After losing his bid to oust state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, from the District 11 seat in November and watching the city struggle to recover from Hurricane Ike, Jaworski said he realized the place he could do the most good was in his own hometown.
“The greatest need is in the city, and it’s where I live,” he said. “I came out of the holidays completely clear on my path.”
If elected, Jaworski said he would be a forward-thinking mayor, especially when it comes to storm recovery efforts.
“Hurricane Ike is an opportunity,” he said. “It’s tragic and damaged us greatly, but this is a chance to make great progress in Galveston. I fully intend to be that kind of mayor.”
Jaworski sees his campaign as a way to bring more statewide attention to the island, the kind of status Galveston used to have 40 years ago.
“I want to serve people’s interests here, but Galveston could use some greater connectivity,” he said.
Update by KT: Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas is term limited in 2010 so this is an open seat. The mayor pro tem is considering a bid as well as his council seat is termed out in 2010 as well.
Joe Jaworski, coming off a strong yet unsuccessful run for the Texas Senate, is coming into the public eye some more with the suit he is carrying for the Texas Faculty Association. From his law firm's public advisory:
Galveston attorney Joe Jaworski will file a lawsuit on behalf of the Texas Faculty Assn. (TFA) and other plaintiffs alleging that University of Texas Board of Regents and other UT officials violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when they held a closed meeting and conference phone calls before they announced the layoffs of 3,800 employees of the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
The decision by the Board of Regents came earlier in November in a unanimous vote. UT's public affairs office insisted that without the layoffs, UTMB would have found itself without any money in a matter of weeks.
As the cuts began taking effect, a non-human realization appeared that was also daunting: The clinic's capacity reduced from 550 to 200 beds. That hits home for me, because 10 years ago I was a boy who needed one of those many beds. A student doctor and her mentor passed me off to more expert doctors before I received complete care, but the hospital represented the only emergency room within thirty minutes of the far side of Galveston. Visitors to a beach island can easily be prone to accidents; that hospital is pretty important.
Also, I've always known the UT Medical Branch to be one of the best medical schools in Texas, especially since the institution trained my grandfather, who, at least a small time, owned the largest single-physician practice on this side of the Mississippi. Although a horrible hurricane is the primary cause, I am saddened by the loss of many great employees to a fine institution of my university.
You can see the entire text of the advisory from the Jaworski Law Firm below the fold. The case will be filed tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M.
Yesterday David wrote that the Jaworski campaign was suspending operation for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Today, it looks like they are turning their organization into an aide and recovery operation.
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me and my family, as well as the campaign staff, regarding our safety and well-being. My family and the entire campaign staff safely evacuated and are doing well. However, many of our friends and neighbors were not as fortunate and need our help now, more than ever. That is why we have temporarily suspended our campaign. Myself, our campaign staff and organization will be focused on helping to distribute supplies and clean up neighborhoods throughout Galveston and all the cities and areas affected by Ike. All scheduled events are canceled until further notice.
Because of the difficulty of going back and forth to Galveston Island, we are relocating our campaign headquarters to the BAND/HCDP Clear Lake office located at 568 El Dorado, Webster, TX (at the corner of Hwy 3 and El Dorado - map), where we will organize our volunteers for the relief effort. Please contact Field Director Brooke Heller at 512-569-0097 or brooke@jaworskifortexas.com for more information on volunteering. (Please note that cell phone service is intermittent, so please be patient and keep trying.) Keep an eye on your email, as we will send out detailed volunteer information in the coming days.
We're excited to let you know that we've launched the first television ad of the fall campaign, a 30-second spot that highlights Joe's family tradition of public service and pledge to do what's right.
The spot features Joe speaking directly to voters interspersed with historic photos and video footage of Joe on the campaign trail:
Hi, I'm Joe Jaworski.
My family's tradition of public service
runs deep in Texas.
My grandfather, Leon Jaworski,
held a powerful president accountable
when corruption turned into Watergate.
And as mayor pro-tem of the city of Galveston,
I tried to bring positive change to our community.
Now it's time for independent leadership and a new direction.
It won't be easy, and the powerful special interests will fight us every step of the way.
But that's okay.
I learned from my family a long time ago --
it's not about doing what's easy,
it's about doing what's right.
Produced by Jaworski's campaign team and airing throughout the district, "Doing What's Right" adds to the momentum of Joe's campaign as we head into the home stretch of this critical election year. You can see it during your favorite TV show, on Joe's campaign website , or on Joe's YouTube page .
Joe Jaworski is competing to become the Democratic nominee in SD-11 and take on "Toxic" Mike Jackson this November. First he has to defeat Bryan Hermann.
