I'll be leaving my hotel here shortly for a shuttle to the State Capital. My day with Senator Davis will begin within a few hours.
Here is rough schedule of what the day will be like:
Morning-
Meet the staff
Capital Basics
Luncheon
Afternoon-
Senate Convenes
Bill filings
Lots of meetings
Interview with Senator Davis throughout the day.
So that gives you an idea of what I have to expect thisw chilly Monday. Stay tuned. Not sure what the Wi-Fi situation is at the Capital but I'll check in from time to time throughout the day.
Happy Punxsutawney Phil day. He saw his shadow, so six more weeks of this crazy Texas Winter to deal with.
Senator Wendy Davis and her staff have offered Burnt Orange Report an exclusive up close and personal look at a day in the life of a state senator.
On Sunday, February 1st, while most of you are taking in the Super Bowl, I'll be heading down from Dallas/Fort Worth to Austin in preparation for Monday, February 2nd. Throughout Monday I'll be providing the BOR community a glimpse of a day in the life of our newly elected freshman Democratic Senator.
What's her schedule like? How many meetings does she have? What's the senate up to? What Bills are being filed? How efficient is her staff? And much, much, more.
A Day in the Life of Senator Wendy Davis begins on Monday, February 2nd, with final thought pieces and interview excerpts with the senator on Tuesday, February 3rd.
Have a question you'd like me to consider asking Senator Davis? Post them in the comments below
The Star-Telegram this week rolled out the names of all the ambitious Republicans clamoring to make a run at the likely-to-vacate senate seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison. It would appear that the next election has already begun.
Nonetheless, because of what the Star-Telegram wrote about the likes of Republicans Joe Barton, Jeb Hensarling, and Kay Granger making a run for the senate, and the one Democratic name of John Sharp mentioned, coupled with the lively and hopeful discussion around the recent L.A. Times article about Texas being a battleground state in 2012, I think it is important to take a deep breath and really analyze some things here.
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.
In an old and desperate political move, Republican Kim Brimer has resorted to attacking WFAA Channel 8, an ABC affiliate in the Dallas/Fort Worth media market, for having the audacity to report on Kim's alleged ethical violations. Any campaign that resorts to attacking the media is clearly a campaign that is floundering and desperate. Oh yeah, and it generally never works and is just not a smart political tactic. No doubt Kim's reaction is due to the fact that an aggressive and competitive campaign is being waged by Wendy Davis.
Brimer's attack on the media stems from WFAA reporter Brad Watson's story on September 25th highlighting the most recent ethics complaint filed by a local Democratic organization called the Texas Values in Action Coalition. In the WFAA report, Mr. Watson lays out compelling evidence of Kim's use of his political stature, and exploitation of a loophole in Texas law, conveniently named after Brimer himself, to profit off of campaign contributions by paying rent for a luxury Austin condo managed by Janna Brimer's realty company. Janna is the spouse to Kim.
Most of you know this as the "Rent to Own" scandal, the same one that nipped Republican Toby Goodman in 2006 in his race against Democrat Paula Pierson.
It is very hot today in Fort Worth, but the heat that Democrat Wendy Davis pitched to Republican Kim Brimer at a press conference on the steps of the County Courthouse just elevated this state senate race a few degrees higher.
The Davis campaign filed a response to Brimer's Xeroxed lawsuit today and coupled it with a few hot political zingers fired directly at the relatively unknown Republican:
"He thinks this lawsuit will hide his 20 years of failed leadership," Davis said. "To the contrary, it has highlighted it."
"We ask you to stop hiding behind your lawyers and your political consultants and step forward to demand that this lawsuit is handled immediately so we can move on to address the issues important to Tarrant County families," Davis said.
Calling Brimer's suit a "cowardly stunt by a scared and corrupt politician," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie added the following comments:
"In all my years in politics, I've seen courage and cowardice, but Senator Kim Brimer's frivolous, carbon copy lawsuit is the most cowardly stunt I've ever seen from a scared politician who's afraid to face a strong opponent and be accountable to the voters for his failed and corrupt record."
There is no doubt that Brimer has had everyone else do the dirty work on this cowardly and baseless act; from the Firefighters Union, to his consultants, to his lawyers. But when push came to shove, and Brimer had the chance to file a suit himself, he couldn't muster the courage to do it until he felt it would help him politically.
This act is much like your record of helping Tarrant County families, Kim--shameful, just plain shameful.
Republican Kim Brimer, showing how nervous he is about Democrat Wendy Davis and her campaign for Senate District 10, finally did what he didn't have the skin to do back in January---file suit against Davis and challenge her ballot eligibility. Brimer's suit also includes the Texas Democratic Party and the Tarrant County Democratic Party.
You'll recall that in January, Kim Brimer coerced the Firefighters Union to challenge whether Wendy Davis was eligible to be on the ballot. Brimer's lackies cited in their challenge that Davis was still on the Fort Worth City Council, despite having resigned, while campaigning for the SD-10 seat. A three judge panel dismissed the suit on the grounds that Kim Brimer had to do his own dirty work and challenge Davis if he eventually grew enough skin to do so. Brimer released this statement below:
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.
