This weekend, Chris Bell earned the endorsement of the Houston Chronicle for the SD-17 runoff election. They had some great words to say.
With the 81st legislative session looming next month in a weakening economic climate, residents of District 17 need an experienced public servant with a firm grasp of spending priorities. With his commitment to bolstering public education, reining in college tuition increases, and controlling skyrocketing insurance premiums, the Chronicle believes that Chris Bell is the best candidate to represent the diverse district in the Texas Senate.
...
Bell, a former news reporter and practicing lawyer, says his previous political experience has educated him about the concerns of Texans. According to Bell, "even before Hurricane Ike hit and even before the meltdown on Wall Street, people here in Texas were starting to feel a sense of insecurity, seeing school districts forced into crisis funding modes." He promises to make education issues a top early priority if elected, while working to create coalitions with members of both parties.
District 17 will benefit from being represented by a veteran elected official with statewide name recognition and a proven commitment to high ethical standards. The Chronicle urges constituents to make a special effort to go to the polls and cast their ballots for Bell.
We're not done yet with Elections in Texas. With an expected 76-74 Republican controlled statehouse we have a chance on December 16th to help narrow the margin in the state senate by one more vote to 18-13. That race of course, pits former Gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell against GOP nominee Joan Huffman who were the two vote leaders in the open primary on November 4th.
Today we are announcing a weeklong effort in support of Chris Bell's runoff election. With Early Voting this week and Election Day next Tuesday, we're also announcing our second $1000 Burnt Orange for Bell online fundraiser. Last time, we went on strike and you reached that goal in one day. We're not striking this time, but I'm more than confident our community can raise $1000 this week for Bell. So if you haven't given (and it's the only race in town so you should), click here and donate to Bell today.
I'll start it off with $50 myself. Will you join me?
Here is an ad that the Bell campaign has released in the runoff election. You can view other ads and videos from the Bell campaign on their YouTube channel.
Democrats received 52.2% of the vote combined on November 4th, proving that this is a winnable district.
To that end, there are some things you can do to help.
It's official. I am tired of reading that Republicans have an advantage in low turnout or special elections.
The facts simply do not support the bold claim.
Since 2005, Democrats have won or over performed in nearly every special election in Texas.
The obvious and best example of this is House District 97. In the December, "low turnout" special election, Dan Barrett won. In the November general election, Dan Barrett lost. Barrett saw a 10 point erosion in his numbers while Shelton saw a nearly 8 point gain.
House District 97 Special Election Dan Barrett (D) - 52.18%
Mark M. Shelton (R) - 47.81%
House District 97 General Election Mark M. Shelton (R) - 55.33%
Dan Barrett (D) - 42.75%
Nothing changed. Barrett was out spent in both elections. Shelton was cozy to Craddick in both elections. The only major difference is the turnout numbers. Barrett won the low turnout election, Shelton won the high turnout election.
It may seem like an overstatement, but looking back to 2005 the Republican special election not only appears to be a fallacy, it appears to be nonexistent.
2006 was a very good year for Democrats who ran in supposedly Republican favored special elections.
U. S. Representative District 23 Henry Bonilla (R) - 45.71%
Ciro D. Rodriguez (D) - 54.28%
State Representative District 48 Ben Bentzin (R) - 42.38%
Donna Howard (D) - 57.61%
In 2006, Democrats won every special election they ran in with the exception of House District 29. House District 29 hasn't elected a Democrat since 2000 and no Democrat has received more than Tom Uher did in 2002 when he got 42.59% of the vote after 9/11. Before that, Uher represented a totally different district than what is now HD-29. Before the census and redistricting, Uher's district was a democratically favorable district, and since, it has been carved in a way to help elect over 100 Republicans in Texas (as was Tom DeLay's goal at the time).
You have to go back to February 2005 to see a special election contest where a Republican had a definitive win.
State Representative District 121 Paul Silbert (I) - 3.09%
Rose Spector (D) - 33.58%
Glen S. Starnes (R) - 1.38%
Joe Straus (R) - 61.93%
As Kuff wrote in 2005, House District 121 was and continues to be a Republican district. House District 121 in northeast San Antonio and stretched from Olmos Park northeast to Windcrest and north past Loop 1604.
Although Spector lost, she still did better than the Democratic challenger did against Elizabeth Ames Jones in 2000.
State Representative District 121 Elizabeth Ames Jones (R) - 68.24%
Michael G. Zapper (D) - 28.68%
J. (Jay) Moore (L) - 3.07%
While it didn't win us the seat, Democrats saw a nearly 5 point increase during the 2005 special election. In a competitive race, a 5 point swing would be the difference between victory and defeat.
In fact this phenomenon extends beyond urban districts. On February 17, 2004, Democrats were only 3.5 points away from winning the rural Senate District 1 in a special election.
State Senator, District 1 (Unexpired) Kevin Eltife (R) - 51.86%
Paul Sadler (D) - 48.13%
The truth is, Democrats do well in special elections. The reasons differ. The politics and finances differ from year to year and campaign to campaign, but the empirical data remains consistent.
