It looks like in the final day to fill the vacancy, another McCaul challenger has decided to run.
Multiple sources have indicated Ted Ankrum will file tomorrow to run against Republican Michael McCaul. Ankrum ran in 2006 and kept McCaul to just 55.28% of the vote but only garnered 40.4% of the vote himself. He spent less than $75,000 total in his race but gains have been minimal over the last 4 years.
For Ankrum to be successful, he will have to spend the bulk of his time in Harris County, stress his military service, let the Travis County Democratic Party and Austin area activist do the heavy lifting in the north part of the district, and get a committed group of surrogates in the 10th Congressional District and beyond to begin a massive fundraising operation.
Needless to say, with the shortened window, Ankrum will have an uphill battle. The district continues to be tough pre-redistricting, but it is good to see a Democrat step up to the challenge.
Travis County Democratic Party Chair Andy Brown filed for re-election earlier today. Brown, who was elected chairman in March 2008, announced an impressive list of supporters that includes practically every Democratic elected official within the county.
Brown's supporters include:
Congressman Lloyd Doggett; State Senator Kirk Watson; State Representatives Elliott Naishtat, Dawnna Dukes, Eddie Rodriguez, Donna Howard, Valinda Bolton, and Mark Strama; Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe; Travis County Commissioners Margaret Gomez, Sarah Eckhardt and Karen Huber; Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell; Austin Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez; and Austin City Council members Randi Shade, Sheryl Cole, Laura Morrison, Chris Riley and Bill Spelman.
In his nearly two years as chairman, Brown has made major progress for the county party. In 2008, he raised a record-breaking $560,000 for the TCDP's coordinated campaign that helped deliver the greatest Democratic margins Travis County had ever seen.
If Democrats expect to win statewide in 2010, they will need huge margins out of Travis County. Re-electing Andy Brown as chair would ensure the TCDP has the leadership it needs not only to help our statewide candidates, but also to protect the seats of Democratic State Reps. Valinda Bolton and Donna Howard and defeat the last remaining Republican elected official in Travis County.
For the second time in less than a year, the Travis County Democratic Party is replacing it's executive director. Now outgoing Sylvia Camarillo replaced Elizabeth Yevich last fall during the 2008 Coordinated Campaign in Austin, but will be resigning from the position due to an upcoming marriage and move to London. We wish her well on both measures and thank her for her service.
In a message from Democratic Chairman Andy Brown, he's announced that recent UT grad and former University Democrats President Laura Hernandez will become the new executive director.
I am very pleased to announce that Laura Hernandez has agreed to assume the duties of TCDP Executive Director.
Many of you may remember Laura from our 2008 Coordinated Campaign when she served as our volunteer coordinator. Laura was critical in helping both Valinda Bolton and Karen Huber's races-she ran the Coordinated Campaign volunteer efforts like clockwork. Most impressive to me; she and JD Gins, Joe Hamil, Mike Litt and others tirelessly walked the blocks of Austin in the heat of the summer to canvass Travis County for donations and survey results. She knows this county, competitive campaigns and field work extremely well.
Before this, she was a student at the University of Texas at Austin where she served as President of the University Democrats during the 2008 Democratic Primary. She has volunteered for numerous Democrats throughout the years, including block walking for me when I ran for County Chair. She is a tried and true Democrat with an excellent work ethic and will work tirelessly to help us move our Party forward.
Sylvia and I have gotten to know Laura very well over the past several years and during the 2008 campaign cycle. Her good relationship with me, Sylvia, Cindy Flint, Coordinated Campaign staff and volunteers, our Democratic elected officials and precinct chairs will, I know, make for a smooth transition when Sylvia officially leaves her post on June 5th. Laura is finishing her duties as a Legislative Director in the Texas House of Representatives and will join our team on June 15.
