Hank Gilbert will formally begin his campaign for the Democratic Gubernatorial nomination on Monday, September 21, according to a campaign e-mail. Gilbert, the 2006 Democratic nominee for Agriculture Commissioner, plans to raise $100,000 before his official announcement. If Gilbert's campaign meets their September 21 fundraising goal, it will equal the entire amount that Gilbert raised in 2006.
In the e-mail, Gilbert makes what will be part of his pitch to Democratic primary voters:
In the 2006 race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, we came awfully close to defeating an entrenched politician, garnering 43% of the vote. That was 7% higher than any other statewide Democrat seeking a statewide executive position.
The amazing part: We were the least known at the beginning of the election cycle back then. We were outspent in that race 25-to-1. $2.5 million to $100,000. And in that same election cycle, we actually earned more than 43,000 more votes than did Governor Rick Perry.
This next round of statewide elections in 2010 will be the most critical for Texans and Texas Democrats. The statewide officials that we elect in 2010 will have the task of re-drawing the state's voting districts. If we do not get statewide Democrats elected this cycle, the Republicans will draw the lines in their favor, making it even harder to elect Democrats for the next 10 years.
We can't let that happen.
Gilbert is trying to present himself as a progressive and electable alternative to the likes of Tom Schieffer, Mark Thompson and Kinky Friedman.
Gilbert ran a tough (albeit underfunded) campaign against then-State Sen. Todd Staples in 2006. While he is not very well-known statewide, neither are the other current. Democratic candidates. Gilbert has the advanatge of high name ID among Democratic activists resulting from his 2006 race which included a memorable state convention speech. Gilbert has also had a high profile as a leader in the efforts to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Compared to the Rick Perry vs. Kay Bailey Hutchison primed up bloodbath, attackfest, the Democratic ticket has been quiet and to a lesser degree, boring. Things have been so slow, bloggers and activists have started draft movements for Senators Leticia Van De Putte and Kirk Watson and former Austin District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
In the past 24 hours, there has been movement in the Governor's race on the Democratic side.
Yesterday, potential Agriculture Commissioner candidate Hank Gilbert announced he was interested in the top job instead. Today, Tom Schieffer show significant signs of life in the same place he started his race 6 months ago. Even Kinky Friedman sent an email out to his campaign list for the first time in months today.
State Representatives Garnet Coleman, Jim Dunnam, Jessica Farrar, and Pete Gallego joined Senfronia Thompson in endorsing Ambassador Schieffer.
"I am gratified by this broad base of Democratic support," Schieffer said. "These leaders have long been in the forefront - often fighting against strong Republican opposition - of efforts to improve education, make quality health care available to more Texans, improve our transportation system and lower insurance rates and utility bills. Together, we can reverse this race to the bottom and improve the quality of life for Texas families."
These endorsements represent an interesting cross section in the Texas House. Besides representing diverse parts of the state, each is a distinct leader in the state legislature.
Coleman chairs the Legislative Study Group, a nonpartisan caucus dedicated to the development of sound public policy for Texas families. Dunnam chairs the House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding, which played a key role in allocating federal stimulus dollars during the recent legislative session. Farrar is the current chair of the House Democratic Caucus and the founder and vice chair of the Women's Health Caucus and founder and secretary of the House Environmental Caucus. Gallego is a former chair of the House Democratic Caucus and former chair of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus.
When Burnt Orange Report met with Schieffer in July we talked half the time about his Democratic credentials and half the time about policy. The elected officials endorsed him spent the entire time talking about Schieffer's qualifications and drawing a strong comparison between the Ambassador and his Republican counter parts, but the discussion of Democratic credentials were front and center.
"We are proud to endorse Ambassador Tom Schieffer to serve as the next governor of Texas because he is addressing issues and concerns that are important to Texas families - public education, jobs, children's health insurance, rising college tuition, energy, protecting the environment and transportation," Coleman said. "Tom Schieffer is going to be the next governor of Texas because he cares about solving real problems for Texas families."
Jim Dunnam made his statement after Coleman.
"Democrats across Texas can be proud to support Tom Schieffer - a fellow, lifelong Democrat who has never missed voting in a Democratic primary since he was old enough to vote in 1968," said Dunnam, the House Democratic Leader.
"Tom's service to our country during the previous administration doesn't change that," Dunnam added. "Texans deserve better than one Republican who wants to be governor for life and another who thinks the governor's mansion is a retirement home. That is why Democrats across the state will unite behind Tom Schieffer."
