and the special interests they represent had very little in common with the principles and ideas I value most. At the end of the day, I decided that the ability to represent my district was more important than following a party line set by folks in Austin.
"I was born and raised in Grand Prairie, and I have lived here my whole life. My wife Marcy and I raised our two sons, Sam and Charlie, in this community, and I own a small business here. I trust the voters in District 106, and I am confident that my friends and neighbors agree that doing what is right is more important than partisan politics.
"I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and work hard to be reelected in 2008. I am confident that the voters in our district want a representative who will fight for public education and the Children's Health Insurance Program and who believes that the folks struggling to pay skyrocketing utility bills every month are more important than TXU's profits. I am committed to returning to Austin to keep the promises I made to citizens of District 106."
But clearly actions speak louder than words. Lucky for us, we can look at the 80th session and see how Rep. England acted to make Texas a better place for everyone. As the Lone Star Project points out, Rep. England will be a valuable member and asset to Democratic caucus.
Stood Up to Craddick: In an extraordinary display of courage, England broke with GOP freshmen and voted with centrist Democrats against Tom Craddick on the defacto "Vote of No Confidence" against the Speaker.(Source: H- 1047 Motion to Sustain the Ruling of the Chair)
Strongly Supported Educators: Showing the courage to stand with children and educators over partisan party leaders, England voted with centrist Democrats to raise teachers salaries by $6,000 to reach the national average. (Source: H- 1157 Motion to Table Amendment #3 by Dunnam)
Protected Our Ballot: To protect the sanctity of the ballot and senior voters in HD106, England voted with centrist Democrats to exempt elderly voters from Voter ID requirements. (Source: H- 604 Motion to Table Dunnam Amendment to B Brown Amendment #1)
Acted to Stop Child Abuse: Breaking with Republicans who refused to aggressively investigate child sexual abuse at Texas youth facilities, England voted with centrist Democrats for a special prosecutor to investigate the TYC. (Source: H- 147 Motion to Table Amendment by Dunnam)
Fought for Clean Air: Taking action to improve air quality and promote energy conservation, England voted with centrist Democrats to provide taxpayer-funded incentives to build clean energy projects. (Source: H- 706 Motion to Table Amendment #2 by Vaught)
Kirk England is going to be a fantastic representative for HD-106 and for the rest of Texas. His courage to stand against Craddick and his top lieutenants (Chisum, Brown, Howard, etc.) shows his commitment for a better Texas. We aren't the only ones happy to see him join our party, for that, you will have to read below the fold.
I am president of the Grand Prairie Democrats. I've been talking with lots of our local Democrats in the 106th legislative district about the news of Kirk England switching to the Democratic party. If Katy Hubener decides to run again, I expect Kirk England will have a tough primary race. I have heard that Matt Angle (AKA "Lone Star Project") is backing Kirk England. I think Angle is one of those "consultants" who thought it was a good idea to run Christopher Combest for the 106th; a man with a hate crime in his past - not to mention that he had never lived in the district and still does not. See PDiddie's comment, "I'm happy about the switch" on the following BOR thread for another opinion of Angle. http://burntorangere...
At least he is supporting a better candidate this time, but I'm still not going to salute right away. Needless to say he neither lives in this district, nor does he seem to make any effort to actually consult with the Democratic club here when he comes up with these brilliant ideas. Maybe he should come visit us some time. I still have yet to meet him. :)
Some on Burnt Orange report have asked who will the Republicans run . . . I think a good guess would be a man named Edward Smith, Jr. If so, I have no doubt that he will get trounced in the general election by either Katy or Kirk, no matter how much money he wastes getting his ass whipped. I already have the first three campaign ads in mind that will sink him like a lead boat full of gold. The rest of you can google him if you want to figure out why, and he's the GOP's best hope. Any more credible GOP candidate they could imagine putting up are already very good friends of Charles England's. If they run as republican for anything it won't be the 106th. Mark my words, you heard it first here, on the Burnt Orange Report.
As for Kirk England's switch of parties, I'm very pleased with the news, in that it means we have another Democratic seat, whether or not Katy takes it from him. I do not doubt his genuine dislike for the Craddick regime; I also do not doubt that whomever the GOP runs will be a Craddick loyalist. For all these reasons, Kirk has effectively handed the Democrats this seat whether or not he will be that Democrat. I am deeply grateful to him for that, but that is not enough to necessarily get my vote, and I also know it was probably a no-brainer that he had to do this to politically survive. In the last election he became the first Republican in over 14 years to win the 106th with less than a majority.
