Perla Cavazos Statement on Cofer Withdrawl

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 00:32 PM CST

"Rick Cofer deserves our gratitude for his service on the Solid Waste Advisory Commission and promoting practical solutions to environmental challenges.   While I respect his decision to remove his name for City Council, we all know that Rick will be involved in future debates and organizing efforts to move Austin forward.

This race from the start has never been one of opponents, but fellow candidates bringing our diverse backgrounds and experiences to the table to make Austin even better.

I'm confident Chris Riley and I will keep that spirit alive as we discuss how to cope with Austin's economic challenges and address the affordability issues that are placing significant stress on Austin families, all while ensuring we don't sacrifice our environment and the natural resources that make Austin such a unique community.

I wish Rick all the best for his future."

-Perla

Rick Cofer's Statement on Withdrawing from Place 1 Race

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 11:47 PM CST

Dear Friends,

Tonight, I will be announcing my decision to formally exit the race for Austin City Council.  This decision has not been easy and was reached after much deliberation, discussion, and self-reflection.  I have always believed passionately in the power of public office to touch people's lives - that is what motivated me to run in the first place.  I also know that with your support, my friends and family at my side, our vision for the city, and the amazing, dedicated, and talented team that we assembled, we would have run a strong campaign to win this race.

But after spending time on the campaign trail, I am convinced that we have two great candidates that share my passion for making Austin as great as it can be.  With Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos in this race, I know that Austin will have the right leadership with the right priorities.  I also know that I can continue to serve this city through my work on the Solid Waste Advisory Council, neighborhood association, and other community organizations.  And all of this has helped me realize that this is not the right time or right race for me.

I will continue to speak out on the issues and challenges facing our city.  I will continue to advocate for more open and transparent government that treats citizen participation as a necessity instead of a nuisance, for cleaner, greener policies that recognize the urgency of saving our natural treasures, for justice and equity for all our citizens, the most vulnerable, the most needy, and for an Austin that dares to be different.  For any disappointment, any inconvenience I may have caused, I am truly regretful, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.  It means the world to me that so many people gave me their trust and support; I hope that I can continue to demonstrate that your confidence was not misplaced, and that the values we share are always worth fighting for.

Yours,
Rick Cofer

Word is that Rick will also be returning the contributions of those who had given to his campaign.  

Rick Cofer to Withdraw from Austin Place 1 Council Race

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 06:18 PM CST

Rick has been calling supporters and already contacted or attempted to speak with both of his fellow council candidates and their campaigns to let them know of the development. He plans to deliver a message by email to all of his supporters later this evening which Burnt Orange Report will reprint in full.

Rick, besides being a good friend of the Report, would likely have been the youngest candidate elected to the City Council among major urbanized cities had he been elected. He had support from certain members of our writing staff and an approach that would have pushed some of the typical boundaries of campaign techniques.

He confirmed that he is not planning on endorsing either Cavazos or Riley as he has many friends that are in either camp and trusts both of them to make good potential council members. Being a political blog, we'd be remiss if we didn't interject a slight bit of pure politics into this and note that his departure from the race leaves Place 1 much more likely to be decided without a runoff and may benefit Riley slightly more than Perla among the voter world with the freeing up of fundraising dollars having an unknown effect.

BOR Conversations

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jan 27, 2009 at 01:30 PM CST

Late Night Austin Round-Up

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Tue Jan 27, 2009 at 00:35 AM CST

• Lee Leffingwell is set to announce a couple of high profile endorsements Tuesday. Until then, his newly launched Facebook Candidate Page has broken through 100 supporters in the first 24 hours.


• Leffingwell's campaign team has also launched a twitter account @TheLeeTeam. What I love about it is that it's not a campaign account, it's updates about the actual campaign teams operations. That's totally geek! I love it. Granted, it's a limited appeal sort of thing but who knows- technology in campaigns continues to amaze me.


• Chris Riley writes a thank you post here on Burnt Orange Report after his successful campaign launch. Cavazos has hers next week and I don't know when Cofer's is. Riley has really been hustling and while I'll be fair in saying that being first out of the gate doesn't always mean you are in the lead, I've heard a number of people who are supporters of the other 2 candidates wonder when they are going to show up to the Place 1 race.


