Travis County, Republican-drawn and Democrats cornered.
With redistricting heading into the courts today, now is a good time to examine one of the more problematic regions of the Congressional map: Travis County, and the five-way split designed to deny Austin a home-grown Democratic representative. And not just any representative, but Congressman Lloyd Doggett, staunch progressive and constant thorn-in-the-side of Rick Perry and Texas Republicans for decades.
Republicans are so committed to removing Lloyd Doggett from Congress, they've drawn a map with the express purpose of doing just that.
We can argue about seniority vs. fresh blood, Anglo vs. Hispanic, but that's a distraction from the real victims of this gerrymander: above all, this map harms the people of Texas, who will be shortchanged the Democratic representation they deserve.
Republicans intentionally drew liberal Travis County into five districts to fracture our Democratic voting base, with the intent purpose of booting Representative Lloyd Doggett out of Congress. It's no coincidence that the one Democratic district that contains a chunk of Travis County, the new CD-35, runs down to San Antonio and is heavily Hispanic, thus theoretically favoring a Latino candidate.
While 31 percent of the population is in Travis County, 47 percent is in Bexar County. It's a minority district, too, with Hispanics accounting for 62.8 percent of the population and blacks accounting for 10.8 percent. Barack Obama got 63.2 percent of the vote in 2008; Bill White, the Democrat who challenged Perry in the governor's race in 2010, got 60 percent of the district's votes.
Break it down as a turf war between Austin and San Antonio and points in between, and the analysis favors the challenger. Break it down as a racial contest, with an Anglo running against a Hispanic in a district with a comfortable Hispanic majority, and the analysis favors the challenger.
Doggett, a die-hard progressive who has served Central Texas in Congress since 1995, is now running in a Democratic primary for the new CD-35 against State Representative Joaquin Castro. Castro, along with his brother Julian, Mayor of San Antonio, and many of his Legislative colleagues, are by all accounts a huge and important part of the next generation of Texas Democratic leaders. We need young, engaging Latinos running for office across Texas to excite and engage our growing Latino voter population.
With this map, Texas Republicans are turning Democrats against each other, and forcing Doggett, who has fought for our progressive values for decades in Congress, the Texas Senate, and Texas Supreme Court, into battle against Castro, a rising star who should have an equally long opportunity to serve his home community of San Antonio.
This map hurts voters Austin and San Antonio alike, by forcing our Democratic populations to battle over one district, rather than each have our own home-grown Democrats working together in Congress to do what's best for everyone in the region.
As a Democrat who wants to see both of them in Congress, I think it's an outrage that the voters are being forced to choose thanks to this partisan gerrymander. But that's exactly what Republicans want. From Politico:
"The state-level Republicans can't stand Lloyd Doggett," said Chris Perkins, a Texas-based GOP pollster who helped then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay craft the 2004 lines. "I had heard from several Republicans that a map that brings back Lloyd Doggett is a nonstarter."
"This time, he was clearly targeted for defeat," Perkins said. "There was no question."
While the map was expressly drawn to favor Castro, Doggett has two advantages in this race: he's represented over 50% of this new district in the past, during the other iterations of CD-25, his currently district, as well as CD-10, which he was drawn out of by Tom Delay and Tom Craddick in 2003. (Sensing a pattern yet?) That 2003 map, the "fajita strip," was redrawn in 2006 when CD-23 (now held by Republican Quico Canseco, and formerly held by Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a Latino district that factors heavily into 2011's court case as well) was found unconstitutional.
Doggett's other advantage is his war chest. Per the New York Times, Doggett had over $2.8 million cash on hand on his last FEC filing. But it's still a surprise that some major Republican donors have been lining up to help Castro close the money gap on Doggett. The host list for his August 4th fundraiser in San Antonio included a long list of mega Republican donors, at least one of whom is also raising for Perry's presidential campaign.
Included on the host list are folks like Gene Dawson, who has given over $25K to Rick Perry, and a substantial amount to the RNC, John Cornyn, John McCain, and even Ted Cruz. Other hosts, including Sam Dawson, Bill Kaufman, and Carl Raba, have given substantially to the likes of Lamar Smith, John Cornyn, and John McCain, and only minimally to Democratic candidates. Another host, Bill Greehey, has since been busy raising money for Rick Perry's San Antonio fundraiser last week. And a significant number of hosts have extensive Republican voting records -- we're talking 3 or 4 consecutive Republican primary votes here. Frankly, I doubt they'd be donating to Castro if he wasn't running against the Republicans' #1 target, Lloyd Doggett.