Despite all the recent public bootlicking I've seen on BOR, I have yet to endorse anyone in the 106th race at this time. Of course it won't be a Republican. For one thing, on my only issue this last season, Kirk facilitated the voter suppression bills. On both of these bills I called, and emailed his office to ask him to oppose them. Secondly in his press conference, he stated that switching parties is not going to change the way he votes in the Legislature. I take him at his word, and so even if Kirk doesn't get a primary opponent, he still has a lot of convincing to do to get my vote in the general election. I expect there will be a Libertarian candidate, and perhaps I'll ask him/her how they would vote on those voter suppression issues.
It has come to the attention of Burnt Orange Report that Republican Kirk England of HD-106 will announce he's switching parties tomorrow in Grand Prairie. England won by only a couple hundred votes in 2006 against Democrat Katy Hubener who had contested the seat in an earlier special election. For past coverage of HD-106 click here.
State Rep. Kirk England of Grand Prairie is switching to the Democratic Party, the first such switch by a Texas legislator in decades.
England, the son of longtime Republican and Grand Prairie Mayor Charles England, first won the seat representing District 106 in a special election in March 2006, after the retirement of state Rep. Ray Allen. The district includes most of Grand Prairie and south Irving.
"After one session in the House, I found that the Republican leadership in Austin had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent," England said in a statement released Wednesday. "That is why [Thursday] at 10 a.m., I will announce my intention to seek re-election to the Texas House as a Democrat."
Theresa Huchingson, a spokeswoman for England, said England would explain his decision in greater detail at the news conference.
I have no further comment at this time. Below is an official release from Rep. England.
Grand Prairie, TX // Today, State Representative Kirk England released the following statement:
"In December of 2005, when I filed to run for office, I made a promise to the hardworking families in our community to fight for our public schools, fight for affordable health care and to fight for them on pocketbook issues. After one session in the House, I found that the Republican leadership in Austin had no tolerance for the values and priorities of the folks I represent.
"That is why tomorrow at 10 AM, I will announce my intention to seek reelection to the Texas House as a Democrat.
"I was born and raised in Grand Prairie , and I have lived here my whole life. My wife Marcy and I raised our two sons, Sam and Charlie, in this community and I own a small business here. I trust the voters in District 106 and I am confident that my friends and neighbors agree that doing what is right is more important than partisan politics.
"I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and work hard to be reelected in 2008. I am confident that the voters in our district want a representative who will fight for public education and the Children's Health Insurance Program, and who believes that the folks struggling to pay skyrocketing utility bills every month are more important than TXU's profits. I am committed to returning to Austin to keep the promises I made to citizens of District 106."
"I look forward to discussing this important issue in greater detail tomorrow."
(Again great stuff from RBH. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Using the data on the election analysis page (for 2004, I'll update slightly when the 2006 data is posted), here are the 7 Republicans who are in the bluest districts.
Haggerty (HD78), Murphy (HD133), Goolsby (HD102), England (HD106), Harper-Brown (HD105), Latham (HD101), and Branch (HD108).
Haggerty hasn't been challenged by a Democrat since 1998. He was almost unseated in the primary though.
Murphy and Latham are freshmen. Murphy won with 56%. Latham beat an incumbent in the primary and didn't face a Democrat.
Goolsby won with 52%, England won with 49%, Brown won with 55%, and Branch won with 56%.
Katy Hubener came very close tonight, winning the votes on election day but coming up just 350 votes short of winning HD-106 in Dallas. The final results were...
(D) Katy Hubener 2,438 46.23%
(L) Gene Freeman 48 0.91%
(R) Kirk England 2,788 52.86%
(-) TOTAL 5,274 100.00%
The TDP has released the following statement.
"I want to commend Katy Hubener on running an excellent race in the special election for House District 106. Katy ran as an independent voice, who could be trusted to stand up against a special interest agenda and fight for the best interests of Texas families.
In a five-week sprint special election called by Governor Perry to benefit his hand-picked candidate in a Republican district, Katy Hubener held her opponent to a margin of only a few hundred votes, signaling a trend of voter dissatisfaction with one-party Republican rule in the State of Texas.
