Thank you so much for your amazing support over the past 9 months. Because of your hard work and dedication, we did it. I am now officially the Democratic Nominee for the TX-21 Congressional Seat. In November 2010, I will face the 22-year Republican incumbent, Lamar Smith. Our challenge is really only just beginning. The results of the primary show that he is a skilled career politician who understands the business of re-election. His opponent was able to get about 20% of the Republican vote, denting his base, but not nearly enough to split the support. I think he put himself in a difficult position though trying to run on the right of Lamar Smith, there wasn't much wiggle room there. Smith also lost support that he had from the 2006 primary, so he came away with about 16,000 votes less than he could have had.
Today, I received an e-newsletter from my opponent, Congressman Lamar Smith. On the one-year anniversary of the Recovery Act, he outlines the failure of this legislation with partisan sarcasm highlighting only wasteful spending in "The Top 12 Spending Lowlights." Wasteful spending is a huge problem with our government, both during Republican and Democratic majorities and Presidents. We must have accountability for all these programs to assure there are not abuses.
But, as usual, Lamar Smith isn't telling the whole story of the Recovery Act. He omits everything related to our own Congressional District. He has left out the most important information for our own community...What has this Recovery Act done for us here in Central Texas? The highest amount of awards in Texas came into our district, obviously without any assistance from Representative Smith. $2,481,005,612.00 was pumped into our local economy. Our Congressional District also tops the list with the highest amount of jobs created in Texas from the Recovery Act, 20,500 new jobs, just in our district alone.
After 8 months of tireless campaigning, the first major milestone is finally upon us. It will be such an honor to walk into the voting booth and see the names of so many of my friends and colleagues along with mine on the Democratic Primary ballot. I know that I'm unopposed and so just one vote will make me the winner of my race, but I am still filled with anticipation. I can't wait for the evening of March 2nd to see the results.
In what can't be considered anything other than a very slow start for a campaign, Democrat Lainey Melnick raised less than $13,000 in the last quarter, spent just over $10,000 and has $2,435.33 in cash on hand in her bid to defeat incumbent Republican Lamar Smith. Even worse, nearly half of the amount posted as raised in her 3rd Quarter FEC filing is from "in-kind" contributions.
That's in comparison to the over $1 million cash on hand Lamar Smith had on his last report. James Arthur Strohm is the Libertarian candidate.
TX-21 was already an unwinnable race before this report. It's even more so now. That's not to say that candidates shouldn't run, I was and am a subscriber to the 2005 "Run Everywhere" caucus. Candidates have proven, as John Courage did in 2002 and 2006 in this very district, that one can run in seats they know they will likely not win but can use their campaign to build the party and assist other candidates running (as Courage did in 2006 redirecting his efforts to help Valinda Bolton get into office after TX-21 was redistricted in the middle of the election into the atrocious seat it is now).
Melnick already faced concerns over an early email list mishap which spammed her list relentlessly for a couple days. TX-21 is no TX-10 and this report shows Lainey Melnick is no Jack McDonald on the fundraising front. That's two unfortunate strikes already in a district that doesn't require three strikes to be called out.
The saying goes, "For evil to triumph, all is needed is for good men to do nothing." Of course, I would modify that to include us all, men and women.
Due to Lamar Smith's 22 years of inaction, our community has suffered. Our public school system is lagging behind the rest of the world. Our natural resources are dwindling. Our economy is struggling. Our infrastructure is crumbling. Our military continues fighting without a plan for victory or exit. Our health care system continues to flounder under the weight of increasing costs. And our climate continues to change.
The time has come for someone to represent our community who will take action, someone who will fight for your interests rather than the special interests. That is precisely what I will do as your representative.
This election is about far more than simply saying no to Lamar Smith...It's about our future. And so, my question to you is: what vision for tomorrow do you have? Is it a vision of better roads and better schools?; A vision of safety, security, and prosperity for you and your loved ones? Is it a vision in which we put people before politics?... Or is it a vision of inaction and status quo? If you're tired of the failed policies of Lamar Smith, and if you have a vision for a better tomorrow, then join me in taking action to win in 2010!
How can you take action?
1. Donate $100, up to a maximum of $2400 per individual, or whatever your own financial circumstances allow, before the end of our first reporting period on September 30th: http://www.actblue.com/page/lm...
3. 10 in 2010. Find 10 friends and ask them to support my campaign, then follow through and make sure that they go out and vote.
4. Spread the word. Suggest my Facebook Fan Page to all of your friends. Forward this email to all of your contacts. Post all our events and pages to your social network. Come to our Environmentalists for Lainey Melnick House Party hosted by Robin Rather and Melinda Taylor: http://www.actblue.com/page/en...
This weekend was a testimony to the strength of the community as a whole when organizing pools all the local resources. The Health Care Rally effort led by Organizing for America was joined by practically every local democratic club and organization including the Travis County Democratic Party and the strength of Texans for Obama. The success was particularly due to the additional support lent by our elected officials, Chair Andy Brown, Senator Kirk Watson, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Council Member Sheryl Cole, Former Representative Ann Kitchen, who all put their names and support behind this important issue. I'd like to think that the rest of us, the candidates, grassroots organizers and volunteers who also supported this effort helped to build the crowd which has been estimated between 600 to 1000. This was the biggest rally in the country, again proving to the Obama administration that you can't mess with Texas.
