Margo has gone 0-for-2 so far in his bid for a spot in the Legislature, but the insurance company CEO — an exceptional fundraiser, with big El Paso backers like Paul Foster and Woody Hunt in his corner — could take what Olsen calls "as much of a Republican district in El Paso as you're going to get.”
The district is the most Democratic seat Republicans are challenging this year, and Rep. Moody is running a much stronger race a second time around. Moody is knocking on 3,000 doors a week in his district, before Labor Day, while Margo is now trying to claim that he is "1/4 Hispanic" -- the first time he's made such a claim in the many times he's run for office in El Paso.
Why Rep. Joe Moody Returns Next Year
Republicans continue to run in the seat because it is the only race for them to seat they could conceivably run for in El Paso -- much like the efforts to unseat Rep. Donna Howard in Austin. Rep. Moody has a strong presence in the district, his name ID is high, and even in this political climate, the Republicans in Austin rarely bring up Margo as a serious challenger. If it were a fresh face in the district, or if Moody had made some terrible votes -- maybe. But neither is true in this race. It is one to watch, but it's not really a district anyone expects to flip this cycle.
Houston Mayor Bill White and State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh. Photo Credit: Bill White for Texas.
After leaving Netroots Nation, where Bill White spoke at a lunch with Texas and national bloggers and participated in a energy security panel, the Houston Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate was off to El Paso.
While in El Paso, White received the endorsements of Congressman Silvestre Reyes, State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, State Rep. Chente Quintanillla, State Rep. Joe Moody, State Rep. Marisa Marquez, Mayor John Cook, Commissioner Willie Gandara, Jr. and nearly half a dozen school board officials.
The only two Democratic membesr of El Paso's state legislative delegation not to have endorsed White are State Reps. Joe Pickett and Norma Chavez. Chavez has endorsed John Sharp and Pickett is currently neutral.
John Sharp speaks to El Paso Democrats. Photo Credit: Newspaper Tree, 7/21/09.
Both Democratic U.S. Senate candidates seem to be focused on El Paso. Sharp visited recently (and ate grasshopper tacos). The former Texas comptroller, who visited El Paso for a shorter time than White, held one public event organized by Chavez and city Rep. Eddie Houlgin and hosted by the Camino Real Mexican-American Democrats. The Newspaper Tree reported attendance of slightly more than 100 people.
White's trip included a Sunday night event with 250 people and a Monday event with a 150 person turnout. White's daughter, Elena is also working in El Paso for her father's campaign and she may deserve part of the credit for the large disparity in endorsements.
You can read more about each candidates's recent visit at their respective campaign websites (Bill White and John Sharp).
With the recent release of campaign finance reports, it is a good time to take a look at how some of the incumbent House Democrats likely to be targeted by the Republicans faired in fundraising.
There are many months ahead, but here is the current financial outlook for 10 incumbent House Democrats likely to face comeptitive races next year.
House District 2
Mark Homer raised $4,699 and ended the reporting period with $5,982 on hand. His campaign spent $20,676 during that time.
House District 11
Chuck Hopson raised only $5,750 but has an impressive $66,563 on hand, with expenditures of slightly over $22,900 for the reporting period.
House District 47
Valinda Bolton reported raising $14,800 and ended with $23,532 on hand. Two years ago at this time, Bolton had $13,704 on hand, so the two-term incumbent has almost $10k more than she did at this same point last election cycle.
House District 52
Diana Maldonado raised $18,950 and ended the reporting period with $35,817 in the bank. The Williamson County Democrat and TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate spent a little over $18,000 during that time.
House District 78
Joe Moody of El Paso reported raising $16,950 to end the reporting period with $27,955.82 on hand. Moody, a TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate, won by just over 3200 votes in 2008.
House District 96
Chris Turner reported raising $45,251.24 and had slightly over $102,000 on hand. Great to see huge numbers from a TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate.
House District 101
Robert Miklos, a freshman House member from Mesquite and another TexBlog PAC endorsed candidate, raised $18,340 and has $20,656 on hand.
House District 102
Carol Kent, who defeated incumbent Tony Goolsby in 2008, raised $32,170 and ended the filing period with just over $51,000 on hand.
House District 107
Although he raised only $1,157 during the reporting period and spent more than $60,000, incumbent Democrat Allen Vaught has more than $86,000 currently on hand.
House District 133
Kristi Thibaut, who defeated Republican incumbent Jim Murphy by 497 votes in 2008, has $45,655 on hand. At this point two years ago, as she prepared for a rematch with Murphy after losing in 2006, Thibaut only had $6,851 on hand.
The GOP says they'd never endorse Moody...yet its on their property, which is owned by Dan Haggerty, who is the brother of Republican and current State Rep. Pat Haggerty.
Dan Haggerty said Moody asked if he could put signs up on some of his commercial properties.
"So I gave him a list and I said, 'Sure, put them up,'" he said.
But Dan Haggerty said the signs aren't an endorsement of the Democratic candidate.
He said he's still undecided about the race. If Margo would have asked to put up signs on his properties, Dan Haggerty said he would have told him yes, too.
"I believe in the two-party system," he said, adding that he has signs for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in front of his house.
More encouraging news today for other TexBlog PAC endorsed candidates. This time, from El Paso where Democrat Joe Moody is looking to take over an open Republican seat.
Via Press Release...
Hot off the heels of TX ParentPAC's endorsement, Joe Moody has announced the support of even more pro-public education groups. The Texas State Teacher's Association (TSTA), Texas Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT), and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) all support Joe Moody in his campaign to become the next State Representative of House District 78. To date, zero pro-public education groups have endorsed Dee Margo.