Katy will continue to campaign as an independent voice for North Texas families, and we feel confident about her chances in November. The dynamics of a general election will no doubt benefit Katy and her strong organization of supporters.
As we enter an important special session on education and school finance, the voters of District 106 and every other community in Texas will be watching and waiting to hold legislators accountable. Kirk England will have to face the voters again in November and answer for a record that either protects the priorities of North Texas families or reflects the special interests that control the republican leadership in Austin."
Texas Democrats are working to earn voters’ trust and offer a real alternative to the partisan Republican "business as usual." With highly qualified candidates like Katy Hubener and Donna Howard on the ballot again in November, the pay-to-play politics established by Rick Perry and Tom Craddick will be replaced by state government with the integrity to work for all Texans."
Now we bring all out focus on the rest of standard early voting this week for the Democratic Primary ending next Tuesday March 7. You can see the Top 15 Early Voting counties online here. You can see the new Travis County EV report here (xls). So get out and VOTE!
Here we go, LiveBlog tonight (syndicated at dkos and mydd as needed).
Let's see how the numbers pan out:
Dallas County Election site. SOS website will have numbers, too. If you'd like to see a map of the district with precinct numbers, check this one out in pdf format.
Early Vote In with 3.6% turnout of 67,620 eligible voters.
8:54: No new numbers, but I called Byron in Dallas and he said Katy had over 100 people on the ground today and there was no Republican groundwork to be seen. They are waiting just like us down here.
Phil's update: I'll second that. I talked to some of the volunteers. They said they knocked on every door in their universe today, over the weekend, and made every call at least once. Everything that could have been done on the ground was done.
9:20 From Ken Molberg on the ground in Dallas...
Returns in from all but one precinct. I show us down by just under 400 votes, subject to correction.
And I need to add that this is a tought district for many reasons. What this tells me, however, is that we can win it in November.
Everyone who worked this was tremendous.
If that's true, that means Katy did win the Election Day votes as it would narrow her margain. No actual numbers as of yet.
(D) Katy Hubener 2,438 46.23%
(L) Gene Freeman 48 0.91%
(R) Kirk England 2,788 52.86%
(-) TOTAL 5,274 100.00%
Katy actually won the Election Day vote 1478 to 1328. Congrats to everyone who helped on the ground, we will win this in November! (There are report of 55 mail ballots still to be counted, but it's not enough to close the margin.)
I'm happy to see Bob Gammage put out the word to help Katy Hubener in her special election. This was a particularly gracious move as Katy's race will not even be on the same ballot as Bob Gammage, so he can't be certain how much crossover support he will get.
Which brings me to my point; watch out for the confusion on the February 28th election day! For those of you living in the 106th who want to be sure you are getting your voted counted in all elections, these elections will be held in two separate places on two separate ballots. The special election will be held in where your local precinct normally votes (you can contact Katy's campaign at 972-282-9301 if you need help), and the primary early voting will be held at the normal early voting locations (201. W. Church at the Grand Prairie Development center, and at Irving City Hall for 106th voters)
Just be all the more confusing, Katy Hubener is going to be on both ballots. She is on the primary ballot where she is in one of many races that have no opponent, and she is on the special election ballot where she is in the only race with two opponents. For the sake of memory, remember to not only vote for Katy, but against the clueless Republican daddy's boy, Kirk England. If he isn't on your ballot also, then you aren't voting in the special election.
If you only have time to make one of the elections in the day, be sure that it is the special election (not at early voting). There is still time after the 28th to make early primary voting and cast that important vote for Bob Gammage (I already did this, myself!), but it will be too late for the special election.
Beyond party affiliation, Katy has the competance on the issues necessary to not be taken advantage of by special interest lobbyists, whereas Kirk has proven again and again (both for the Dallas Morning News, and in the Irving Cable Television Network candidates forum) that he is not yet ready for the job if he ever will be. The man doesn't even seem to know what a lobbyist is. He said he would wait 'til he got to Austin to figure that one out, but I'm guessing they will find out who he is sooner if the Koolaid drinkers succeed in putting him there.
We're one week out from the end of early voting. We're 2 days away from the chance to elect a second Democrat to the Texas House (support Katy Hubener in HD-106). So I ask you...
How's the voting going where you live? Is your turnout as underwhelming as it is around here?
