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stonewall democrats 
Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 01:21 AM CST
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Last night the Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus (ALGPC) and Stonewall Democrats of Austin (SDA) made their endorsements for the upcoming Primary elections. The endorsements were as follows (endorsements were the same for both clubs except as noted):
US House of Representatives CD10 - Ted Ankrum
US House of Representatives CD21 - Lainey Melnick
US House of Representatives CD25 - Lloyd Doggett
Governor - Bill White
Lt. Gov - Ronnie Earle
Attorney General - Barbara Ann Radnofsky
Agriculture Commissioner - Hank Gilbert
Land Commissioner - Hector Uribe
Railroad Commissioner - Jeff Weems
SBOE District 5 - Rebecca Bell-Metereau
SBOE District 10 - Judy Jennings
State Rep District 48 - Donna Howard
State Rep Distict 49 - Elliott Naishtat
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals - Kurt Kuhn
Judge, 147th District - Cliff Brown
Judge, 201st District - Amy Clark Meachum
Judge, 299th District - Karen Sage (SDA)
Judge, 299th District (dual) - Karen Sage, Mindy Montford (ALGPC)
Judge, 331st District - David Crain
Judge, 353rd District - Tim Sulak
Travis County District Clerk - Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza
Travis County Clerk - Dana Debeauvoir
Travis County Treasurer - Dolores Ortega Carter
Commissioner Precinct 2 - Sarah Eckhardt
Commissioner Precinct 4 (dual) - Raul Alvarez, Margaret Gomez
County Court at Law 3 - John Lipscombe
County Court at Law 6 - Brandy Mueller
JP, Precinct 1 - Daniel Bradford
JP, Precinct 2 - Karin Crump
JP, Precinct 3 - Susan Steeg
JP, Precinct 5 - Herb Evans
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Thu Dec 17, 2009 at 00:30 PM CST
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
The Dickens line seems appropriate as Bexar County Democratic Party (BCDP) makes history and faces strife going into 2010.
History was made as Bexar County appointed a new chair to take the lead of BCDP. Roberto Flores' selection makes him the first openly gay chair of the local party. He is a proven leader with in the LGBT community and Democratic party and has shown an ability to put together strong coalitions across the county.
Flores has been serving as co-chairman of the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio. The group was founded in 2000 and became hyper organized during the No Nonsense in November campaign in 2005 as Flores and his partner Dan Graney were instrumental in organizing San Antonio.
The reason for the pre-election appointment is due to the fact, recent chairwoman Carla Vela, has decided to run for Bexar County clerk.
While we would normally celebrate this historic move in Bexar County and the continued growth of BCDP, Flores is met head on with immediate challenges.
As outgoing chair of the party described the current situation, it is a "terrible day for Democrats".
The San Antonio Express News is reporting, Dwayne E. Adams, took over $200,000 from the local party over the last year. The accounts were exclusively used for primary elections and party operations.
Carla Vela - who resigned as chairwoman Tuesday night because she intends to run for Bexar County clerk - said Treasurer Dwayne E. Adams, 54, took funds over the past several months from a Compass Bank account that the party uses exclusively for primary elections.
She also said Adams dipped into the party's operating account, which now is overdrawn.
Vela said the party pressed charges Wednesday against Adams with the district attorney's office.
Adams could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
While this is a tough time for the local party, the amount of progress it has made in the past decade and the infrastructure the Bexar County Democratic Party has put together is impressive.
When Carla Vela took over the party in 2006, former Chair Rudy Casias had dismantled the party with a total lack of leadership.
When Vela took office the following year, the party was nearly penniless and without a headquarters. The chairman she replaced, Rudy Casias, had fought almost ceaselessly with the party's County Executive Committee, leaving the organization shot through with internecine strife.
As a general note, it doesn't appear Adam's trail of lies and deception end with his work at the Bexar County Democratic Party.
Bexar County Democrats aren't the only associates of Adams feeling burned. Nabil Jadallah, former owner of the Bandera Shell convenience store at Bandera Road and Loop 410, said he sold the business to Adams in May. Jadallah said Adams owes him $45,000 in rent and almost $5,000 in unpaid bills.
Jadallah said he evicted Adams from the property in October and subsequently filed a lawsuit against him in small claims court.
As the party resolves the ongoing situation, it is still in a better spot than 2006. There is a headquarters. There is infrastructure. There are loyal, well organized Democrats. There is a commitment to win and work together.
Luckily, the new, historic chairman is also a qualified and committed leader. The appointment of Roberto Flores seems both fortuitous and timely.
Please help the Bexar County Democratic Party get back on their feet and prepare for 2010 today. Please consider making a secure donation, via ActBlue, today.