In addition to the incredible success of this rally, I personally worked with friends in a rummage sale to benefit an Austin family in dire need due to health care crisis. The outpouring of support was awe-inspiring. We had hoped to raise about $1K at best, but when the day was done, it became clear that we more than doubled our expectations and was able to give $2400 to this very needy family. The donations poured in, the street was packed for 2 blocks in each direction, and we were all shocked and amazed all day by the generosity and love in this community.
In one day, I witnessed the very best of our community. I am very proud to be a Texan.
There were some interesting votes in Congress this week that effected District 21. Representatives Gonzales and Smith put out a statement in support of the passage of H.R. 3170, the Financial Services Appropriations bill, which included $4 million for a new federal courthouse in San Antonio. Representative Gonzales voted for passage of the bill, but Representative Smith voted with the Republican party against the bill.
On the same day, another statement was released by the San Antonio Congressional Delegation about the passage of H.R. 3183, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which included over $3 million for San Antonio area projects. Again Representative Smith voted with the Republican party against this bill, while the three other San Antonio Representatives voted for the bill.
In one day, the other representatives were able to bring in over $7M for local projects, while Lamar Smith voted no.
Help me say no to Lamar Smith. Please support my campaign to bring change to Texas District 21.
Finally, my domains, linktoaustin.com and laineymelnick.com have transferred to my new host and we are completely up and running. Unfortunately, I lost my top position on the google search results so I'll need to build that back up again. Please post links to my site on your blogs, sites, pages and help me get my position back.
I am starting to collect signatures for the petition to add my name to the ballot. I've had about 35 incredible volunteers offer assistance to go to their friends, family, organizations, neighbors or go to high-traffic areas to collect signatures for my campaign. The signers must be registered to vote in District 21 and commit not to vote in any other primary. If you'd like to help my campaign, print as many petitions as you need. Sign just one in front of a notary after you've completed getting all your signatures and return the petitions to me. I need 500 registered voters to sign by December.
If you'd like to help with any role on my campaign, please fill out the "Join Our Team" form at http://www.laineyforcongress.com. My next goal is to raise $700 to gain access to the Texas VAN database which will give us lists to call and door knock. If you'd like to hold a fundraising house party or meeting anywhere within district 21, please let me know and I will schedule you in.
Thanks to all of you who have been so enthusiastic and supportive of my campaign. We're off to a strong start!
By now, I hope that all the recipients of the multiple email bombardment from my campaign have heard that these were an unfortunate result of a series of technical glitches, malicious attacks, or a combination of both. I have completely disabled my accounts with my former web host and have moved on to a new host.
Now that this issue has been resolved, we need to address the real pressing issues facing our country. We are at a crossroads with health care reform, that's where our focus should be.
It is imperative that we restructure our nation's $2.3 trillion health care system. We can learn from countries who rank highest in the world and learn from their mistakes. I would support legislation that would provide affordable, accessible, high-quality, portable health care to all Americans based on the following main principles:
1. Lower costs
2. Improve quality
3. Offer suitable choices
4. Offer a deficit neutral solution
5. Increase insurance coverage
6. Reduce the bureaucracy
7. Offer portable options
It is important for our success to offer all Americans better care than they have now. We must eliminate pre-existing condition clauses, allow coverage for educational, physical, occupational, speech, disability and rehabilitation therapies, and provide a reasonable out-of-pocket cap to prevent financial hardship from chronic illness. We also need assurance that the government would have limited access to our private health data and that genetic testing results could not be used for discrimination.
We need a working bi-partisan partnership between the administration, legislators, and health care professionals to create a new foundation to build the best health care system in the world.
Lamar Smith was elected to office in 1986, the same year that I became pregnant with my eldest daughter. In those 22 years, I opened 4 businesses; I worked in executive positions with 4 high-tech companies; I lived in 4 states; I gave birth to and raised 4 children; I became a grandmother; and I led a local grassroots movement that resulted in the election and support of the first African American President of the United States. Obviously, a lot of things can get done in 22 years.
But what has Lamar Smith done? He has consistently voted with the Republican Party instead of supporting his constituents. He voted no to children, no to women, no to veterans, no to teachers, policemen and firefighters, no to health care reform, no to Social Security fairness, no to innovation, no to protecting civil liberties, no to renewable energy and no to the environment. Isn't it time we say no to Lamar Smith?
We need someone in Congress who represents us, not special interests, not big business and not the neo-conservative far right wing of the Republican party. It's time the majority moderates in the 21st District had their representation in Congress.
I guess I may have hit a nerve with someone. I was told today from my website host support team that an IP address other than mine has initiated some of the emails being sent out from their site. I am working with them to track this issue and find out where this originated from. In the meantime, to be safe and secure, we've shut down my site, disabled the email panel. The support team told me that they had deleted all the pending messages. I believe that this is now under control. I informed them that I want this disabled permanently.
I am hoping that we'll have the website up and running securely shortly. In the meantime, you may follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, or contribute to my campaign via ActBlue.
I am extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to all of you, and would like to emphasize that no one gave or sold me any email names or lists to use. I made a huge mistake in an attempt to cut back on spam by asking if people would like to opt in to receive my emails, which was then escalated by this malicious act or technical mistake on the part of my host sending out loops of continuous messages. I have received many messages of support urging me to continue my campaign. That's what I intend to do. Thank you for your understanding.
Lainey Melnick
Candidate for US Congress in TX District 21
http://www.laineymelnick.com (when it's back up)
lmelnick@laineymelnick.com