In addition, I'm pleased to announce that Cindy Flint, current Assistant to the Director, will assume the new role of Director of Administration beginning June 5. She will help direct operations for the primary, outreach to precinct chairs and many other duties. Cindy started her work with the Travis County Democratic Party in the primary of 2008 for Obama for America and continued as a volunteer throughout the 2008 Coordinated Campaign. She has done an outstanding job so far with the TCDP and I look forward to our continued work together.
From the speeches, the turnout, or the blocks walked, yesterday's Travis County Democratic Coordinated Campaign kick off was the largest ever. Over 350 Democrats came through the doors to help call voters, drop voter registration packets on 50,000 doors, blockwalk for candidates (over 100 on the streets), and all sorts of other in house projects at the 1107 N I-35 Headquarters. See the knocks on doors KXAN coverage below the fold.
Major kudos to Coordinated Chair Ian Davis and the field staff for making this possible!
After a weekend of national netrootsing, I felt somewhat like a fried green tomato sitting in a crowd of about fifty people eating homemade cookies and listening to locals discuss issues that are not exclusively local but are national problems reverberating throughout Travis county.
I have been trying to get to the Travis County Democratic Campaign Headquarters for the last few weeks, but my company's westward offices and a hectic schedule hasn't allowed it. I was impressed by the crowd when I walked in -- a mixed demographic across the board was gathered in a circular-shape, listening intently to David Kobierowski, who is the TCDP Issues Committee Chair. We went through the issues -- one of the people who was in charge of commenting on the energy crisis said "It reminds me of high school debate class," referring to the three-minute timed discussions for each issue -- and then it was time for Larry Joe Doherty to speak.
It's time for another disclosure. I am proud to announce that I will be doing communications (online and offline) for the Travis County Coordinated Campaign. Starting late last week, I began putting together calendars and systems and now we are ready to Turn Texas Blue.
The job is simple-communicate to the masses. Part of that will be work through the press, e-mail blasts, text messages, and video.
Of course, nobody will be censored here because of who I work for. Instead, I hope everyone will use this place to promote his or her candidates and contribute to expanding the discussion on how we can take our state back.
Part of taking this job is my need to raise my own salary, and my fundraising is almost exclusively online. So now that the June 30 fundraising deadline has come and gone, I am asking you to donate to the Austin coordinated campaign. Right now every donation you make is being matched by Rep. Elliott Naishtat, so there are two great reasons to give.
In case you need a third, the more we over perform in Austin, the easier it will be for Rick Noriega, Barack Obama, and our State Supreme Court candidates to win. The easier it will be for us to take back the House and cut margins in the State Senate.
Over the next few months, I will be following races and blogging as much as I can, but more importantly, I have the unique opportunity to work on one of the largest coordinated campaign efforts in the history of our state.
The TCDP has already raised $6,100 through the mail, nearly $3,000 online, and another $1,000 from people signing up for text message. The deadline to donate is June 19 so if you haven't donated, you have a few days left to take advantage of Sen. Watson's generosity. On top of that, the TCDP has sent out an e-mail reminding the Austin community about the grand opening this Tuesday and asking for more registrations for Mark Strama's campaign academy.
It is time to get to work and have some fun. Over the next few weeks there are 3 things you can to Turn Texas Blue:
Join Senator Kirk Watson and other elected officials as we cut the ribbon on our new headquarters Tuesday June 17 from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. We will be opening our doors at 1107 N. I-35 at the east side of the freeway on 11th street. If you have any office supplies or furniture the coordinated campaign can use, please let us know.
Mark Strama's Campaign Academy is still taking applications for high school and college students. You will learn the nuts and bolts of modern politics as well as the important policy questions that confront state government. Daily lunch speakers will include current and former elected officials, political consultants, university professors, and state policy experts. Time is running out so sign up today!
Finally, we are well on our way to hitting our goal of raising $20,000 by June 19. Kirk Watson is doing a dollar for dollar match and we have raised $6,100 offline and another $2,195 online. Senator Watson has also pledged to donate $5 for every person that signs up for text message updates, and to date 200 people have signed up for text message alerts. That means we are $10,705 away from hitting our goal!Have you taken advantage of Sen. Watson's generosity yet?