You know, the irony is, if this were a general election scenario, I'd be much less wary to see a Democrat raising so much from Republicans. After all, I cheered the Republicans who supported Bill White against Rick Perry, as simple common sense and concern for Texas dictated. But this is a Democratic primary, where Democratic voters are supposed to decide who best represents their values and ideals. In one of the few Democratic districts the Republican Legislature left standing, it's troubling to see so much Republican money trying to muddy the waters. Some of Castro's earliest financial supporters are big-money Republicans and Perry supporters. And frankly, I simply can't assume the best of intentions for these folks. I honestly think they're pouring money into the race not because they're totally enamored with Castro (at least I hope not, since these are some pretty conservative folks), but because they so deeply want to get rid of Doggett.
Again, I honestly think Texas would be better served with a Congressional map that puts both Doggett and Castro in our nation's capital, putting their progressive values to work for the people of Austin and San Antonio alike. The illustration above, the five-way hatchet-job of Travis County, doesn't do anyone any good. And if Mike McCaul does indeed step into the Senate primary, America's 14th largest city might be left with no Congressional member who calls Austin home. Frankly, it takes the Legislature's Austin-hating to a whole new level.
It remains to be seen if the maps are changed, particularly in terms of how districts 23, 25, and 35 are drawn, and if our minority population growth in Texas is given the four new Congressional seats it deserves. Personally, I'd love to see a realistic CD-23 that elects another Hispanic Democrat to Congress, and a CD-25 that doesn't merely slice across Central Austin in order to force our African-American precincts into a conservative Hill Country district.
Meanwhile, it remains clear that removing Lloyd Doggett from Congress, and denying Austin as much representation as possible are two primary goals of Texas Republicans, both serving in the Legislature and Washington, D.C. And nothing would be more amusing to watch them instead have to contend with Doggett and Castro, and a few more elected Democratic representatives to boot.
To be upfront, I recognize that it can be troublesome to compare apples and oranges. Unless Congressman Lloyd Doggett and Rep. Joaquin Castro are casting the same votes, how can you truly compare their voting records? This is, obviously, a problem, but the concerns raised thus far on BOR about the progressiveness of Rep. Castro and Cong. Doggett don't seem to be about any one issue. Instead, the focus appears to just be on how "progressive" each person is. The comments below, from when I first wrote about the potential race in the newly drawn CD-35, provide a good insight into what I'm talking about:
I think Castro may be too quiescent and cooperative with the radical republicans currently in place. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll be just as fierce an advocate and defender as Doggett has been. That would be great. Unfortunately, I'd rather just vote for the original. I'm advocating real leadership and persuasion rather than the current phony bipartisanship and equanimity. - Mcblogger
The wise thing for progressive Democrats to do is to leave a proven, effective US Congressman, with seniority, in office working for all Texans. - ssuits
Lloyd Doggett has been by far the best member of the Texas Congressional Delegation and I say that without hesitation. He has been there for us when quite frankly, there have been Texas Democrats who have not walked the walk. And so I'm going to be there for him. For that reason, I strongly support Lloyd Doggett. He has done the job and will continue to the job the way he has always done. - v2aggie2
That left me wondering - how progressive are the two likely candidates for the newly drawn CD-35? The result may surprise you.
How Progressive Are Congressman Doggett and Representative Castro?
Rep. Castro's rating is based on an analysis compiled by Mark Jones of Rice University, who evaluated "nearly 1,000 votes" to come up with his numbers. Congressman Doggett's rating is based on an analysis by National Journal, which creates individual scores on economic, social, and foreign policy votes and then generates one composite score. (Update: To compare among Democrats w/in their respective chambers, Rep. Castro ranked 12th out of 49 Democrats - putting him in the top 24% among Democrats in the Texas House, while Congressman Doggett ranked 147th out of 256 Democrats - putting him in the top 57% among Democrats in the U.S. House.)
Throughout the campaign, both Congressman Doggett and Representative Castro will have to -- and should -- answer lots of questions about policies, past and future, and where they stand. I expect Congressman Doggett to have a much greater understanding of federal issues, given how long he's been in office. But, at least on its face, these numbers should put to rest concerns that Rep. Joaquin Castro would not be a progressive enough member of Congress for Austin.