I hear good things about the El Paso coordinated "Unity" campaign this year. While there have been problems with infighting in the past in El Paso, word is that truces have been made and everyone is playing ball as they work towards turning out a record 200,000 voters there. Which of course is great news for Joe Moody and Rick Noriega.
Democrat Joe Moody is one of five endorsed candidates for TexBlog PAC. In terms of re-elect numbers, Moody is running in the district with the best numbers for Democrats (Democrats, on average, are only a few points behind Republicans in HD-78). Additionally, this is a district where his father, Bill Moody, received 59% support in his Supreme Court race. That should make the race one of the easiest pick-ups for Democrats.
Unfortunately, Moody is behind in fundraising totals to date, and the recent news about his controversial remarks on the internet are not the stuff that dream campaigns are made of.
The race is Moody's to lose -- Margo is really just another Craddick crony who will offer nothing but a "yes" vote for Tom Craddick to his district, along with the pork-barrel profits that would come with it. How Moody performs on the ground in the next few weeks will give us a better sense if he delivers in an important seat for Texas Democrats.
Here are some other links that previous coverage of the race on Burnt Orange Report:
A poll commissioned by the El Paso Times and El Paso News Channel 9 found John McCain leading Barack Obama 38 percent to 36 percent, with 26 percent undecided.
The automated poll to 3,348 households of registered voters had a margin of error of 2 percent, meaning McCain's slight lead is within the MoE.
However, in a county where John Kerry received just over 56 percent of the vote in 2004, the results certainly raised some eyebrows.
State Rep. Norma Chavez, a Craddick D who was the only member of the El Paso delegation to support Obama in the primary, did not seem too concerned.
"We have a strong Democratic base in El Paso that supports the Clintons, and a lot of people are waiting to see how Hillary is treated at the convention before fully supporting Obama," said state Rep. Norma Chávez, D-El Paso, who is going to Denver for the party's national convention, which will begin Monday.
"The numbers will change next week, and I expect McCain's numbers to stay flat and Obama's to increase," said Chávez, who is one of Obama's main organizers in El Paso and Texas.
Russell Autry, the chief of operations of the El Paso-based polling company The Reuel Group, said that Obama's Democratic support in El Paso County was "softer than what was expected."
"The El Paso County Democratic Party has its work cut out for them," [Autry] said.
Autry may be right, but the problem may not be as large as the polling indicates.
Danny Anchondo, chairman of the county Democratic party, said that he isn't worried about El Paso turning Republican, and he points to the large number of undecided voters as people who will vote as Democrats in November.
"Everyone here is waiting to see what the Clintons do," Anchondo said.
The state representative race between Democrat Joe Moody and Dee Margo, who defeated Pat Haggerty in the Republican primary, also could be effected by the presidential race.
"Those who were for Hillary are either going to be voting on our side or not voting at all," [El Paso County GOP Chair Michael Moore] said. "I think this is going to help us down in the ballot.
Among those who hope Moore's analysis is correct is Republican state representative candidate Dee Margo. The El Paso businessman is running against Democrat Joseph Moody in the November election. Both are seeking to replace Pat Haggerty, who lost in the Republican primary.
"I certainly don't think it hurts," Margo said of the poll's results. "It shows that voters in El Paso are thinking more about the candidates than about party affiliation."Moody, a lawyer, said the presidential poll results will not weigh heavily in his race.
"Presidential politics do not determine what happens in a state house race," he said. "Ours is a local race that centers on issues important to our community."
It goes without saying that in order for statewide candidates like Rick Noriega, Linda Yanez and Sam Houston to win, they will need a high turnout and excellent showing in El Paso.
HD-78 (El Paso) is arguably the most Democratic House district in Texas still represented by a Republican. And Joe Moody, a young assistant district attorney with a popular political family name, is poised to turn El Paso County's legislative delegation completely blue.
Joe will be in Austin for a fund-raiser Thursday at 5 PM at the Austin Club (110 E. 9th St, third floor). Donations in any amount are appreciated.
The entire Democratic legislative delegations of Travis and El Paso counties have agreed to serve on Joe's honorary host committee along with six different education and teachers' organizations and many more.
Joseph Moody, Democratic candidate for House District 78, wanted to have a campaign based on issues and a dialogue on what is important to the people of El Paso. Dee Margo, the Republican candidate, would rather leave the door open for Tom Craddick, James Leininger, and the rest of the Republican special interest machine to bail him out if the campaign gets tough.
Simply, Dee Margo rejected Joseph Moody's idea of having a fair election.
"I challenged Dee Margo to a campaign in which we would cap campaign contributions. Although I am disappointed that Mr. Margo has refused to limit his contributions, I will not fight this campaign with one arm tied behind my back. In order to make sure I have the resources to communicate my positive message of change for El Paso and to respond to Mr. Margo's special-interest-fueled campaign, Margo has forced me to remove my campaign contribution caps while also redoubling my grassroots fundraising campaign.
"I offered Mr. Margo the opportunity to run this race in the same manner as we did in Democratic Primary here in El Paso and how this race would be run in 37 other states that have campaign finance limits. Unfortunately, Mr. Margo rejected that offer and instead went to Austin for a high dollar fundraiser with Speaker Tom Craddick. Of the 1.2 million dollars Margo raised since 2006 over $700,000 would have violated the federal finance limits.
"I believe El Paso and all of Texas needs real comprehensive campaign finance reform to change the way things are done, and as your representative in the Texas House I will fight to best represent the interests of all of El Paso - not just a few wealthy donors."
Joe Moody is a great candidate and his victory in El Paso is key for us to win back the Texas House.
