Like a play in the closing minutes of a football game, Republican Kim Brimer, in a hail-mary attempt to change the trajectory of his losing campaign, accused challenger Wendy Davis of improperly using her Fort Worth City Council position to earn bonuses from a Fort Worth Title company. Wendy Davis, in a press conference called Friday afternoon, batted down Brimer's hail-mary, declaring him a liar who was desperate to cover up attempts to be held accountable for his dismal record.
Brimer, in a hectic sprint to catch up with the momentum that Wendy Davis is building in Senate District 10, is officially flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Look, the facts are the facts, and Davis was more than forthcoming Friday in her press conference. She had the foresight and vision to update her contract to where she was the only executive with Republic Title not receiving bonuses or additional compensation for work. She released her contract to the media. Davis went so far as to seek the advice of the Fort Worth City Attorney as to whether her contract was legal and ethical, and the seal of approval was given.
In the mean time, Democrat Wendy Davis is running to win an election -- not just a court case. She announced well over a year ago, and has worked impressively with her community to raise her profile. Davis is a former Fort Worth City Council member, and has worked tirelessly to bring sound policies for economic development to the area. Her positions on the issues are a shining example of forward-thinking public policies: full restoration of CHIP, expanding access to higher education for more students, and responsible improvements in our state's transportation infrastructure.
[Brimer's wife] Janna and her realty company, which Kim was named to the Board of Directors of in July of 2006, profited to the tune of over $237,000 dollars. While Texas homeowners struggle to pay their mortgages, afford their out of control utility rates, and find money to pay for outrageous gas prices, the Brimer's have apparently found a way to profit off of donations to a state senate campaign. Shameful.
Davis is right on the issues, Brimer has only spent time on lawsuits, and Tarrant County has witnessed a massive surge in voter registration. She's going to do a wonderful job in this race, and until Brimer shows some sign of life, we're going to list the race as "lean Davis."
Here are some links to previous coverage of the race on Burnt Orange Report:
Democrat Wendy Davis is challenging Republican incumbent Senator Kim Brimer in the SD-10 state senate race in North Texas. Here are the fundraising totals for Davis & Brimer from their recent campaign finance report.
Contributions
Expenditures
Cash on Hand
Democrat Wendy Davis
$287,957.45
$245,175.41
$435,965.99
Republican Kim Brimer
$217,165.90
$266,754.20
$1,412,142.65
Davis or Brimer Advantage
$70,791.55 (Davis)
$21,578.79 (Brimer)
$976,176.66 (Brimer)
Clearly, Davis could be gravely outspent over the final month. However, there only needs to be so much money at some point -- Brimer's extravagant war chest can only do so much. I'd be much more worried if he had such a huge lead in early expenditures, because that means he would have a real GOTV plan in place. With that kind of cash so late in the game, though, it would appear he's only going to use that money for a TV ad war and a bunch of quick, lazy mail pieces.
Or on more court cases. Or to repay his wife's rent.
State Sen. Kim Brimer has filed a petition with the Texas Supreme Court to get his opponent, Wendy Davis, disqualified from the November election before Friday’s deadline for changing the ballot. State district Judge Tom Lowe ruled last month against the Brimer campaign, which later filed an appeal in Fort Worth. However, it’s not clear whether there would be a ruling before Friday, the last day to replace or remove a name from the ballot.
How little confidence does Senator Brimer have in his reelection prospects, anyways? He's trying to win through a legal technicality rather than actually convincing his constituents that he's the right guy to continue leading.
To me, that's a bit odd.
Oh wait, maybe it's because he doesn't know how to campaign. Despite having over a million dollars in funds, his campaign website is still under construction.
So he probably has reason to be worried. It's too bad that his worrying has led to attempts to exploit technicalities in law instead of letting the voters choose. In a democracy, voters usually know best how to pick their legislator.
Aman Batheja with the Star-Telegram reports in the papers new PoliTex section that the saga of whether or not Democrat Wendy Davis is finally clear from any lawsuits related to ballot eligibility against Republican Senator Kim Brimer in SD-10 may not be over after all.
Batheja points out that the three-judge panel ruled that essentially Brimer can no longer instruct the Fort Worth Firefighter's association to handle his business for him, that if he wants to sue he will have to do it himself considering he is the "political opponent" to Davis.
"The firefighters have to decide what they're going to do," Brimer said. "They're the ones that have the action going, and I'm going to respect what they're doing at this time."
You mean what they [the firefighters] are doing for you, right Kim? I'm 50/50 on whether Brimer will sue Davis or not. He didn't have the guts to bring the suit up himself, he prodded the firefighters to do that grunt work, so not sure he has the wherewithal in the end. That said, with Eppstein advising Brimer I'm certain they see an opportunity to have Davis spend money on defending herself. This would temper just a tad what successful fundraising Davis has been having so far. Of course, he would have to pay also to make the suit happen. It's a distraction is the bottom line and has no legs under it at all. Time to talk about the issues.