Yesterday, Rep. Joaquin Castro had an event at Juan in a Million for his campaign for Congress. Rep. Castro is running for the newly drawn CD-35 seat, an open seat that runs from southeastern Austin to San Antonio. I, along with several other BOR writers past and present, attended the event. The most notable person in the 125-person crowd (approximate) was former Austin Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, who came in and was immediately welcomed with enthusiasm by those in attendance.
State Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, brought his message Thursday to a gathering at Juan in a Million, a popular East Austin restaurant and frequent stop for politicians. More than 100 people turned out for the first campaign event in the race.
Castro is running to represent District 35, a newly drawn district that runs from Austin to San Antonio.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat who has served for nearly 17 years in Congress, said he will run for re-election if officials sign off on the district's constitutionality.
Doggett could have an uphill climb. District 35's population would tilt toward San Antonio, and about 58 percent of the district's voting-age population is Latino.
Castro said Thursday that the country needs a sound health care system and improved education.
He also talked about fighting congressional Republicans and bolstering business opportunities - such as clean energy - along the corridor between Austin and San Antonio.
Rep. Castro was asked what differentiates him from Congressman Lloyd Doggett, and whether or not he would be a progressive voice for Austin. This is a concern/argument I've heard raised by many in Austin, especially those touting Congressman Doggett's candidacy in the newly drawn district. Rep. Castro noted that since he was elected in 2003, he's often been ranked as one of the most liberal/progressive members in the Texas House. He also discussed how he has maintained that record while also working with Republicans, pointing out that he successfully passed two spending amendments onto the Republican-crafted Texas budget - a claim few, if any, other Democrats in the Texas House can make.
Who else went to the event? What were your thoughts and impressions?
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the nine-term, liberal Austin congressman, foiled Republicans’ efforts to redistrict him out of office in 2003 and intends to do it again in 2012, living “in a Winnebago, if that’s what it takes,” to vie for a newly-drawn district that encompasses San Antonio’s most Democratic and Hispanic neighborhoods and spreads up to southern Travis County.
The Republican Legislature drew him a bad map again this year, and getting through March's Democratic primary could be a doozy. At a minimum, Doggett will face State Rep. Joaquin Castro, a 36-year-old rising star in his party who has politics in his DNA - his identical twin brother Julián is San Antonio's mayor - and grew up in one of the San Antonio neighborhoods central to the new district.
Under the proposed Congressional map that "gerrymanders more than nine million Latinos in Texas to make sure that we have no more electoral opportunity than we did in 1991," Travis County, nor the Austin area, contains a Congressional District solely represented by a Democrat. Many in the Austin area, and Travis County community, want to ensure that a Democrat that lives in Austin represents them in Congress, and I expect many who read Burnt Orange Report will strongly favor Congressman Doggett. The congressional district was drawn with the express purpose of removing Congressman Lloyd Doggett from office.
But Representative Joaquin Castro is a great elected official, one who is an excellent spokesperson for the American Dream and the future of our country. As the Tribune story above notes, the district is weighted to favor an Hispanic from San Antonio, and the financial advantages Congressman Doggett currently possesses are leveled out, at least initially, by the numbers of the district.
It will be an interesting race, and one I hope Burnt Orange Report will cover closely in the weeks and months to come.
Months before the results were in, it was no secret that 2010 was likely to be a difficult election year for Democrats. However, according to numbers compiled by the Houston Chronicle, it appears few Democratic incumbents in the state's U.S. House delegation made significant contributions to support their colleagues' reelections.
In contrast, the 20 Republican incumbents from Texas gave an average of $100,000. Republican Representatives Louie Gohmert, Kay Granger and Joe Barton all gave over $200,000.
Democrats averaged a meager $26,000, with Rep. Gene Green leading the way with $123,000. Two of Green's Democratic colleagues in the Texas delegation, Ciro Rodriguez and Chet Edwards, both of whom met defeat, received the most from the Houston area congressman.
Rep. Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi, whose defeat took many by surprise, did not receive a single contribution from any of his Texas colleagues.
In a Huffington Post article, Democratic strategist Erica Payne identified Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin as one of the top five "Deadbeat Democrats." She wrote that Doggett had about $3 million in the bank.
To be fair, Doggett did have his closest general election in years. Still, he is far from the only Texas Democrat who could have contributed excess money to help the Party survive the Republican wave.