• The University Democrats at UT are starting back up for the semester with their first meeting this Wednesday at 8:00pm in Garrison Hall (GAR) 0.102. Jimmy Talarico is now at the helm.


• Perla Cavazos releases her first list of 200 supporters. Matt sent me the email announcement and I wondered why I hadn't received it. I thought that maybe my last post had put me in the penalty box for getting Cavazos email updates so I checked again to make sure. I found it...
  

  Sigh. I have a feeling Cavazos email and my inbox are going through some identity issues.

Austin Mayoral & Council Campaign Finance Reports 1/15/09

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 01:19 AM CST

So I've run through all the campaign finance reports for the reported candidates for office. Mike Levy, while much rumored, hasn't filed to run, and Oak Hill resident Sandy Baldrige is saying she wants to run against Bill Spelman, but no action to actually follow up those claims on the finance front. In any case, below are a couple of different measures of how you can compare the candidates. Incumbents running for re-election to their own offices are in bold.

Cash on Hand

The only thing order-wise that changes if you sort by total funds raised during the period is that incumbent Sheryl Cole moves from 4th to 2nd and incumbent Mike Martinez moves from 2nd to 4th.

Overall: I was mostly right in what I've said to friends that I doubted anyone would end up having more than $25,000. I was wrong about Carole Strayhorn but I didn't think she would end up deciding to run. And while Chris Riley didn't end up with more than $25,000 cash on hand, he did raise more than $25,000 so congrats to him.

Mayor: Overall, I'm a little surprised to see Brewster's fundraising more on par with that of the Place 1 candidates and lagging behind that of Carole. Of course, that could just be because his main fundraiser isn't until later this month, but still, it makes the argument against Leffingwell rather irrelevant (that his delay in getting in will put him far behind in the money race). The Draft Lee PAC certainly is not acting as a real shadow campaign in terms of fundraising, but remember, it cannot transfer funds to Lee's Mayoral account once he files so there is no use in building up tens of thousands of dollars on it that would have to be spent independently of the official campaign. Of course, I also think that Strayhorn and Levy could spent lots of money and get far fewer votes than McCracken and Leffingwell so it could just all be a wash. This report tells us very little in the Mayor's race.

Place 1: My ballpark guess in this race was that the fundraising order would be Riley, Cavazos, then Cofer with totals around $20k, $15k, and then $10k. Both Chris Riley and Rick Cofer exceeded those expectations by a reasonable amount and in the end, they indeed are separated by no more than $10,000. Cofer was the last candidate in this race to announce, and with only 2 weeks to fundraise with Christmas killing about a week of that, nearly tieing Cavazos is worthy of note. I should clarify this point as all 3 candidates filed in the 2nd week of December. What I was trying to get at was that Chris was actively exploring this race and making calls months before he filed (I got an early call when I was in the Strama office before the November election) and Perla was actively talking about it in November, whereas I know Cofer didn't make the decision to run until the first week of December, shortly before he filed because he texted me about it.

Does this report create a frontrunner? I don't know. Last year, in the open Place 4 race, the first report went Morrison, Galindo, Cravey with $21k, $14k, and $12k. Randi Shade led incumbent Jennifer Kim $69k to $44k. Of course all of those were running earlier and in this period, the fundraising period was truncated by a presidential election, late filing, and a bad economy (even though the max contribution limit has increased from $300 to $350).

But if convention wisdom must be set, than I figure it's Cofer and Cavazos competing more with each other to secure a spot in a runoff with Chris Riley.

Place 5: This is all about Bill Spelman. Which is pretty easy to say since there is no sign of his "declared" regional opponent as of yet from Oak Hill. A lot of the same caveats apply as in the Place 5 race (Bill filed with about 3 weeks to fundraise) and it's a hard sell to get people to give you money when (at the time) there was no opponent. So this could end up like the Leffingwell-Meeker race in 2008. Lots of bluster from the 2nd tier candidate, but probably not a whole lot of electoral action with a healthy win.