During press questions, Rep. Dunnam added, "we aren't a litmus test party. For us to have a candidate who is independently minded is positive."
"Tom Schieffer will be the next governor of Texas because he is a proven leader, not an ideologue," Gallego said. "His successful record as a lawyer, businessman and diplomat proves he will bring people together from across the political spectrum and put the needs of Texas and Texans ahead of narrow partisan and ideological interests."
Of course the question was asked whether Schieffer's Democratic credentials were a concern to any of the endorsers. None of them said it was an issue. Garnet Coleman went as far as to say that he couldn't disagree with any person who voted for a friend and business partner. Senfronia Thompson added her belief many Democrats have voted for a Republican but Schieffer was one of the few to be honest about it. Dunnam followed up with the fact he viewed it as a strength.
Will that stop the question? Only time will tell but now there is a chorus standing behind Schieffer and the backing of the House leaders allowed him to sum up how he will approach this race.
"This is the Democratic Party's first opportunity to win in a long time. The Republican Party has been bankrupt by its leader," Schieffer said. Nobody is entitled to anything. You have to earn it."
Questions may still exist about Schieffer, but with a Democratic primary looming and a campaign being organized, voters and activist may get their answers sooner than later.
Coming back from Netroots Nation, we've had an extremely busy week talking about statewide candidates. We wanted to take some time this morning to look back at our major stories, both to give everyone a chance to catch what they may have missed, and to put some context around larger stories that have developed recently:
TX-Gov, Republican Edition: Kay Bailey Hutchison Stumbles Into the Governor's Race
Yes, Senator Hutchison's campaign announcement was the most dominant story of the week. But did anything get through? Rick Perry -- who has previously been described as a "cyborg" here at Burnt Orange REport -- stepped on every day of her campaign announcement. Moreover, it's hard to get excited about a candidate announcing, for the twelfth time, that she is going to run for Governor. Even the press started getting nit-picky this week with Senator Hutchison, proving her initial roll-out to be highly ineffectual and raising the question: does she even stand a chance against Rick Perry?
Michael began the week discussing an issue with the Tom Schieffer that goes unnoticed among the general uneasiness of his support for former President Bush -- that is, his actual stances on policy. From Michael's well-written post:
The rate of current events convince me that the basics of a campaign infrastructure will materialize and improve. But I'm not convinced that this will happen with all of the campaign. I worry that a full-blown Schieffer campaign will not offer any true policy proposals to the people of Texas.
Meanwhile, another possible candidate -- Ronnie Earle -- met in Austin with the Texans for Obama group. Katherine was in attendance, and wrote strong reviews of Earle in her post -- going so far as to say that "it appears that he's already considering the shape of a potential bid: a strongly-grassroots, supporter-driven campaign with an emphasis on personally connecting with the voters." However, that didn't make him immune from the same policy concerns Michael had raised about Schieffer, as Katherine wrote:
Earle enumerated several key issues on which this prosperity-push would focus, namely education, jobs, health care, transportation, and the environment. However, he demured from offering specific policy proposals, repeatedly stating that he wasn't a candidate yet.
No one really likes to talk about policy specifics in August of an off-year, and if given the choice, we'd prefer -- right now -- a candidate with a strong narrative that was able to go out and persuade donors that his or her campaign is serious enough to be investing in. But speaking broadly about public education and law enforcement isn't going to be enough -- and we encourage our candidates, our progressive organizations, our readers, and ourselves to begin forcing more specific discussions on policy in the coming weeks and months leading up to the filing deadline.
The U.S. Senate race is about to get serious -- especially now that Hutchison is officially in the Governor's race, and that she's announced her semi-sort-of-maybe-waffle-not-sure-can-I-take-a-rain-check-on-ever-making-a-decision candidacy, we are going to turn our attention not only to exposing her and Perry's horrific records as politicians, but also to the U.S. Senate race. This week, that conversation centered predominantly around Bill White.
Last Friday at Netroots Nation, White met in Pittsburgh with Texas and national bloggers to discuss his candidacy. Katherine's report on the event included the following positive outlook on the race:
Texas should take pride in having sent one of the most engaging and motivated Democratic candidates to Netroots Nation this year. That would be Houston Mayor Bill White...The Mayor came up to Pittsburgh during the annual gathering to address national bloggers and make the case as to why Democrats can and will win statewide in Texas.
Some are pressing for White to switch races. With the momentum of a successful tenure as mayor of the state's largest city, the moderate White appears to be the best thing going for Texas Democrats in 2010.