Congressional Republicans clearly smelled blood and were not shy in sharing their financial resources in their quest to take control of the House. If Democrats had been more willing to help their struggling colleagues, it could have meant winning several more seats, perhaps even more.
In need of a swift butt kicking to get yourself off the sofa and involved in this election cycle? Take a car trip more than 5 miles outside the Austin city limits and your needs will be met.
Took the family on a road trip last week down 71 to I-10 then on to Houston and was struck by the volume of Tea Party Slogans and signs supporting Republican candidates - and not just in fields usually exclusively reserved for pro-life billboards, etc. Plenty of homeowners and a high number of consumer oriented businesses are proudly displaying them. The Red and White of congressional challenger Donna Campbell (oops - sorry, "Doctor" Donna Campbell) - trying to upset incumbent Lloyd Doggett - is all over the place. Also, lots of homegrown pearls of wisdom preaching the gospel of self reliance and evil of government dependence have popped up out front of repair shops and gas stations.
Know that really cool classic car lot next to 71 near Columbus? I always wanted to visit and check out the cars but that won't ever happen after seeing their front fence plastered with Campbell signs and regurgitated Tea Party talking points.
For business owners to proudly display that stuff means they certainly aren't worried about scaring off potential customers...In fact, they may be getting negative feedback if they choose NOT to go along with the crowd.
Like many, I have been guilty of laughing at the ridiculous idiocy of the Tea Party crowd. I keep thinking there's no way the rational, intelligent people out there are going to let a bunch of paranoid whack jobs take over our government...but guess what guys - the paranoid whack jobs out there are going to vote. Their families will vote. Their friends will vote. Their church groups will vote. The guy that changes their oil will vote...
The anger out there (whether it be racist, economic, homophobic, Fox news inspired, etc.) is deep and real - especially in rural parts of this state.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a state aid package that will help 160,000 teachers keep their jobs, and also provide funds for more cops and firemen. Despite strong Republican objection, our Democratic Congress passed aid to help protect the jobs of these professionals who do so much to uphold the fabric of our society.
In this package is a Texas-specific amendment that will force our state to spend education aid on schools and teachers, preventing Rick Perry from using it to plug budget gaps elsewhere. Kudos to Lloyd Doggett for making sure this money goes where it's intended--into our local schools and classrooms, making education better for all Texans.
Video of Representative Doggett's comments below, with full text (emphasis mine) following:
"Listening to the concerns of parents, the hopes of students, and the needs of our local Texas school leaders, today we are responding with essential federal aid to education, fully paid for by closing international corporate tax loopholes that should never had been there in the first place.
"Because we believe in local control of education, we require that the State of Texas, specifically, forward this new federal aid to our local school districts, not divert it or spend it on something else. The Texas Association of School Boards, Texas teachers, principals, and school administrators support this legislation and this approach.
"Now those, who have never wanted Texas or any other place in this country to receive a dime of additional federal aid to education, they complain that because we are holding Texas Governor Rick Perry accountable for proper use of these taxpayer dollars.
"There is absolutely no Constitutional limitation on doing right by our Texas schoolchildren. Instead of concocting phony legalistic arguments Governor Perry and his cohorts here in Congress ought to be joining us in supporting quality public education.
"You can be sure that Texas is singled out by this legislation-it was singled out by the Governor who grabbed $3.2 billion of federal aid to education to bailout a mismanaged state government-that's the bailout that occurred. It occurred last year in the State of Texas. We didn't send that federal aid for education to Texas to plug a mismanaged state budget; we sent it to help our schoolchildren.
"Today, in order to avoid history from repeating itself, we demand accountability, we demand support for quality public education and local control of education and not more mismanagement and interference from the State of Texas."
Any Republicans have problems with this? Using education money on education, not to cover up fiscal mismanagement? Actually funding our schools and teachers, in order to provide our children--all of our children--with the best education possible? What about closing the tax loophole that benefited corporations shipping American jobs overseas? Anything?
You go, Lloyd Doggett! You may only represent a portion of our state, but your amendment has ensured a brighter day for schoolchildren all across Texas.
Join all of your favorite Democrats today as we kick off the 2010 Coordinated Campaign! There's a lot of fun to be had with the TCDP this cycle, and we want you to be a part of it. Come on down to HQ, meet the candidates, and help us contact the voters that we need to win this November!
