On Carter Casteel: Not Out Yet

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 05:32 PM CST

While I've put in a request to the campaign to find out how many ballots are in but uncounted, and how many are out and could potentially still come in by the mail ballot deadline... apparently the math works out that if the ballots break in the same pattern as the early vote, Carter would end up with a victory margin of 15 votes.  And that doesn't even include the possibility of any recounts.

Still, a lot of unknowns, but the race for HD 73 is back on the table.

"I’ll be all right, but this race has changed Texas politics."

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 02:26 PM CST

The Republican Party is up for sale and its new owner in the Hill Country is James Leininger for only $786,096.36.

This race is personal.  Casteel, (possibly, see update, there is hope yet) soon to be my former hometown representative, is the Republican I most respect in Texas.  She stood for a type of representation, speaking, and campaigning that was a breath of fresh air in the post-2002 era of Texas politics.  This race highlights some serious flaws in Texas' campaign finance system, where a candidate wholly uninterested in actually representing a district, controlled by an San Antonio carpetbagger puts ideology before public policy.

I'm so sorry Carter. For you, for your party, and for Texas.

Update: from QR.

Carter Casteel is mulling her options in the face of her 44 vote loss to Nathan Macias. Several anomalies appear in the race including the fact that that the House race garnered about 680 more votes than any other race on the ballot. While no one is yet alleging any mischief, it is unusual that so many people went to the polls and simply skipped over races for governor, senator, county judge, sheriff and the like. There are 329 possible mail ballots still out, including 259 from Comal County voters. As those trickle in, it may change outcomes. She has sought legal advice and may yet request a recount.

New Braunsfels Herald-Zeitung:(HD 73) But Casteel later gathered her family around her and comforted them and her supporters with motherly wisdom.

"It’s fine. Shush, it’s fine," she said, putting her arms around as many of them as she could. "We might have lost tonight, but we are winners for two reasons. First, we did not break the 9th Commandment — do not lie. And secondly, our family for the first time in four years will be able to spend more time together."

...

Casteel might have been hesitant to commit to redoing Tuesday’s count, but she wasted no time making a pronouncement about how important her loss was to the entire state.

"What this means is that no representative can take an independent vote because someone with money might take issue with it," she said. "That’s the tough part. I’ll be all right, but this race has changed Texas politics."

...

Through individual donations and money spent with the Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, Leininger poured $786,096.36 into Macias’ bid to send Casteel home.

...

"My desire is to see that no seat is for sale. I want to make sure a school teacher’s $10 donation means as much as the millions someone else has to spend," she said.

To her well-wishers and party faithful, Casteel offered a warning.

"Let me tell you, the Republican Party is in trouble. And we’ve got to do what we can to save it," she said, which was greeted with a hearty chorus of "amen."

The Leininger Five: Casteel v. Macias

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sat Feb 25, 2006 at 04:59 PM CST

There is of course the Texas Parents PAC, running teachers, school board members, and superintendents against incumbent Republicans who are generally hostile to Public Education.  And then there are the Leininger Five, wholly owned candidates of San Antonio Voucher Advocate James Leininger who along with Houston homebuilder Bob Perry increasingly funds and tries to call the shots of Texas Republicans.  These five challengers are the opposite of the Parent PAC, they are trying to dislodge Republicans who are willing to work for common productive solutions for Education, voting more independently than Craddick, Leininger, or Perry wants.

So if we can, we'll try to feature some of these races before the primary, as it is these local battles which will drive most of the turnout in the Republican Primary.

The San Antonio-Express News features the Carter Casteel v. Leininger owned Nathan Macias race.

State Rep. Carter Casteel, R-New Braunfels, has campaigned for school board, county judge and state representative during her 22-year political career, but she's never been as fed up with the process as she is this time.

"This is the first race I've ever been involved in that gave me distaste," Casteel said. "All the races I've been involved with are the way I've taught government when I was a schoolteacher, the way I've lived government and the way I thought government should be.

...

The barrage of radio and television ads and two to three direct mailings a week from the Macias camp, painting Casteel as voting with "liberal Democrats," has gotten under her skin.

...

While he stressed the need to cut "wasteful spending," Macias could not identify any areas he would advocate cutting.

"I need to get in there and really take a look at it," he said. "Do an across-the-board, up-and-down review and look for ways to relieve some of the burden."