I want to know who these people are that continue to "press" Houston Mayor Bill White to get out of a potential senate race and get into a gubernatorial race he doesn't want to run in. Who are you? Get off his back! The man you should be "pressing" to get out of a potential senate race and get into a gubernatorial race that needs a serious injection of excitement is John Sharp.
I believe it would be good for the Democratic Party to have more than one person in the gubernatorial race. As we sit right now only one serious candidate, Tom Schieffer, has declared, but former Travis County District Attorney, Ronnie Earle, appears to be revving up his political engines for a statewide campaign too. I think Sharp is better qualified, and in a better position politically, to change the dynamics completely of the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Sharp's campaign doesn't appear to be raising the funds necessary, outside of personal loans, to remain competitive in a potential U.S. senate race. I suspect that is because those donors who thought Mayor White would run for governor versus the United States Senate suddenly found themselves choosing between Sharp and White. Many people, including myself, believe that Bill White is the brightest star we have in the Democratic Party, and donors and grassroots supporters do too. Those who committed to Sharp assuming White would run for governor suddenly switched allegiances upon his announcement that he would run in an eventual special election senate race. White's fundraising numbers prove that is the case. That doesn't mean those donors don't support Sharp, they just don't support him in a head to head race with Bill White.
Much energy has been spent discussing Tom Schieffer's unapologetic stance towards his votes for George W. Bush and his work for that administration. But despite its attention, this is not Tom Schieffer's largest problem in his goal to be the first Democratic Governor since Ann Richards.
He can overcome the "Bush Problem," especially if the primary field stays stagnant. After our visit with him in July, we said, "we are confident that Schieffer will be a champion of core Democratic issues. His positions on education, health care, and transportation are strong, and he understands the need for Democrats to have a seat at the table before redistricting occurs in 2011."
But that, his vast experiences in the world, and a potential appeal to Republicans are almost all his positives in his quest to win the Governor's Mansion as a good Democrat. Yet there are people in this very community who have good experiences in the world and would champion core Democratic issues. He needs more.
In our post on the Schieffer meeting, we furthered that he needs "a better developed campaign infrastructure in place" just to get past March. The rate of current events convince me that the basics of a campaign infrastructure will materialize and improve. But I'm not convinced that this will happen with all of the campaign. I worry that a full-blown Schieffer campaign will not offer any true policy proposals to the people of Texas.
My worries started in earnest when I read Ken Herman's scorching column from the other day. True, Herman has written two scathing pieces on Schieffer, and one could even argue that he has, for whatever reason, something against Tom Schieffer. But the following sounded oddly familiar to me:
Karen Pavelka, who teaches library and archives conservation at the University of Texas, came away equally unimpressed with her party's leading gubernatorial candidate. She had asked Schieffer where he would find money for education improvements.
"My answer to your question is I don't know where we find the money," Schieffer said, after an initial answer in which he told Pavelka "I'm going to ask you." She had interrupted and said, "I'm not running for governor ..."
For me, it might not have been money for educational improvements. It might have been a transportation or broadband question, but I swear a very similar dialogue happened between one of my fellow Burnt Orange writers and Tom Schieffer back in the BOR offices.
We can trust that Tom Schieffer is a Democrat, and that he agrees with us in our issue-sentiments...But we have virtually no clue how this will translate to policy. The Governor's seat is best utilized to push a few good policies in a legislative session (and maybe to veto some bad ones), but good policies cannot effectively be pushed for if they do not exist. Perhaps this explains why his Bush connections continue to prevail as a major problem for Schieffer: he gives us little else to work with.
And until Democrats obtain a statewide office, innovative policy ideas might be the only solid message plan to beat a potentially strong Republican candidate in a Texas-wide race. Communications Director Clay Robison tells me, "Tom is spending a lot of time studying and thinking about a number of policy issues. More of these will be discussed as the campaign progresses. He already has posted some policy objectives on his web page."
Alas, TomforTexas.com tries to explain the complex issues of education, energy, health care, and the environment in less than 20 lines combined. I don't need his policy plans to come from his website, but that's the best he has offered in public. To beat someone from a 15-year incumbent party, we need more.
While the news earlier today that Kirk Watson has passed on a Gubernatorial bid will get most of the headlines, an overlooked story from yesterday could ultimately play a huge role in determining who will be the Democratic nominee next year.
The Austin American-Statesman story began, "A little known Fort Worth resident plans to run for governor next year " .... but they're not talking about Tom Schieffer.