As we move rapidly towards December 16, it is more important than ever for us to elect Congressman Chris Bell. The data shows it will only get harder.
(for more information about the Senate District 17 special election click here.)
Talk about more of the same. Republican Joan Huffman (Chris Bell's opponent in the Dec 16th runoff for SD-17) is holding fundraisers with some real change agents... Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
Joan Huffman sent a message to voters in Senate District 17 this week that she has nothing new to offer in the Texas Legislature. Huffman held fundraisers with special guests Governor Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. Under these Republican leaders, hard-working Texans have been shortchanged while padding the pockets of corporations and big contributors.
"While Joan Huffman's friends have been in charge, investment in our public schools has dwindled, college has become increasingly unaffordable and fewer Texans have access to quality health care," said campaign spokeswoman Amber Moon. "Rick Perry and David Dewhurst want to bring Joan Huffman to Austin so they can continue these same failed policies that benefit big corporations and insurance companies over working Texas families."
The Governor finally announced the date of the final election in 2008. Chris Bell is in a runoff in Senate District 17, which ranges from Jefferson County to Brazoria County and takes up large chunks of Jefferson, Harris, and Galveston.
Gov. Rick Perry today announced a special runoff election to fill the vacancy in Senate District 17 to be held on Dec. 16, 2008. A special election to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Sen. Kyle Janek was held during the November 4 general election; however no candidate received a majority of the votes, as mandated by state law.
Early voting will run from December 8 through December 12.
The winner of this special election will serve out the remainder of Sen. Janek's term, which expires in January 2011.
The election is just 9 days before Christmas and 5 days before Hanukkah. In addition, Perry has selected 5 days of early vote that conveniently makes it more difficult for working men and women to go vote because it does not encompass any weekend dates.
Rick Perry has attempted to call runoff dates that favor the Republicans in the past with CD-23, HD-48 and HD-97 (all races Democrats won). Now it appears he is trying to give Joan Huffman an advantage by calling a runoff that will surely suppress voter turnout.
Update: According to a reader, Perry didn't "select" those days of early voting, they're set in statute. They point out, if you pick a Tuesday election day for a special run-off, you don't get weekend early voting days, the legislature changed that a while back apparently. (That should probably be fixed)
The Governor canvassed the election yesterday, Monday. He had up to 5 days after the canvass to set the run-off date, but he instead called it immediately. The date of the canvass starts the clock running on the window of possible election dates to chose from, which based on yesterday's canvass would have been Dec 9 - Jan 2. Although he can pick any day of the week, he would almost surely pick either a Tuesday or a Saturday since that's when virtually all elections happen, so in a practical sense he was choosing from December 9, 13, 16, or 20, unless he would want to set a date at Christmas or New Years, in which election workers would probably be unwilling to work, and voters be unable to vote.
That being said, it is apparent that Perry had an option to allow voting on the weekend and picked a date that doesn't permit this.
Senate District 17 still needs our help; the Texas Senate needs one more Democrat. Kyle Janek vacated his seat before his term expired to anoint Republican Austen Furse. Because of Republican infighting, Furse lost and only received 10% of the vote. The winner on the Republican side was uber-conservative Joan Huffman, who squeaked in to a runoff with only 26.13% of the vote.
Simmons did what she was supposed to do: she forced a runoff. Simmons received 13.8% of the total vote in the high turnout election, and pushed it to a low turnout runoff. To add insult to injury, if you combine this percentage with Chris Bell's numbers, the Democratic Party received 52.2% of the total vote.
Because Edwards and Wilson decided to support the TLR candidate and force a runoff, taxpayers will be required to spend more money on another election during an economic downturn. On the other hand, Democrats need to step and help Congressman Bell overcome these political games by donating today.
Democrats can be cautiously optimistic going into the run-off. Bell was the top vote getter in every county except Brazoria. In Brazoria, the Republican runoff candidate Joan Huffman won with only 2,101 votes. On the other hand, Bell was the top getter in Democrat friendly Jefferson County with 6,335 votes (which is 3,433 more than Stephanie Simmons received).
The other high note is Bell's resounding victory in Harris County. Bell won 37.6% of the vote in Harris and the Democratic Party received 52.8% of the vote. Harris County also represents 36.4% of the total vote.
While the numbers favor Bell, the district is drawn to be Republican. While Democrats have done well in special elections recently, they are harder to win and money and a good ground game mean more.
Chris Bell can win, but what Dan Barrett and Donna Howard have proven is it takes statewide focus for us to win in a special election.
Kirk Watson wrote today:
Many of you have already given generously of your time and resources during this election cycle, and I wouldn't be asking you again if the stakes for Democrats weren't so high.
With the election of Wendy Davis on November 4th, Democrats will hold 12 of 31 seats in the State Senate. With Chris as our lucky number 13, Senate Democrats will be able to make a real difference for Texas families by fighting for high-quality public schools, affordable utility rates, and accessible health insurance.
Having 12 Democrats in the Senate makes a difference. Having 13 means more. 13 can be our lucky number in the Senate. Having Chris Bell and Wendy Davis in the Senate requires a bipartisan approach to legislating.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform gave Simmons $201,745 just to force a runoff. Ron Wilson gave her another $30,000 and loaned her $7,000 more.