Together we are going to Turn Texas Blue, and the fun starts today!
Sincerely,
Andy Brown
Travis County Democratic Party Chair
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for updates on your phone. Another great way to help raise an additional $5 is to sign-up for our text-message alerts. Join by texting 'TCDP' to '41411' from your cell phone, and Sen. Watson will donate additional funds to the TCDP.
If you haven't, donate today. If you have, come to the grand opening. If you are a high school or college student, take advantage of Rep. Strama's campaign academy. No matter what, help turn texas blue!
The Travis County Coordinated Campaign is starting earlier than ever before and Sen. Kirk Watson is doing what he can to help raise money for this historic campaign. This e-mail went out when the Texas Democratic Party Convention started, and now we are asking you to double your donations by giving to the TCDP!
Fellow Texans,
It's an exciting year to be a Texas Democrat!
Voter turnout in Travis County nearly tripled in our historic 2008 primary election, and over 10,000 activists attended our county convention. That's wonderful. No matter which nominee you support for President, I hope you're excited about this historic opportunity to turn Texas blue.
We need to keep this momentum going into the general election.
To prove how optimistic I am, I'm challenging my fellow Texans to step up to the plate and donate to turn Travis County 100% blue. Instead of contributing your money in a way where it could end up going to Ohio or Florida, I encourage you to invest in your backyard and support the TCDP. The Democratic Party's coordinated campaign is starting earlier than ever before, and we need to help them hit the ground running by donating today.
Talk is cheap. If you donate to the Travis County Democratic Party, then my campaign will match your donation dollar-for-dollar up to $20,000. No donation is too small, so please make a difference today. The deadline is June 19, and I encourage you to give early and often. With some hard work and a little luck, we can make Travis Couny a darker shade of blue. By increasing overall Democratic turnout, we can help Rick Noriega defeat John Cornyn and also help take back the White House for the Democrats in 2008. In addition, we'll be building the party infrastructure for statewide victory in 2010 and 2012.
Thank you for your continued support. It's been an honor to serve you in the Texas Senate, and I look forward to working with you in 2008 and beyond as we fight for change and a better tomorrow.
Best regards,
Senator Kirk Watson
P.S. Raise money simply by texting us! Another great way to help raise an additional $5 is to sign-up for our text-message alerts. Join by texting 'TCDP' to '41411' from your cell phone, and Sen. Watson will donate additional funds to the TCDP. How easy is that?
Known among the activists for a little while now, the Statesman spills some ink on the new leader of the 2008 Coordinated Campaign efforts here in Austin.
Austin American-Statesman: an Davis of Austin, a Democratic activist who's been busy in the presidential race as a coordinator of Texans for (Sen. Barack) Obama, plans to leave his paid post with the Texas Freedom Network to steer voter registration and turnout for the Travis County Democratic Party.
Davis assumes the role Saturday, said Andy Brown, the county party's chairman.
Davis and Brown declared a goal of adding 50,000 voters to the county's roll of registered voters, which now numbers about 450,000.
Brown said: "We've got a ton of excitement generated in the primary" with new volunteers expected to pitch in this summer. "I see the primary as a springboard."
Davis said: "We obviously can't turn Texas blue by ourselves, but Travis (County) can and should do its part. We're going to combine the latest innovative technology with all the grass-roots energy stirred up in the primary, and we'll have some fun. Hopefully we'll create a successful model that can build upon as we march into 2010."
I have high hopes for the 2008 Coordinated having worked on the 2006 one. As I mentioned yesterday, the 2008 Mark Strama Campaign Academy is going to be housed and operated out of it and we're looking forward to a record number of campaigns basing a decent part of their operations there as well.
Don't forget to come to the official kick-off this weekend at Nuevo Leon on 1501 East 6th Street starting at 1 pm!
