Yesterday was the run off in CA 50. Unfortunately, Francine Busby lost to former lobbyist Brian Bilbray. Busby lost the race by 5,000 votes and received 45% of the vote. She won the Democratic primary in the same district and will face Brian Bilbray again in November.
There are really two stories going on right now. Some hail this as a great advance for Democrats with Busby receiving as much of the popular vote as she did. In San Diego County, registered Republicans vastly out number registered Democrats. Others see this as foreboding for Democrats in November.
That's what Perry told the Chronk:
AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry said today that he will not call an election to fill the congressional seat to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay before November if DeLay doesn't resign by Friday.
"The legal issue of when does that seat become vacant is when I get that (resignation) letter, and as far as I know I don't have a letter,'' Perry said.
"If I don't get it by close of business tomorrow, the election will be in November.'' Chronk sez that means two votes on the same day - unexpired term and new term.
So what does this mean, election wizards? What's the Rethug game plan here?
Katy Hubener came very close tonight, winning the votes on election day but coming up just 350 votes short of winning HD-106 in Dallas. The final results were...
(D) Katy Hubener 2,438 46.23%
(L) Gene Freeman 48 0.91%
(R) Kirk England 2,788 52.86%
(-) TOTAL 5,274 100.00%
The TDP has released the following statement.
"I want to commend Katy Hubener on running an excellent race in the special election for House District 106. Katy ran as an independent voice, who could be trusted to stand up against a special interest agenda and fight for the best interests of Texas families.
In a five-week sprint special election called by Governor Perry to benefit his hand-picked candidate in a Republican district, Katy Hubener held her opponent to a margin of only a few hundred votes, signaling a trend of voter dissatisfaction with one-party Republican rule in the State of Texas.
Katy will continue to campaign as an independent voice for North Texas families, and we feel confident about her chances in November. The dynamics of a general election will no doubt benefit Katy and her strong organization of supporters.
As we enter an important special session on education and school finance, the voters of District 106 and every other community in Texas will be watching and waiting to hold legislators accountable. Kirk England will have to face the voters again in November and answer for a record that either protects the priorities of North Texas families or reflects the special interests that control the republican leadership in Austin."
Texas Democrats are working to earn voters’ trust and offer a real alternative to the partisan Republican "business as usual." With highly qualified candidates like Katy Hubener and Donna Howard on the ballot again in November, the pay-to-play politics established by Rick Perry and Tom Craddick will be replaced by state government with the integrity to work for all Texans."
Now we bring all out focus on the rest of standard early voting this week for the Democratic Primary ending next Tuesday March 7. You can see the Top 15 Early Voting counties online here. You can see the new Travis County EV report here (xls). So get out and VOTE!
Here we go, LiveBlog tonight (syndicated at dkos and mydd as needed).
Let's see how the numbers pan out:
Dallas County Election site. SOS website will have numbers, too. If you'd like to see a map of the district with precinct numbers, check this one out in pdf format.
Early Vote In with 3.6% turnout of 67,620 eligible voters.
8:54: No new numbers, but I called Byron in Dallas and he said Katy had over 100 people on the ground today and there was no Republican groundwork to be seen. They are waiting just like us down here.
Phil's update: I'll second that. I talked to some of the volunteers. They said they knocked on every door in their universe today, over the weekend, and made every call at least once. Everything that could have been done on the ground was done.
9:20 From Ken Molberg on the ground in Dallas...
Returns in from all but one precinct. I show us down by just under 400 votes, subject to correction.
And I need to add that this is a tought district for many reasons. What this tells me, however, is that we can win it in November.
Everyone who worked this was tremendous.
If that's true, that means Katy did win the Election Day votes as it would narrow her margain. No actual numbers as of yet.
(D) Katy Hubener 2,438 46.23%
(L) Gene Freeman 48 0.91%
(R) Kirk England 2,788 52.86%
(-) TOTAL 5,274 100.00%
Katy actually won the Election Day vote 1478 to 1328. Congrats to everyone who helped on the ground, we will win this in November! (There are report of 55 mail ballots still to be counted, but it's not enough to close the margin.)
If you are looking for the results liveblog, I've moved it to a new post over here. -kt
Today's the day where we all see if Democrats can go two for two. Katy Hubener vs. Kirk "Empty-Nest" England in the Special Election for HD 106. Anyone who wants a last minute review about the race, read here:
We look forward to hearing from some of our friends in Grand Prairie about how the race is going. Predictions on today's race can be found in the comments section below.
