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TX-10 
Wed May 02, 2012 at 03:28 PM CDT
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If it wasn't already apparent, the numbers below really highlight the extent to which the City of Austin and Travis County have been carved up and the extent to which the City and County are outvoted by the other parts of each congressional district.
Travis County enjoys a plurality of the population of only one of its five congressional districts, District 25, where it accounts for just over one-third of the district's population. Harris County accounts for over one-third of District 10 (Travis County is essentially on equal footing with Harris County), McLennan County accounts for one-third of District 17, Bexar County accounts for over one-third of District 21 and nearly half of District 35.
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Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 04:02 PM CST
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More negative fallout from the San Antonio panel's gerrymandered five-way split of Travis County: Austin-based foreign policy expert Dan Grant is no longer running against incumbent Republican Michael McCaul. The initial interim maps by the San Antonio panel made the 10th Congressional District a legitimate toss-up. That map drew out Tomball and added a chunk of southern Williamson County. Grant had a legitimate shot of winning, which clearly made McCaul nervous, as the Republican submitted his own version of an alternate map that was much safer for him.
However, the San Antonio panel's revised, Abbott-and-MALDEF-approved non-compromise maps hacked Travis into five districts, and made the 10th even more Republican than it is now. The district would have been a tough uphill climb at R+13 even for Grant, a strong campaigner with broad support and a populist message.
The new CD-10: West Austin, Central Austin, Tomball, Houston, and points in between. |
In a statement released by his campaign, Grant said, "In the latest version of Congressional maps the 10th District has been redrawn to solidly protect Congressman McCaul. This latest iteration of CD-10 is the same as in the illegal map drafted by the Republican-controlled state legislature last year whose primary goal was to disenfranchise minority voters, dilute Democratic voting strength, and protect Republican incumbents."
Grant's campaign had done an excellent job bringing national attention to McCaul's massive and frequent ethical lapses, from engaging in insider trading before voting to ban it, to hosting schmooze-fests with fat cat one-percenters on the taxpayer's dime. It's very telling that McCaul, the second-richest and perhaps most out-of-touch member of Congress, was protected by Abbott & Friends in this process. But then again, maybe it was just a favor to McCaul's father-in-law.
Quality candidates like Grant don't come along that often, and given that his wife gave birth to their second child just a few weeks ago, it is understandable that Grant doesn't want to spend the next 10 months away from his family, toiling in an unwinnable race. We wish Dan and his campaign staff the best of luck as they figure out their next steps.
The full statement from Grant is below the jump.
Previously on BOR:
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Tue Dec 20, 2011 at 06:47 PM CST
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Republicans have made it clear they are willing to gamble with the economic recovery by letting scheduled payroll tax cuts expire at the end of the month the result of which could tip the US economy back into recession according to economists.
In response to the the House's vote to reject the Senate payroll tax extension plan, Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Grant released the following statement.
"This is a disgrace. Rejecting this bipartisan plan and risking a tax increase for millions of working families is shameful, but not surprising. This is another example of millionaire Michael McCaul, the single richest member of Congress, failing to understand what really matters to Texas' families and spending more time supporting political theater, showdowns and standoffs, than addressing these urgent problems. We need people in Congress who understand what $1000 means to a family saving for college or struggling to stay afloat in these hard times, not people willing to play politics with the lives and livelihoods of those they claim to represent."
Dan Grant, an Austin-based foreign policy expert, filed last week to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 10th Congressional District against Rep. Michael McCaul. This is the sort of strong response that's refreshing to see from Democrat.
On the web: www.dangrantforcongress.com
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Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 05:31 PM CST
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Dan Grant released a statement today on the interim Congressional maps released by the Federal Courts on Wednesday, making clear that while he will not be running against Congressman Lloyd Doggett in the 25th, he is giving strong consideration to the newly drawn 10th district.
Grant had previously announced that he was exploring a run in the Legislature-drawn 25th district, which stretched from the University of Texas through parts of Bell County up to Fort Worth. 11 Republicans had also announced intention to seek the seat. With the lines re-drawn, Grant is now taking a closer look at the 10th, where he ran in 2008 against Rush Limbaugh's BFF Mike McCaul.
Grant's statement is as follows:
Statement on the Release of Interim Congressional Maps
Two days ago, the hopes of Democrats and progressives across central Texas were met with resounding action by a federal judicial panel's release of fair and equitable interim maps for the United States House of Representatives.
Dan Grant, who has been exploring a run in the State Legislature-drawn 25th district, will withdraw from the race for CD-25, allowing Rep. Lloyd Doggett to return to his newly re-drawn district to continue representing the people of Austin.