Instead, the candidate in question is Felix Alvarado, a high school geography teacher who would have run for governor in 2006 had his filing fee check not bounced. Now, assuming his check clears, Alvarado will a candidate in 2010.
Alvarado's entry makes him the only Latino in the race and in turn, given recent Democratic primary history, a serious contender to win the nomination.
Alvarado could be another Victor Morales, the high school teacher who drove his pick up truck to a surprise victory over incumbent Congressmen John Bryant and Jim Chapman in the 1996 U.S. Senate Democratic primary. Morales ran again in 2002 and topped another Congressman -- this time Ken Bentsen -- and went on to lose the runoff to Ron Kirk.
Or he could be another Maria Luisa Alvarado, who happens to be his sister. She easily defeated former State Rep. and 6th Court of Appeals Justice Ben Z. Grant in the 2006 Lt. Governor Democratic primary runoff.
Depending which races are on the ballot, South Texas has had disproportionately high turnout in Democratic primaries. For example, in the 2006 Democratic primary, Webb County had almost as many votes as Dallas County and had nearly twice the amount that Tarrant County had. In the subsequent runoff that Alvarado won, Webb's vote totals were almost as high as the combined totals from Dallas and Harris counties.
A look at the map from the Alvarado-Grant runoff from the US Election Atlas, which Alvarado won with 58 percent of the vote, shows the huge influence that South Texas had on the race. Although Grant won nearly every one of the state's major metropolitan counties, Maria Luisa Alvarado carried the border region by huge margins and went on to a 16 point victory.
Schieffer's campaign has actually done some good early work in the Rio Grande Valley, securing the endorsements of former Cameron County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa and the Texas Association of Hispanic County Judges and County Commissioners.
Whether Felix Alvarado will be able to go from unknown to Democratic nominee like others have remains to be seen, but the potential, especially if a better known Democrat does not enter the race, is certainly there.
With Kirk Watson's announcement, Tom Schieffer maintains his standing as the front runner to be the Democratic Nominee for Governor.
The Schieffer campaign released the following statement on Watson's decision.
I welcome Senator Watson's statement today. He would have been a formidable opponent in the Democratic primary. I'm glad he has decided to run for reelection because we need men and women of his character and capability in the Texas Senate. Senator Watson has much to contribute to the future of Texas, and I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead.
In yesterday's Houston Chronicle readers learned much about Rick Perry's fancy globe trotting extravaganzas, golfing, hunting trips and lavish gifts, much of it donated by the governor's sugar daddy supporters. The Chronicle's R.G. Ratcliffe revealed that thanks to taxpayers and generous supporters, Perry, a modest cotton farmer from West Texas, now leads the life of the rich and famous.
We taxpayers take care of the basic needs: housing, cooks, housekeepers, stewards and gardeners.
The taxpayers shell out $108,000 a year to rent him an estate west of Austin, and spend another $168,000 on chefs, stewards and housekeepers for the Perrys' creature comforts.
The governor's donors and supporters take care of the really fun stuff like overseas travel to wonderful places, concerts, basketball games and hunting trips.
Tom Schieffer did something Wednesday no other statewide candidate has ever done.
Unprovoked and nearly 7 months away from the primary (an established election date), Tom Schieffer became the first statewide candidate to sit down with more than half of the Burnt Orange Report staff to discuss every facet of his campaign.
We talked policy. We talked about George Bush. We talked about the Texas Rangers and his service abroad.
We met at Progress Coffee next to our office. We each bought our own respective caffeinated beverages. Tom Schieffer picked up a couple Dublin Dr. Peppers. With three campaign staff in tow, the eight of us went back to the Burnt Orange Report office and immediately got to questions.
The discussion started with Schieffer's stance on expanding broadband and his experience on the campaign trail. We talked about the need to expand access to education and how Rick Perry's aggressive push to become more right-wing hurts the business community (more on that later). To note, Schieffer supports the idea to expand high speed and broadband access to rural and exurban parts of Texas but doesn't have a set plan.
After about 30 minutes we finally got to the series of questions most of our readers are most concerned about-- Schieffer's relationship with George W. Bush and/or the Republican Party.
It is clear from talking with Schieffer he is not and has never been a Republican.
