Texas Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 08:03 PM CDT

• Lainey Melnick's campaign for Congress in TX-21 is not starting off well. The Twitter agrees...


• Former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is going to be teaching at Texas Tech this fall. You better study because a) he'll know if you're not due to the wiretap on your phone and b) if you don't, you're not going to like the torture you'll receive for failing.


• UrbanOmnibus posts an interesting thought piece you should read entitled A Country of Cities.


• Republican incumbent Todd Staples says he's going to try to stay put as Ag Commissioner and not run elsewhere on the ballot. The then underfunded Hank Gilbert scared Staples into draining his coffers last cycle and that race looks to be headed to a re-match with what I hear will be a better funded, supported, and organized Hank Gilbert campaign. He'll also benefit from what will likely be a better funded and filled in ticket in 2010 compared to 2006.


• Over in the Land Railroad Commissioner's race, where GOP incumbent Jerry Patterson Victor Carrillo is up for re-election, there is a Democratic candidate who has surfaced, Jeff Weems. I'll post more on him soon, as he just filed paperwork and was out in my hometown July 4th parade with the Gillespie County Democrats this past weekend.

Lainey Melnick Files to Run Against Lamar Smith

by: Michael Hurta

Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 02:07 PM CDT

Lainey Melnick will kick off her campaign with her official announcement for the 21st District Congressional seat on July 1st at the Shoreline Grill, 98 San Jacinto Blvd., from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.  CHAMPS quartets from Anderson and Westlake High Schools will play live and other entertainers are expected.  Advance tickets are available at actblue.com/page/lmkickoff.

"We need a representative in Congress who actually represents us." says Ms Melnick, "We face enormous challenges with the economy, health care, energy, and education to name only a few. We can't afford to play partisan politics.  We need a Congressman willing to vote for the people instead of a political party if we are to return to stability, prosperity, and our position as a global leader."

Lainey, a grassroots leader, small business owner, mother and grandmother, is leaving her position as the Central Texas Regional Lead with Organizing for America to put full-time effort into the race.  Her website, www.LaineyMelnick.com, already includes a long list of public supporters and endorsements.

Although Melnick is a political novice, her list of public supporters already includes some good Austin Democratic names, including Councilman Mike Martinez, and Councilman Chris Riley.  Go view her website and check out her campaign.  She has facebook and twitter accounts, but links to those are hidden in the bottom right-hand corner of the website, which is probably ineffective.  That said, though, she's still off to a decent start for what will definitely be a very uphill battle.

Update by KT: I just noticed this in a Statesman post about Lainey's kick-off next week but there is apparently another Democrat looking at running in the primary. I haven't heard of him until now.

Separately, an Austin businessman who's been weighing a run for the Democratic nomination for the seat said the race might cost a challenger more than $1 million considering the district takes in two major media markets.

Tejas Vakil, 52, described himself as conservative on economic issues but less so on foreign policy and social issues. He said: "The issue is whether or not I can run a credible campaign."

Update by Michael (7:11 pm): When this post was written, Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Councilmembers Mike Martinez and Chris Riley were listed as supporters on Melnick's website.  We got a call by source knowledgeable about the mayor and councilmembers to strike out that part of the post for the time being.  Since then, Mayor Leffingwell's name has been taken off of Melnick's public list of supporters, but the names of Martinez and Riley remain.