"Travis County has been made whole, and Congressman Doggett has traditionally represented Texas' 25th - I will willingly step aside so that he can run unopposed. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to ensure that all Americans would have equal access to voting and representation. The court's decision has upheld this principle with a fair map that allows all Texans these opportunities," said Grant.
Speaking in regards to his own campaign, Grant added, "I have been touched by the enthusiasm and support I've received in my exploration of the 25th Congressional district. The unique opportunities in the coming election season will afford Travis County, and all Texans, real representation in Congress. In the days ahead, I will be considering how best to move forward with these new Congressional opportunities."
There has been a lot of chatter in Wednesday's redistricting diary about the newly drawn 10th -- what are your thoughts? Is this a potential pick-up opportunity for the right candidate? Can a Democrat overcome Mike McCaul's father-in-law's bank account?
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Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 10:32 AM CDT
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(I do not look forward to redistricting, but this is possible. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
In the Wednesday, Oct 20 edition of the Houston Chronicle, there is a front page article on the upcoming redistricting battle in Texas. Buried in the continuation on page A-14 is the first public indication I have seen about the situation I have been talking about ever since I entered the race.
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Thu Sep 16, 2010 at 08:01 PM CDT
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The Texas Independent has reported that executives from Taxmasters, a company charged by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot in May with illegally defrauding customers seeking help for tax problems has contributed over $160,000 to State and Federal Republican politicians and political organizations. This includes the FEC maximum of $4800 to Michael McCaul, my republican opponent for Texas Congressional District 10 this November. Mr. McCaul is using potentially illegally obtained money to influence the electorate and he should immediately return it.
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Mon Sep 13, 2010 at 00:45 PM CDT
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The Congressional newspaper "Roll Call" has just caught Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, representing the Tenth District running from the Houston suburbs to the Austin suburbs, under reporting millions of dollars in 2008 and 2009 income and assets. Representative McCaul is the ranking Republican on the trial of Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, to be held later this month, on charges of not reporting income from a rental property.
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Sat Aug 21, 2010 at 11:15 AM CDT
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(For discussion. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article entitled: "The End of Management". It is a very interesting article that posits that the management techniques developed in the 20th Century by people to run large corporations are being obsoleted in the 21st Century, just as Sloan, Durant, Ford, Drucker, et. al. obsoleted the 19th Century artisan model of management. The author, Alan Murray, says we still don't know what the new model will be, but there are intimations in the rapid change in communications and connectedness. He illustrates with the examples that it took 38 years for radio to reach an audience of 50 million, television 13 years, internet only four years, the ipod three years, and Facebook two years to do the same.
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Wed Aug 04, 2010 at 00:25 PM CDT
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(Ted Ankrum is the Democratic nominee in TX-10 against Rep. McCaul. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Many Americans believe that their politicians vote in response to campaign contributions, rather than in the interests of the ordinary people in their District. Representatives Rangel and Waters are about to be tried by a subcommittee of the House of Representatives for just this kind of activity. It seems their defense is "We all do it". My opponent in the next election, incumbent Republican Michael McCaul of Texas' US House of Representatives District 10, is the lead Republican on this "trial" and it would be interesting to test this assertion by looking at his campaign contributions and his votes.
This information is taken from the latest Federal Elections Commission report, ending June 30, 2010, on campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees; starting from the beginning of 2007, after Mr. McCaul's first reelection, when corporations and big donors start to pay attention. The totals are bare minimums because contributor's employment is listed by company name, and I don't claim to know the names of every financial firm, for instance. I've only tabulated contributions affilliated with those relatively well-known companies whose principal business is one I know.
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Fri Jun 04, 2010 at 10:28 AM CDT
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BOR recently featured a story based on a press release from the DCCC on Mike McCaul's "Vote against the troops before Memorial Day". I asked the DCCC why they made this press release in a race about which they have been largely silent since Jack McDonald dropped out. The answer: "WE SEND THEM OUT FROM TIME TO TIME IN ANY DISTRICTS THAT WE THINK COULD BE COMPETITIVE".
On a related note: On Memorial Day, I made the Keynote speech at the Burleson County Courthouse in Caldwell, a county I might have won in '06 except for Mccaul showing up just before early voting began with a $200K Homeland Security grant for the local Volunteer Fire Department. McCaul made his speech in hard Republican Washington County. When our campaign volunteer videographer gets back from his family summer vacation, we'll be posting a video contrasting the two speeches, and superimposing how McCaul voted, just three days before his speech. The contrast will be startling. It's what makes this district competitive: McCaul says one thing and does another. I need your help to expose this to the voting public!
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