Other Places: Mike Martinez doesn't have a declared opponent. Sam Osemene is running against Sheryl (he ran for Place 4 against Morrison/Galindo/Cravey last year) but he hasn't filed any report as he appointed his treasurer in January; but if he runs like last time, he won't be a factor other than a repository of votes for people who don't want to vote for Sheryl.

Here are some other interesting breakdowns.

Disclosure: I am listed as having donated $300 of in-kind website development services to the Spelman campaign.

Who's Who in the Austin City Council Races

by: Matt Glazer

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 01:30 PM CST

Team McCracken:

• Christian Archer: Bill White, Phil Hardberger, Mikal Watts, Dawnna Dukes '08 primary, Juan Garcia, Bexar County candidates, Julian Castro in 11/09, former Archer Nathan partner.
• William Yarnell: Patrick Rose, Hays County candidates, Capitol Lobbyist
• Mario Bravo: Juan Garcia campaign manager, Mikal Watts

Team Leffingwell (anticipated):

• David Butts: Every current and recent past City Council member but McCracken, every current and recent past County Commissioner, every current and recent past District Judge, most Austin ISD and ACC board members, Laura Morrison, Woodie Jones and Karen Huber in '08
• Mark Nathan: Every current City Council member but McCracken and Morrison, Bill White and Phil Hardberger (with Archer), Lloyd Doggett '04, Austin Bonds '06, Anti-Prop 1 & 2 '06, Anti-Prop. 2 '08, Travis Dem. Coordinated consultant '08, Randi Shade '08, frequent Butts partner, former Archer Nathan partner
• Nancy William: Leffingwell aide, former Executive Director of Texas Democratic Party, longtime local Democratic activist

Other key players expected to emerge after likely Leffingwell announcement in mid-January

Longtime labor activist Kitty Clark has been Lee's treasurer in '05 and '08 and will likely be again in '09

Team Levy (anticipated):

• Sandra Ramos: Kirk Watson, Travis Dem. Coordinated '06, Sarah Eckhart aide,  Started with Karen Huber '08.

There are also rumors that Jack Martin (Public Strategies) is involved in the campaign.

Team Keaton-Rylander-Strayhorn-McClellan (anticipated):
This one is more speculation and rumor than fact. We guess this will be a family affair and Scott and /or Dan McClellan will be involved. Thornton Keel has been CKRSM's campaign treasurer in the past and Louise Epstein is treasurer for CKRSM's "exploratory" committee.

Council Races:

Place 1 (Lee Leffingwell incumbent)

• Rick Cofer - manager David Nerio, consultant David Butts
• Chris Riley - manager Katherine Haenschen
• Perla Cavazos - manager Laurie Felker Jones
• Kathie Tovo - consultant Mark Yznaga

Place 2 (Mike Martinez incumbent)

• Mike Martinez - consultants David Butts and Mark Nathan

Place 5 (Brewster McCracken Incumbent)

• Bill Spelman - manager Ian Davis

Place 6 (Sheryl Cole Incumbent)

• Sheryl Cole - consultant David Butts
• Sam Osemene - unknown

On The San Antonio, Austin City Races

by: Matt Glazer

Fri Dec 19, 2008 at 10:09 AM CST

Across the state campaigns for city council and mayor are gearing up, and once the holiday cheer fades the spotlight will shine a little brighter on these men and women.

Here is a little holiday guide to what we already know about some key races.

Back in July, David discussed the future San Antonio Mayor's race. Super popular Mayor, Phil Hardberger is term limited, which usually creates the political climate apt for a lot of candidates to get in one race (just think U.S. Senate race if Kay Bailey steps down).

David wrote almost 5 months ago that Julián Castro, Diane Cibrian and Fernando Reyes were all eyeing the race.  

Speculation was almost proven right.  To date, PR consultant Trish DeBerry, Former Councilman Julian Castro, and Councilwoman Diane Cibrian have all entered the race.

Julian Castro is the favorite in this race.  

Castro first ran in 2005 and lost by about 3,000 votes after being down over 10,000 in Early Vote.  Castro closed the margin, ran a tough campaign, and made a strong case for his vision for the city and his qualification.  