Schieffer points to a few of his experience to highlight his long time Democratic credentials. First, Schieffer said he has voted in every Democratic primary since the 1970's. Second, according to Schieffer, in April 2001, when he went to the White House and State Department to fill out the paper work to become an ambassador to Australia, he made it a point to identify himself and his partisanship as Democrat on the forms he filled out. While he served as an Ambassador to Japan, Congressman Henry Waxman from California asked Schieffer and the state department to produce any and all documents that identified communication between the embassy and the political department of the White House (read Karl Rove). After nearly two weeks of searching, Schieffer says the embassy found zero documents.
He makes it a point to say he didn't work as a Democrat or Republican but instead as a person who loves his country and was given an opportunity to serve his country.
The passion and sincerity in his explanation is hard to deny.
Schieffer went on to talk about the multiple times he has been to the White House during the Obama administration to help the state department. Again, he spoke of the situation as a service to his country and not as a partisan obligation.
Why all the questions about Schieffer's democratic credentials?
Since announcing he was exploring a potential Gubernatorial run in March, Schieffer made it clear he voted for his friend and business partner George W. Bush. His unapologetic support for Bush has left some Democrats scratching their heads.
Rather than rehashing why he voted for Bush (we already know the answer) or pushing him on the issue, we simply asked how that plays into his campaign and outreach.
Schieffer made it a point to talk about how he was right on the issues and Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison were simple two more examples of Republican failures.
Yes, it was a pass, but he isn't wrong.
Schieffer supports the expansion of mass transit within Texas to connect at least the urban cores. He is right on education and working to lower tuition costs for families in need. He is right on using federal money to help keep small business owners from being forced to pay for the brunt of the recession.
After an hour conversation, we are confident that Schieffer will be a champion of core Democratic issues. His positions on education, health care, and transportation are strong, and he understands the need for Democrats to have a seat at the table before redistricting occurs in 2011. We did not meet with the candidate who we will certainly vote for in March's Democratic Primary, but we all left our meeting convinced that Tom Schieffer is sincere and passionate, and that he has strong Democratic credentials. However, without a campaign manager and a better developed campaign infrastructure in place, he is going to struggle to accumulate the financial resources and grassroots support to get past March.
The fact that the conversation has shifted, at least in our minds, to, "would we want him to win?" to "how could he win?" is important. We want to support strong Democrats, but before we do, we need to know that they are strong Democrats. Schieffer convinced us of that. Now the challenge will be how he builds a campaign infrastructure that can convince the rest of the Democratic primary electorate before March.
Tom Schieffer is running for Governor and has been largely unopposed since announcing. Currently the other filed candidates include Mark Thompson and Kinky Friedman.
Schieffer has announced he has raised nearly $800,000 in contributions and loans. The amount he has loaned his campaign has not be announced nor has the always important cash on hand total.
What is clear is Schieffer has more early money than any other Democratic primary candidate and he is putting together a war chest faster and earlier than Democrats did in 2006.
Here is the announcement in full:
It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that my campaign has raised almost $800,000 in contributions and loans for this reporting period.
I am especially heartened by the fact that this money was raised during some very difficult times in Texas. People are worried about the economy, jobs, insurance rates, health care and utility costs. Still, enough people believed in what we are doing to invest their hard earned dollars in our cause. They did not give because I had the advantage of incumbency nor did they give because I held one office and was running for another. They gave us these resources because they believe I can lead a cause that will change Texas for the better. I am humbled by their confidence and will do everything I can to merit their continued support.
I am equally heartened by the diverse and distinguished group of Democrats who have agreed to chair the three components of my organization. Gilberto Hinojosa, former County Judge of Cameron County and member of the Democratic National Committee, has agreed to Co-Chair my statewide campaign along with long time Democratic activist Susan Longley of Austin. Former Speaker of the House Pete Laney of Hale Center and the Dean of Texas House Democrats, Representative Senfronia Thompson of Houston, who is also a member of the Democratic National Committee, will head up our Senior Advisory Committee, while former Ambassador Lyndon Olson, Jr. of Waco and Fort Worth civic leader Alann Sampson are co-chairing our Finance Committee.
These leaders represent the diversity and promise of Texas. They come from rural and urban areas. They have experience in the law, business, farming, politics, the clergy and the community. They believe in a Texas where everyone has a right to sit at the table and they have come together to change Texas. I am delighted to have their support, and I would be honored to carry the Democratic banner into next year's General Election.
Update: Sources inside the campaign are saying Shcieffer has $454,155 cash on hand.
Update 2 (By Michael): I just realized that this post was never updated with any loan info for Schieffer. So, sorry about this being significantly later than we could have gotten it out there. But Mr. Schieffer received $200,000 in a loan, the loan being from Lyndon Olson.
