(I have my UT commencement tomorrow so I don't think I'll be able to make this, but I hope some folks can make it there. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
THIS SATURDAY.
San Antonio Blockwalk for Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23)
Ciro Rodriguez HQ
246 West Harding, San Antonio, Texas
12-09 @ 9:00 am
Last chance for GOTV! Democrat Ciro Rodriguez needs help in a race he CAN win, if we all help out. (Remember, if you can’t take a day to walk, take 20 minutes to make calls at http://ciro.onlinephonebanking.com)
Burnt Orange Report has some information to break on the 23rd Congressional Runoff that has come our way via a well placed source in DC who has reason to know this.
The issue of the selection of the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe as the electoral date is under serious consideration by the Justice Department. The DOJ is in contact with the state of Texas on this subject.
Other information that Burnt Orange Report can not make available but is aware of, gives us confidence that those handling the case are indeed taking it seriously due to prepared work and cases handled.
Henry Bonilla wants you to forget he had his own nanny problems too.
On October 24, 1994 a national AP story titled "Texas Lawmaker Joins Huffington in Nanny Problems" had this interesting point to make:
Senate hopeful Michael Huffington of California isn't the only lawmaker with a nanny problem erupting close to Election Day. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, also found himself fending off trouble Friday after reports surfaced that he employed an undocumented British worker as a nanny for almost seven years.
[…]
In Texas, Bonilla has been a strong supporter of beefing up the Border Patrol to combat the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. In a Feb. 18 letter published in the San Antonio Express-News, Bonilla wrote: "Illegal immigrants are a tremendous drain on our society. They use our hospitals, our schools and our social services without paying the taxes to support them. "The Justice Department in April ended without prosecution a 10-month investigation of Bonilla's employment of the British nanny. Bonilla vigorously denied any wrongdoing in employing the woman from 1986 through early 1993. But he acknowledged not paying back taxes on the nanny's wages until early 1993. He refused to divulge how much he paid, saying it was a private matter.
Bonilla's hypocrisy is well documented. This is just another example of Repulican's leading with a, "do as I say not as I do" philosophy. During that same time, Bonilla scored a 48% from Americans for Better Immigration, a 17% score from the Committee on Border Control, and countless goose eggs from the American Immigration Lawyers Associations.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) began airing the following television ad in two markets in the runoff election set for December 12th between Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Bonilla. Watch it here or below.
I'd take that as a sign that the DCCC poll came back fairly positive if they are going to invest in this manner. They have already committed their national field director Adrian Saenz, internet/fundraising staff in Meghan Gaffney, and campaign spokesperson Vanessa Gonzalez.
Also today, John Courage sent an e-mail out to his campaign list asking people to help call voters using ciro.onlinephonebanking.com and donate to Ciro's campaign. In the past few hours he's raised over $1200.
Bexar County commissioners have unanimously decided to move the early vote for the runoff election in TX-23 between Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla and Democratic challenger and former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez up two days. The question now, though, is if such a move is legal. From the San Antonio Express-News article titled, Bexar extends early voting for District 23; state objects:
Rodriguez on Tuesday welcomed the extension, saying: "For working families, the weekend is crucial. ... Hopefully, there shouldn't be any excuse for not coming out to vote."
Bonilla spokesman Phil Ricks, who learned about the vote from a reporter, noted: "We would be very much in favor of that."
But at the secretary of state's office, Haywood said state election law rules out early voting on Saturday and Sunday. A provision for special runoff elections says early voting must start 10 days before election day - unless it lands on the weekend or a state holiday. In either case, early voting starts on the next business day.
The rule governs special runoffs for state Senate and House posts, but Haywood said it also applies to congressional runoffs.
The article goes on to note that an extended runoff was allowed for the special election to replace Tom Delay.
Luis Vera Jr., LULAC's national general counsel, disagreed. He said that part of the election code shouldn't apply to the race in the 23rd District...