Macias isn't running on any specific principle other than running to the far right of Casteel.  The district is conservative (about 80% Republicans) but places a high value on Education and is interested in a solution to state educational finance, as one of it's local school districts (Fredericksburg) recently became a Chapter 41 "Rich District".  But Macias is nothing more than a puppet for James Leininger.

Macias dismisses criticism that his campaign represents an attempt by an out-of-district millionaire to buy a seat in the House.

More than 90 percent of Macias' campaign funds have come from San Antonio businessman James Leininger, who has pumped at least $180,000 into the campaign. Casteel is one of five House members Leininger targeted for defeat after they opposed a school voucher bill last year.

...

Casteel, seeking a third term, says Macias is not her true opponent.

"Really, it's about me and Dr. Leininger and vouchers," she said. "He is somebody who has unlimited sources of money and will spend whatever it takes to misrepresent Carter Casteel. Well, I've been here 33 years. I've taught 1,800 kids. I've served as a school board member and county judge. I've volunteered for lots of organizations. He can't make me something I'm not."

There is no Democratic opponent in HD-73. The largest newspaper the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung has endorsed Casteel.

If you’re a Republican who is thinking about sitting out this primary so you can sign Kinky Friedman’s or Carole Keeton-Strayhorn’s petitions, reconsider. Too much is at stake March 7. The District 73 representative should answer to us, and not to a single-issue Republican donor from San Antonio.

Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Feb 14, 2006 at 01:02 AM CST

• Ditto to PinkDome's statement of Dullsville x10 on the race for Texas Railroad Commissioner.  Heck, I doubt we'll even have much of a chance at listening to the candidates spend half their stump speeches joking about how the Railroad Commission has little to do with railroads anymore.


• Read the Leininger for State Rep press release.  Funny stuff.


• Speaking of Leininger, he's running Nathan Macias against our Texan of the Year, Carter Casteel.  4 years ago when Casteel was elected, she won her home county of Comal and Gilliespie while losing Bandera and Kendall.  This time, Casteel has locked up a ton of institutional support and major players in Gillespie County as can be seen in her ad in the Fredericksburg paper. 

  She's got the support of all 4 County Commissioners & the County Judge, all 4 members of the city council including my father as well as the mayor, the county Republican party chair, the FISD Superintendent, a number of the school board members, the former mayor, former council members, and the county clerk.  What's been fun to watch is this ad is running each week, and the new names that get added; it lirerally reads as a who's who in the county and I would expect that Casteel will move her margain from the small 53% range she had back in 2002.



• Read Rip Avery's HD-50 Update on the Republicans who are looking to challenge Mark Strama, and by challenge, I mean get beaten in November.
  


• There was a candidate forum for HD-47 candidates of both parties this weekend. Casual Soapblox has a good rundown.  Here's a clip...

  Jason Earle is likely the front runner by virtue of his name alone. But to me, he seemed a little like a sharply dressed 13-year-old at his bar mitzvah, reading his Torah portion, occasionally stuttering in such a way as to reveal that he, like everyone else, has actually memorized his portion so as not to have to try and decipher the vowel-less scripture on the fly. He managed to treat the forum like a stump speech, saying little beyond grand platitudes. It may not matter. He is the son of District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is prosecuting Tom DeLay. That may take him all the way through the general election for all I know.

  Valinda Bolton impressed me. She spoke passionately about being a Democrat, using the word "Democrat" over and over. Her background of advocacy for the victims of domestic abuse also struck me as a positive quality for a state representative. In fact, I think she is exactly the kind of candidate who will do well in Travis County in November 2006 if the election is nationalized to the extent I think it will be. Travis County Democrats are angry and active right now. They want someone who will fight for them and proudly say "I'm a Democrat." I also like that she worked on No Nonsense in November, and that she, like all the other Democrats in the race, is pro-choice...

  If there were a candidate that caused me to think twice about that, it would be Eric Beverly. He was so steeped in policy, that I became shocked and confused. He has worked as a bill editor in the legislature and as a policy research specialist. I came away with the impression that he clearly knew what he would be doing in the legislature like no other candidate.

  An interesting point on the Republicans...

  If I were a different sort of Democrat I would lie and say Rich Phillips was pathetic. In fact he was not. He is the candidate Democrats should prepare for. He comes across and sincere and eloquent and not at all like a marketing consultant (which he is).