2010 Coordinated Campaign Kick-Off Featuring Bill White, Candidate for Governor
Congressman Lloyd Doggett
State Senator Kirk Watson
and many more!
Saturday, June 12th, 2:00-5:00 p.m. Coordinated Campaign Headquarters
605 West 13th Street, Austin, TX
Meet your candidates, learn about why every one of these races is important to the future of Texas, and find out how you can get involved and make a difference!
If you can't make it, we'll have a live video stream of the event, starting at 2:00 p.m. below.
To many voters, it might seem like a long time until November 2nd, seeing as it's still more than six months away. But to county parties organizing to win crucial races this fall, Election Day is already fast approaching. Thus, now is a good time to highlight some of the great organizing that's going on in crucial areas of the state.
Case in point: Hays County, Austin's neighbor to the south. Hays County can serve as a great model for how our rapidly growing and Democratic-trending counties can organize via traditional and new methods to turn Blue and accelerate the partisan change that is coming to Texas.
Hays County is usually considered to be a genuine "swing" county. In 2008 Barack Obama received 48% to John McCain's 50%. In 2006, Bill Moody bested Don Willett 48% to 46%. In 2004, Jan Patterson received 51% to Bill Green's 49%. Every cycle, there are razor-thin margins in Hays County. But most importantly, over the past few cycles Democrats have really been closing the gap in our top-ticket races. It's not wide-eyed optimism to think that Bill White has a very strong chance of carrying the swing county this November, especially given the immense organization already going on.
Importantly, Hays is also one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas, as are many of our suburban/exurban counties along the IH-35 corridor. Thus, work on the ground can pay off exponentially, as the county both increases its volume of voters and expands its Democratic voting strength. It's a win-win for Democrats, thanks to the hard work of local activists committed to moving Hays from "swing" status to reliably Democratic.
This cycle, just about every race on the ballot will be hotly contested by both parties, with the Democrats looking to run hard to hold the Sheriff and County Judge positions, as well as several key County Commissioner districts. (In fact, there were even spirited Democratic primaries for many of these seats, which is an even better sign -- we're growing an even bigger farm team of potential Democrats to run and win in crucial races.)
The HCDP is in good hands, thanks to their fantastic county chair, Katie Bell Moore. The several Democratic clubs in the county are also hard at work, organizing forums and events to give candidates a chance to interact with key activists and garner support for their campaigns.
This year they're expanding even more with a new media coordinator, and there's talk of vastly ramping up their fall campaign efforts too. Local activist Amanda Domaschk also started a website, Hays County for Bill White, to help organize local volunteers and spread the word about events in the area. And the Texas State Democrats are working hard on their 30,000-student campus to organize, as evidenced by the BBQ they're holding today at the Hays County Courthouse. That group is really working hard to expand its reach and support their Democratic candidates.
Now, Hays County has been reliably re-electing Dripping Springs native and Democratic State Representative Patrick Rose since he knocked out Rick Green (pun totally intended) in 2002. Thanks to post re-redistricting, they're also lucky to be represented by Congressman Lloyd Doggett in the House, who also puts in serious time addressing the needs of Hays County. Both candidates are a great boon to the county, working hard to attend events, reach out, and spread the positive message that Democrats work harder for the people of Texas.
Hays isn't the only area county worthy of praise: Bastrop is looking incredibly strong with their organizational efforts to support Pati Jacobs for HD-17, and Williamson County continues to expand their efforts to help keep Rep. Diana Maldonado in HD-52. It's great to see Democrats organizing locally to help take extra advantage of the population boom and demographic changes that will have long-term positive impacts on our state.
And if you're in the area, stop by the BBQ today and see what's going on in Hays County for yourself!
Yesterday, Travis County supporters of Congressman Lloyd Doggett held a celebration to thank Congressman Doggett for the passage of the health care reform bill. Predictably, protesters showed up, as they did last summer when a mob of Tea Party protesters disrupted Congressman Doggett's appearance at a local grocery store. What caught my attention was the reporting the local NBC affiliate, KXAN did on an incident that occurred before the event, and the different take reported in the Austin Statesman. I was not there, so I'm hoping some of you in Travis County who were there, can shed more light on what happened.
The HCDP is in good hands, thanks to their fantastic county chair, Katie Bell Moore. The several Democratic clubs in the county are also hard at work, organizing forums and events to give candidates a chance to interact with key activists and garner support for their campaigns.