"They used that (17-day) provision because they had a (Republican) write-in candidate, because they needed more time," said Vera, a Rodriguez supporter.
"They change the rules to fit their needs."
If the new dates hold up, early voting would begin this weekend, with polls open on Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and on Sunday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm.
Ladies and Gents, put your cork back in your champagne bottle, there is still one more election opportunity to pick up a seat this year, and that seat is going to be won by progressive Democrat Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23).
Next Generation Democrats is more than pleased to endorse Ciro Rodriguez for Congress in 2006. He is a true progressive candidate who matches up with our Values.
There has been some concern on the netroots about whether or not Ciro can win this, and I'm relieved to say that he can. He has graciously accepted help from the DCCC, many of our national stars are down there, and Ciro is on board with the program and doing what it takes to win.
OnlinePhoneBanking the most efficient and effective way for folks anywhere in the state (or country) to help Democrat Ciro Rodriguez defeat Republican Henry Bonilla. The netroots worked hard for Ciro last time, and with this new tool, we can turn netroots passion into grassroots action!
Make simple calls to voters in any precinct in TX-23 to identify Democrats for GOTV, from the comfort of your home, right now, using OnlinePhoneBanking's tools. Choose any precinct, and if you want, choose any demographic in that precinct - women, men, seniors, youth, anyone, and more. TrueBlueAction provides tools, scripts and data, you provide the volunteer effort and the data that helps Democrats!
The election date has been set for the District 23 Congressional Runoff for December 12th with Early voting to run from December 4-8. It is the earliest day possible that the Secretary of State could have called it and of course, it is with the intent of giving the advantage to Henry Bonilla.
That's 3 weeks folks- 2 weeks until people start voting. As soon as ciro.onlinephonebanking.com is up and running, that will be the best way you can help us win in this tight electoral frame. You can also donate to Ciro online or sign up to volunteer online.
The DCCC is on the ground in TX-23. They have made amazing progress in getting Democrat Ciro Rodriguez to actually abide by their rules for this short election period seeing as he's low on cash and institutional support. In other terms, Ciro has actually been on the phone doing call time which in itself is short of a miracle, just to put it in perspective.
Meghan Gaffney as some will remember from Paul Hackett's race in OH-02 is there now as well as Adrian Saenz, the DCCC's National Field Director (who if I'm not mistaken is from San Antonio as it is).
There is a poll in the field right now to determine where things stand on that front.
The election date cannot be set earlier than this Friday from what we've been told, though there is an expectation that Gov. Perry will do so then. There is an open state house seat in Texas which also has to have an election date set - a dead Republican incumbent beat her Democratic opponent on Nov 7th creating a vacancy which forces an open special election in HD-29 near Houston. That race is discussed in this post.
Good news out of TX-23. As of today, all of Ciro Rodriguez's former Democratic challengers in the open primary for TX-23 have now endorsed his campaign. Third place finisher Lukin Gilliland has offered up his northside campaign headquarters and staff.
"Henry Bonilla simply hasn't done his job to provide fresh ideas on how to protect our troops and bring an honorable peace to the war in Iraq. This runoff represents the people's chance to make changes in our Iraq policy and bring our troops home. Bonilla continues claiming to support our troops and yet he continues to send them into harm's way," said Albert Uresti.
"The Republican leadership has failed, as signaled by the November elections. Uniting the Democrats behind one democrat in this Congressional election is important so that we may continue the change of direction in our country," said Uresti.
The Urestis' endorsement is an important lynchpin in Rodriguez's plan to unite Democrats to defeat Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla. Senator Carlos Uresti represents a district that mirrors the boundaries of the 23rd Congressional District and Albert Uresti garnered the second most votes among Democrats in the special election contest that ended November 7, 2006.
Both brothers declare that Bonilla has not represented the concerns of the people of the 23rd Congressional District and believe Rodriguez provides an opportunity toward a new direction that puts people above the powerful special interests that have created a failed Republican government in Washington.
From the 