Jaworski is a Texroots candidate--Donate or volunteer today.
Tuesday Joe Jaworski filed his campaign finance report, showing more than $450,000 raised to date in his Texas Senate race against a 20-year incumbent legislator known for his multiple votes in favor of term limits -- except for himself.
"I'm gratified by the overwhelming support coming from ordinary Texans who want change, not more of the same," Jaworski said. "Their willingness to invest in the new direction will pay off when they elect a new state senator who puts their concerns first and Austin politics last."
The campaign press release shows some impressive numbers for the Jaworski's campaign, for the period ending December 31 shows that he raised $204,660.51 during the second half of 2007. His total raised in the race to date is $454,922.74 from 795 donors, with an average contribution of $555.88 and including a $13,000 loan from the candidate. His fundraising has continued on pace during the first two weeks of the current year.
Jaworski is running against incumbent "Toxic" Mike Jackson, who supports siphoning tax dollars out of public schools to pay for a private-school voucher scheme and opposes common-sense measures to improve the air quality his own constituents breathe.
A poll from November of last year indicated that SD-11 could be a pick up for Democrats, and these fundraising numbers are encouraging for the Galveston candidate.
It is outrageous that these taxpaying citizens - these Texans! - should be victimized twice - first by the storm, then again by the state bureaucracy.
That is how Democratic State Senate candidate Joe Jaworski feels about the restrictive bureaucracy being used to slow down aid to victims of hurricane Rita. Last Friday Joe Jaworski wrote to Governor Rick Perry asking why Texas has been so leisurely to help the victims of hurricane Rita.
I know you share my outrage at the snail's pace of state aid for Texas families more than two years after Hurricane Rita came ashore with such force. The recent State Auditor's report finds that of nearly 4,300 applications for federal assistance controlled by your administration, only 13 have been helped.
Rather than helping families, Perry and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs seem to be playing political favoritism to private companies.
The State Auditor's report makes clear that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has been too cautious in providing relief to the storm's victims but thrown caution to the wind when it comes to privatizing relief effort, including a multi-million dollar contract with a private firm whose top lobbyist is your former chief of staff.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has also squandered more than $230,000 in hurricane relief on administrative expenses, according the State Auditor's report. That's one-fifth of what has been spent thus far-a ratio that would make Halliburton blush.
I urge you to make sure that Texans who applied for aid receive initial payments to get things going. The state can then provide additional funds based on a more thorough approval process. This plan will guarantee immediate help while allowing for safeguards to protect taxpayers against fraud or abuse.
Jaworski served as a city councilman in Galveston in 2005 (something he points to in his letter), and helped in the efforts to prepare for Hurricane Rita. While his area was not the hardest hit by the storm, thousands of people in the Galveston area were affected with thousands more along the Gulf Coast. It is time to help the other 4,287 Texans who need assistance. As Jaworski says in his letter, "They deserve help - now." Sadly, Mike Jackson, the Republican incumbent in SD-11, is silent on the issue.
Rumors have been circulating that Joe Jaworski had some good poll numbers to report.
Friday, we reported Jaworski had a 10 point lead among informed voters, and now we have seen the top page on the full poll (sorry it's a pdf) and it looks much better than we first thought.
Here are some of the highlights:
Mike Jackson has an abysmal 28% approval rating.
Less than half of the voters (48%) say they would re-elect Jackson if the election were today.
Mike Jackson leads in the initial vote preference. However, after being read a short paragraphs about each candidate, the race for State Senate is stastically tied (44% for Jaworski- 48% Jackson, and 8% undecided.
The other telling fact is how the people in Senate District 11 feel about the current Republican leadership.
57% have a negative perception of the Texas Legislature/
Republicans have a negative view of the legislature with 44% of Republican voters giving the Republican controlled legislature positive marks and 49% have a negative perception of the lege.
52% have an unfavorable perception of Rick Perry.
A plurality of voters in the district favor an outside who would lead the state in a new direction.
SD-11 continues to look more and more like a possible pick up. Jaworski is running a hard race and is raising tons of cash through out the state. Jaworski and Wendy Davis in SD-10 could bring our Democratic numbers in the Texas Senate up to 13 from 11 in seats specifically drawn to give Republicans an advantage. 2008 is a change election nationally, it appears there could be a wave in Texas too.
Well as everyone knows, we dodged a bullet with Hurricane Dean. Please keep the poor people in Mexico in your prayers. Joe Jaworski has been going throughout the county giving presentations on hurricane preparedness and evacuation(I’m his elf!). Even though Hurricane Dean passed us, remember that Hurricane Erin came for a visit. And there is about 100 days left in this years hurricane season. Joe is sending out a notice to get people thinking.