I'm happy to see Bob Gammage put out the word to help Katy Hubener in her special election. This was a particularly gracious move as Katy's race will not even be on the same ballot as Bob Gammage, so he can't be certain how much crossover support he will get.
Which brings me to my point; watch out for the confusion on the February 28th election day! For those of you living in the 106th who want to be sure you are getting your voted counted in all elections, these elections will be held in two separate places on two separate ballots. The special election will be held in where your local precinct normally votes (you can contact Katy's campaign at 972-282-9301 if you need help), and the primary early voting will be held at the normal early voting locations (201. W. Church at the Grand Prairie Development center, and at Irving City Hall for 106th voters)
Just be all the more confusing, Katy Hubener is going to be on both ballots. She is on the primary ballot where she is in one of many races that have no opponent, and she is on the special election ballot where she is in the only race with two opponents. For the sake of memory, remember to not only vote for Katy, but against the clueless Republican daddy's boy, Kirk England. If he isn't on your ballot also, then you aren't voting in the special election.
If you only have time to make one of the elections in the day, be sure that it is the special election (not at early voting). There is still time after the 28th to make early primary voting and cast that important vote for Bob Gammage (I already did this, myself!), but it will be too late for the special election.
Beyond party affiliation, Katy has the competance on the issues necessary to not be taken advantage of by special interest lobbyists, whereas Kirk has proven again and again (both for the Dallas Morning News, and in the Irving Cable Television Network candidates forum) that he is not yet ready for the job if he ever will be. The man doesn't even seem to know what a lobbyist is. He said he would wait 'til he got to Austin to figure that one out, but I'm guessing they will find out who he is sooner if the Koolaid drinkers succeed in putting him there.
Limited time offer. Travel good for February 28, 2006. All passengers must be willing to "change the face of power" in the Texas House.
Annie's List will be taking volunteers to Dallas next week that want to help get out the vote for Hubener. Buses leave next Tuesday, February 28, at 6:00 am from the Annie’s List Office, located at 504 W. 7th Street (between Nueces & Guadalupe).
For more information, contact Robert Jones at Robert@annieslist.com or 512-587-2794.
Ok, we are still on a bit of a Donna Howard high in Travis County. The next state representative from HD-48 came by our University Democrats meeting tonight, greeted by a standing ovation and raucus applause after the group had spent over 200 hours collectively volunteering on her campaign.
So with that I ask you, can you caption these two photographs?
I just got this from a wonderful Precinct Chair that I had the pleasure of working with a couple weeks ago in some blockwalking of apartments for Donna Howard with University Democrats. I think what impressed me most was the chair contacting all of us with how we affected the election. Now if only we had that in every precinct in Texas!
January 17 Election results for Precinct 218
Kathy Rider 13
Donna Howard 61
Ben Easton 8
Ben Bentzin 63
Vote Total 145
February 14 Election results for Precinct 218
Donna Howard 140
Ben Bentzin 102
Vote Total 242
Notice that voter turnout improved by 97 and that Donna got 79 more votes than in the previous election.
You are proof positive that dedicated people do change voting results even in the face of a barrage of negative advertising.
Continued congratulations to Donna Howard. One day and she's already suggesting ways we can get some revenue.
Howard said her top priorities include working to reverse the ratio of state-to-local public school funding. The state currently pays only 36 percent of the costs of public schools, the lowest share since before World War II.
"Reverse that ratio, and we will achieve significant property tax relief and eliminate the need for caps," Howard said.
In addition, Howard said she will continue to work with the Texas Tax Reform Commission to suggest ways in which the state can draw down as much as $1.5 billion in available federal revenue that is currently going unclaimed.
"Before we ask taxpayers to dig any deeper into their own pockets, let's make sure we're bringing home every dollar we deserve from Washington, D.C.," Howard said.
According to U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas forfeits an estimated $600 million a year in federal matching funs by not enrolling all eligible children of working parents in the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Howard said untold millions also go unclaimed for school-based Medicaid services and a wide range of health-related programs for which federal funds are available.
This is one of those areas where I've never understood the Texas Lege. They cut state funding for programs where we get federal matching funds. Now we're at 86-64 Republican to Democratic tilt in the Texas House.
But our work is not done. Katy Hubener in HD-106 (vacated by Rep. Ray Allen (R-Lobbyist)) is in Early Voting up in Dallas right now. Let's make that 85-65 going into the session.