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.
Not a lot of drama in today's episode, but our CEC meeting was interesting nonetheless.
Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Art Brender,despite assertions by the Star-Telegram, is not a declared candidate for Senate District 10. In fact, based on his speech last night, he sounds like a County Chair that will remain on the job till the end of his term in 2008. That leaves the only declared candidate at this point for SD10 being newly declared Democrat Wendy Davis, who was absent at last nights meeting. Art maintained he was still considering the run, but he seemed much less enthusiastic about it, and gave the impression to me that he was focused on the job he has at hand right now.
Also, the first declared Democrat candidate for the open HD 97 seat vacated by Anna Mowery is 2006 candidate Dan Barrett. Dan declared, to approving applause, "a Democrat is going to win District 97!".
Dan's a great candidate, excellent lawyer, and gave Mowery a good fight in 2006 picking up 41% of the vote in a strong Republican district. If we can avoid a multiple candidate battle in this November special election you can expect that any and all resources throughout the county will descend upon 97. By the way, Dan's performance marked the strongest by a Democrat against Mowery, who traditionally won by 60% or more, but only managed 55% in 2006.
Joel Burns, an openly and unabashed gay man, proud Democrat, and current Commissioner for Zoning in Fort Worth District 9, announced last night at the Tarrant County Stonewall Democrats meeting that he will be running for the vacant District 9 council seat opened up by the Wendy Davis resignation.
This marks a historic moment for not only Fort Worth politics, but Tarrant County politics as well, considering no open member of the LGBT community has so proudly run for public office. It was an exciting and proud moment for those of us who share Joel’s pride in not only being gay, but also announcing a run for higher office too.
Check out Joel’s website and be prepared to chip in some change to help him make important history.
In other news, sounds like tonight’s CEC meeting could be full of exciting political drama centered around the SD 10 race. Look for a report tomorrow about all the happenings.
Stay tuned…..As Tarrant County Turns will continue.
City Councilmember Wendy Davis announced her resignation from the Fort Worth City council today then told colleagues she will run for the Texas Senate in District 10. Davis, a Democrat, will seek the seat currently held by Kim Brimer and will make a formal campaign announcement at a later date.
As we reported on Wednesday, Less than 20 percent of those surveyed give Brimer a “favorable” rating and nearly 50 percent know so little about Brimer that they cannot rate him at all, which is extraordinary for a 20 year office holder. During Davis’ remarks, given during a moment of personal privilege in council session today Davis alluded to Brimer's failures.
I have enjoyed our honest partnership, and I know it is responsible for our success here in Fort Worth. Unfortunately the public’s partnership in Austin is badly broken. These failed leaders have forgotten who they represent, forgotten their way home. Failed to remember that it is you and I, those who elect them, who called them to serve – not the powerful special interests.
We saw the advantage a former city councilmember has when running against an incumbent failure. Paula Pierson's victory in 2006 was due in large part to her time as an elected city council woman and her connections in both the business and activist communities.
Davis has served eight years as the councilmember from District 9, which includes downtown Fort Worth and much of the central city. Davis’ council district – to which she has been elected to five times – is entirely within Senate District 10.
On her last day, former mayor pro tem Ralph McCloud had this to say about Davis:
Wendy Davis is a true leader, a hard worker and an honest broker. Wendy will be sorely missed on the City Council, but her can-do attitude will serve Tarrant County well in the legislature.
There is a strong chance for a primary in SD-10, but Davis's entry into the race further proves the point that Brimer is vulnerable. Any person willing to brave a possible primary in order to get rid of a do nothing elected official is good in my book.
That is the question folks are asking pollsters throughout Senate District 10 according to Matt Angle and the Lone Star Project.
Despite holding public office in Tarrant County since 1988, first as a member of the State House and now as Senator from SD10, Kim Brimer is largely unknown within his own district. Less than 20 percent of those surveyed give Brimer a “favorable” rating and nearly 50 percent know so little about Brimer that they cannot rate him at all, which is extraordinary for a 20 year office holder.
In addition, other prominent Republican office holders have surprisingly low approval and/or performance ratings for a district previously considered safe for a Republican incumbent. Finally, Brimer’s own questionable ethics leave him particularly vulnerable to a mainstream Democrat who can build a coalition of Democratic partisans, independents and some “soft” Republicans.
These poll numbers are very encouraging without a doubt; but I stick by what I said in previous posts regarding this race, that we have a better shot of winning without having to fight a primary.