This has to be a people powered campaign. Help Chris today by donating your time or money.
Congressman Chris Bell has a new ad, "Award". The name of the ad comes from the Political Courage Award that the Harris County Republican Party gave Chris Bell in 2001 for helping to pass Houston's first property tax rate cut.
Bell was one of two Democrats who voted with the 8-7 City Council majority to reduce the city's property tax rate from 66.5 cents per $100 valuation to 65.5 cents.
In addition, Austin State Senator Kirk Watson has had some great things to say about Bell.
Why all the push for Congressman Bell? First the campaign has been crowded by a bunch of ambitious Republicans. Second, one of Bells opponents hasn't gotten the support they need in the district, so they loaned themselves $750,000. Third, Republicans have shown time and time and time again, they are willing to play dirty.
A push poll is going out to voters in Senate District 17 trying to smear Chris Bell's bipartisan record.
The push poll is attacking Bell on issues like immigration, same-sex partnerships, and pregnancy prevention. Seems like the usual wedge issues.
You can do something about it. You can join President Bill Clinton by helping Congressman Bell?
He is having an event tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 8 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel (98 San Jacinto Boulevard) in Stone's Crossing Room.
Wow, Republican Joan Huffman breaking into the double digits!
Quorum Report: Republican Joan Huffman released internal polling today that shows her as the candidate to beat on the GOP side in the SD 17 special election. The move comes some two weeks after the Chris Bell campaign dropped internal polling of its own showing him in a commanding lead in the multi-candidate race.
Huffman's polling coincides on the latter score with Bell's polling, showing the Democrat with more than 40 percent support. But she highlights her 12 percent as triple that of the 4 percent garnered by Austen Furse, the other major Republican candidate in the race. The Bell campaign poll had Huffman with 8 percent support and Furse with 5 percent support.
(Simmons remains on the ballot, according to the judge. But with Ron Wilson at the defense table, it's clear who is pulling the strings for her to be on the ballot -- Craddick parliamentarian Ron Wilson, who has been rumored to have recruited several other challengers to House Democrats back in the primaries. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
Just got a text message in -- Ron Wilson is sitting at Stephanie Simmons' defense table.
For those who haven't been following, in the State Senate SD-17 race, Democrat Chris Bell is running, publicly, and has been for some time. Then, on the last day, Stephanie Simmons filed as surprise a Democrat. No one has heard from her, but the rumors are that Republicans and Ron Wilson recruited her to run for the seat at the last minute. Simmons won't return press calls.
The Houston Chronicle articulates the political situation in SD-17 perfectly.
For those that thought we were dog piling on Stephanie Simmons bizarre candidacy, it appears we aren't the only ones asking questions.
First the Chronicle discusses what Democrats are speculating-- Simmons was recruited by Republicans to run in SD-17.
For weeks rumors have circulated in Austin political circles that Republicans were trying to entice another Democrat into the race to siphon votes from Bell. His best chance to win the conservative district is to garner a majority in the general election, where the appeal of the presidential race is expected to draw a maximum tide of Democrats to the polls.
[...]
Sure enough, Bell's status as the lone Democrat in the race changed just before the filing deadline on Aug. 29, when Houston attorney and political unknown Stephanie E. Simmons submitted her paperwork, which was immediately approved by Secretary of State Hope Andrade, a Republican appointee.
There's something happening here. What it is, ain't exactly clear. Best case scenario, the Secretary of States expedited ballot approval and didn't do their jobs by checking Simmons eligibility. Worst case, a Republican appointee knowingly helped commit election fraud.
Simmons, 42, who is listed in the Texas Bar under her maiden name, Stephanie Fridia, is general counsel for a North Houston company and graduated from Texas Southern University School of Law in 1994. For an aspiring politician, she's been surprisingly media shy. She failed to return reporters' inquiries and has issued no campaign materials.
Although the candidate claimed to have resided 11 months at a Missouri City address within the district, she voted at an address in Harris County outside the district in the March Democratic primary. She changed the residence on her voter registration one day before she filed for office. State law requires state Senate candidates to be residents of their districts a full year before they are chosen.
Since the secretary of state already certified Simmons for the ballot, Bell has filed suit in a Travis County district court challenging her eligibility. According to his court filing, "Ms. Simmons cannot be a voter in one county, and then six months later change her address and be a candidate for a senate district in a different county a mere two months prior to the special election." A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled today in Austin.
On the face of it, Simmons' candidacy appears to be illegal, whatever her motivations for getting into the race. Her situation is similar to that of sportscaster and former Houston Oilers player Spencer Tillman of Sugar Land, who considered running as a Republican but dropped out because he didn't live in the district. Too bad Simmons didn't show the same good judgment.
Let's sum this up. The Republicans were looking for a Democrat to field against Bell. A Republican appointee certified Simmons without doing any verification or checking to see if she was eligible. Simmons has been incredibly camera shy for a candidate. In addition, Simmons is either voting where she doesn't live (a violation of law) or she is lying about where she lives to get ballot access in SD-17 (a violation of residency requirements).