Beyond campaign experience, Castro is the only candidate with a website and the site includes video endorsements from San Antonio State Senator Leticia Van de Putte and Henry Cisneros.   Two high profile endorsements in a low turnout election.

For more information about San Antonio politics and San Antonio races, visit Dig Deeper Texas and check out their fine work or the aptly titled San Antonio Mayor Blog.

While the race for Mayor of San Antonio seems cut and dry, the races in Austin seem to be crowded and confusing.

By statute, city council places 2, 5, 6, and the Mayor's office are all up and voters will have to cast a vote in all of them.  In addition to these , place 1 may be vacated by Lee Leffingwell if he chooses to run for Mayor.  This will create an interesting dynamic since the only two people not running and not on the ballot are newly elected council members Laura Morrison and Randi Shade.

While place 2 and 6 are on the ballot, no serious candidates have emerged to take on either Mike Martinez or Sheryl Cole.

In the place 5 race, Brewster McCracken's current seat, only one candidate has emerged,  former city council member and current UT Professor, Bill Spelman.

Spelman already appears to have a large and diverse coalition of supporters surrounding him.  It is hard to imagine any candidates trying to challenge Spelman and its even harder to imagine Spelman losing.

While places 2, 5, and 6 already seem to have front-runners, place 1 and the race for Mayor are totally up in the air.

The irony to this is, place 1 isn't on the ballot unless Lee Leffingwell decides to vacate it and run for Mayor and unless Lee runs for Mayor, a lot of candidates won't have a place to run.

Let's start with the assumption Lee Leffingwell runs for Mayor (as is suspected), then the place 1 race looks like it will be Chris Riley, Perla Cavazos, Rick Cofer, and Kathy Tovo.  Not quite as easy to manage as the place 5 race, but still interesting.

As of today, only Chris Riley and Rick Cofer have websites.

This race nearly guarantees a runoff.  With four candidates who draw from 4 distinct, unique bases it hard to see how anyone will win this in the first round.  It also means endorsements and supporters will have a massive impact.  Not to mention the always-important fundraising numbers.   Unlike any other race, this one is wide open.

Of course, the campaign for place 1 hinges entirely on who runs for Mayor.

Already in the race is Brewster McCracken.  Carole Strayhorn is "exploring" as is Mike Levy.  That leaves Lee Leffingwell who is being  "drafted" by Austinites but is likely in.

Even in the exploring phase, Strayhorn's past is hurting her.   It's hard to see how Strayhorn wins even with a small, more conservative electorate.  As KT once pointed out, looking at her Governors bid, her base is 21% of the general election vote. This electorate will be closer to 50,000 people and even with a smaller voting population its hard to see how Strayhorn gets to 50% plus 1.

Especially with Mayor Pro Tem McCracken running and former Texas Monthly editor Mike Levy.

While the field is predictably crowded, it is also diverse.  No two candidates appear to have similar backgrounds or messages.  Leffingwell and McCracken get close, but their priorities in the council have differed.  Leffingwell has been an environmental leader and Brewster has focused on women's issues.  It's an over simplification, but shows the contrast in policy priorities.

If Facebook groups and supporter lists are any indication on who the front runners are, this race is between Leffingwell and McCracken.

All in all, the city council races look to be very interesting this year.

Rick Cofer Files for Austin City Council

by: colin

Wed Dec 17, 2008 at 06:40 PM CST

Many of you know Rick from his many community activities, public service, party activism and charity fundraising.

www.rickcofer.com

Rick serves as the vice chair for the City of Austin Solid Waste Advisory Commission, on the DNC, and on the organizing committee of the Austin MS Walk.

In short, Rick is running on what he calls the four E's:

(1) Ethics & Open Government
(2) Economy & Jobs
(3) Environment & Energy
(4) Equity & Social Justice

Great guy. Great platform. Great chance for young Democrats to get one of our own elected.

We hear a lot about developing a deep bench to give us options for higher office down the road.  This is where the rubber meets the road.

Full text of Rick's email after the jump.

DNCC Runup: Local Profiles

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 01:53 PM CDT

Also, Blogger Mean Rachel is on her way to Denver already, same flight as delegate Rep. Mark Strama according to her twitter.