As blogger "Blank" wrote, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram revealed the Democrats considering taking a run for Senate District 10 against Kim Brimer, and indeed they are the names that were confirmed to me through various sources here in Tarrant County.
Current Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Art Brender is considering this seat. He is a wealthy lawyer from Fort Worth and would be a formidable primary candidate. Money won't be an issue for Chairman Brender and he has behind him long-time activists from the mostly minority neighborhoods of Fort Worth proper.
Many of you may remember in 2006 when Tarrant County had a race for County Chair and it got rather nasty unfortunately. That is the most recent campaign experience for Brender, outside of running for state representative in the past. Bottom line is that Art knows how to play hardball in Party primaries and will do it again if need be.
The other potential candidate is Fort Worth City Councilwoman Wendy Davis, a newcomer to the Democratic Party. In fact she has quite the donation history to Republicans like Congresswoman Kay Granger, as recently as this year in fact. That 1999 donation to George W. Bush is rather icky too. To be fair, she also donated recently to Hillary Clinton and Martin Frost in the past. Word is she even endorsed Hillary at her Joe T Garcia's fundraiser in June. Her Granger donations aren't exactly an endearing trait to grassroots Democrats, but would play well with moderate to conservative voters throughout SD 10, particularly throughout Granger's district. That Hillary endorsement might yank that support away though too. Brender himself donated to the Davis campaign.
She likely has good fundraising credentials with strong networks from her time on the city council, as well as high name identification in Fort Worth proper. Women candidates too have done quite well in past election cycles and she is a rather lovely woman.
Last Thursday, Todd write a diary on a potential primary battle for State Senate District 10. However, he did not reveal who might be involved in the primary. Buried in today's Fort Worth Star Telegram, we are given this little nugget (link):
Word has it that a couple of local Democrats are considering challenging Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer for the District 10 Senate seat next year.
Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Art Brender, busy gearing up a slate of local candidates for next year's elections, said he is considering making that bid himself.
"I'm looking at it real hard just in light of the changing demographics in that Senate district," said Brender, a Fort Worth lawyer.
And speculation is swirling that Fort Worth City Councilwoman Wendy Davis may be debating the same thing. She declined to comment.
I will neither confirm nor deny whether I even know to whom Todd was refering, let alone whether these were the candidates. Between these two, I have not yet picked a pony. But, it's safe to say that both of them can fundraise. Any thoughts?
Sources close to me here in Tarrant County all but confirm that we are likely to have two Democrats vying for the opportunity to take on liquor industry sponsored Republican Kim Brimer for the most Democrat leaning state senatorial district in all of Texas.
Although I know the names of the individuals likely to step forward and run I will not reveal them at this time.
I have always felt that SD10 could be the most exciting race in Tarrant County in 2008, and possibly throughout Texas, but only with the right candidate. The worst thing I believe that can happen is to have a primary challenge in this race.
The Democratic candidate can ill afford to spend money in a primary contest attacking a fellow Democrat, then expect to turn around and be financially competitive against a well funded Kim Brimer Republican political machine. Not to mention, their will be so much dirty laundry aired during this process that Brimer’s campaign will likely not need to spend too much money on opposition research.
I truly wish that one of the alleged candidates would forgo their efforts so as to present a united, strong, and aggressive campaign against a vulnerable Republican.
What do you think BOR? Is an SD10 primary challenge a good thing or bad thing?
This Saturday, June 30th from 5:30pm-7: 30pm in Southlake, Texas, the Mid-Cities Democrats will be launching our new and innovative fundraising program geared towards creating a candidate fund that will lay a financial foundation for men and women to step forward and be torchbearers for our Party in Tarrant County.
Our goal is to get 100 people to donate $100or more toward the building of a fund that promotes active campaigning and active fundraising on the part of the candidate; as a result, they will be rewarded with matching funds through the 100 for $100 program. No blank checks, you must be an active messenger for our Party.
For the first time in a long time we have viable races in our territory that will allow Democrats to run aggressive and competitive campaigns. One example?
Senator Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, arguably the one Republican senator who will be in the cross hairs of state Democrats in 2008, certainly by the Mid-Cities Democrats, withheld a vital commission report traditionally released to legislators prior to voting, but was released instead after the vote and one day before he would have broken the law.
Howard Wolf, a citizen appointee by Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, was highly critical of legal protections for liquor distributors selling alcohol wholesale, but Brimer refused to include Wolf’s criticisms in the report.
"The system is so corrupt that it cannot tolerate someone saying that the emperor has no clothes," Wolf said. " They have been allowed to perpetuate a system that has used government at the expense of consumers."
State Representatives Gene Seaman, Rob Eissler and Vicki Truitt, as well as State Senator Kim Brimer appear to be involved in potentially illegal (case by case) schemes- using campaign funds to pay for Austin area properties.
Each of these "Rent to Own Republicans" employs a different method to skirt the law, but it is evident in each case that the practice of using a spouse as a funnel to convert campaign contributions into mortgage payments or condo dues is simply improper. While Texas families are working hard to make their house payment every month, these Republicans are buying luxury condos courtesy of their special interest contributors.
Because Gene Seaman is the only one of these folks who has a competitive challenger (or even an opponent), let's focus on his tale which the Corpus Christi Caller Times has already picked up on.
State Rep. Gene Seaman used campaign contributions to pay his wife $44,000 since at least 2002 for an Austin condominium that he sometimes occupies. He also used at least $19,500 in contributions to pay condo fees during the same period.
Seaman's campaign finance reports indicate that he has paid $1,000 a month rent for a condo at the Towers of Town Lake, a waterfront high-rise complex with a view of Town Lake and downtown Austin, for the past several years. The same reports indicate he paid roughly $500 in additional condo association/homeowner association fees each month.
The rent checks, according to Seaman's finance reports, were made out to Austin Land Co., which is listed at the same address as the condo he is renting. Yet as of Friday afternoon, there was no Austin Land Co. with offices at that address, and the Texas Secretary of State did not have a record of a company by that name currently operating in the state.
Instead, the money has been going to Seaman's wife, Ellen, who is listed on Travis County tax rolls as the sole owner of the condo, Seaman's spokesman Mac McCall said.
BOR has gotten ahold of these materials and you can view them online. Click the links below to view...
1) Seaman's TEC Reports- rent & assoc. dues paid to non-existent Austin Land Co.
2) TCAD report listing Ellen Seaman at the address with a Homestead Exemption
3) Picture of the Seaman property
It's an illegal error, appraisal district officials said.
The Austin condo, valued at $234,345 by the Travis County Appraisal District, carries a homestead exemption as well as an over-65 exemption. The couple's Ocean Drive home, valued at $316,369 by the Nueces County Appraisal District, is in Gene Seaman's name and has the same exemptions, which is illegal under Texas law, according to appraisal district officials.
Unless Gene and Ellen Seaman were divorced or legally separated, they could not legally have the two sets of exemptions, said Nueces County Assistant Chief Appraiser Michael Mantz.
I'll follow up with two points.
1) Democrat Juan Garcia is a TexRoots endorsed candidate worthy of your $$ running against Seaman. Donate here, please.
2) There are reasons we should have a Run, Everywhere strategy. There are lightning strikes. Vikki Truitt has no Democratic opponent. Will Brimer have one in 2 years? It's too late for that now, but you can support Juan Garcia.