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Fri Jun 06, 2008 at 01:43 PM CDT
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Some may call it atonement, making amends, expressing regret, or otherwise. But whatever it was, Rep. Patrick Rose's brief speech to the Stonewall Democrats caucus brought the room to rapt attention and complete silence. He went straight to the point in his remarks.
In 2005 I made a terrible mistake. I supported Robert Talton's amendment to the foster bill...
Wow. He commented on how his vote was uneducated, uninformed, and unworthy of defense. It was a sincere statement, and if you look at these things in purely political terms (yeah, we know you're out there), you can view it as a needed statement both for the community and obviously for any future elections.
In other caucus news, openly gay Houston City Councilwoman and DNC member Sue Lovell spoke. She commented on her DNC seat in that she had an opponent (also from Houston and African American I think) and asked members to stick with her community. Interestingly, Rep. Terri Hodge (who is African American) spoke after her and make a point to endorse Sue saying she was being "unfairly" challenged. Of course, I don't think there is anything as a "fair" or "unfair" challenge for DNC seats as many of the people that hold them feel more entitled to the title and the ticket to the national convention than actually doing anything productive with it.
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Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 04:44 PM CDT
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The Austin Lesbian & Gay Political Caucus along with the Stonewall Democrats met last week and have endorsed the following candidates in the Austin City Council races.
ALGPC
Place 1 - Lee Leffingwell
Place 3 - Randi Shade
Place 4 - Laura Morrison
Stonewall Democrats
Place 3 - Randi Shade
Place 4 - Laura Morrison
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Fri Jul 20, 2007 at 09:45 PM CDT
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The Young Democrats of America convention provides ample learning experiences for all parties involved, but it also provides ample partying after the convention convenes for the day. The nightlife is always part of a good convention and provides some quality schmoozing time.
Thursday night was a gay night out for me. It was quite happy, and at the same time it involved the GLBT community. I had the pleasure of being invited to a GLBT meet and greet function at Bronx Bar & Grill for US Senate exploring candidate State Representative Rick Noriega. This would be my first opportunity to meet Mr. Noriega, so I gladly attended at the bequest of former State Representative, and now candidate for Travis County Tax Assessor, Glen Maxey. Other notables in attendance were Stonewall Democrats of Dallas County President Jesse Garcia, Stonewall Young Democrats of Dallas President Paul Tran, LULAC Dallas Rainbow Council VP Arturo Rivas, and representatives from the HRC, as well as the national Stonewall Democrats.
In a very warm room, both emotionally and temperature wise, Dallas’s finest GLBT activists crammed in to listen to an ally. I was very impressed to find that Mr. Noriega is a strong supporter of the gay community and has no problem stating so. During his speech he laid out why he should be our next Senator and what would change on his watch. In reference to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, the Afghanistan war veteran said, “I didn’t once look to my left or to my right on Jalalabad Road and worry about my fellow soldiers’ sexual orientation. My only worry was if they could fire their weapon.”
I had a chance to speak with Mr. Noriega for a few moments before his next event and I asked him if there was one thing he did not say in his speech or that he hasn’t said that needs to out in the blogosphere what it would be. “Happy birthday to my wife Melissa. I love you and I am sorry I didn’t get the chance to wish you well on your birthday,” sincerely stated the Representative, with the hopes of being let out of the dog house. Of course we had a second conversation which was a little more serious. “I am very flattered,” he said when I asked how much influence the campaign to draft him to run for Senate had on his decision.
I also had the chance to sit down with a small group of folks, which included Democratic candidate for US Congressional District 4, Glen Melancon, and automated calling guru, Ron Turner. Mr. Melancon told me is running again in 2008 against Congressman Ralph Hall so he can keep the momentum from 2006 going. Later in our conversation he said we needed to “get out the simple message of ‘the government serves you’ [the voter].”
Killing time in the “gayborhood” is quite easy, and something I had to do with two hours between events. Discussing life and events with the previously mentioned group took up a good chunk of time for me. Another hour was spent eating a deliciously prepared Brazilian chicken sandwich at Café Brazil. There is nothing quite like a large sub roll to soak up your whiskey sours from Bronx.
The 10 o’clock hour rolled around and I rolled my humidity laden body over to the nightclub Havana. The Stonewall Democrats hosted a mixer for the GLBT caucus of the Young Democrats of America. I met back up with Jesse, Arturo, and new friend Shannon Williamson. A much larger crowd enjoyed drinks and a buffet as Dallas’s finest gay officials took the floor to say a few words, as we watched from the big kids table. Sheriff Lupe Valdez, Dallas County Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons, and County Judge Jim Foster were all mingling with youngsters from around the country. Former Mayor Pro Tem John Loza welcomed “all of ya’ll to Dallas” and made sure to point out that having as many gay officials as the city does that it springs hope that Dallas will continue its claim as the “lavender heart of Texas.” My new colleague Shannon said she thought that “momentum was building” for the community, as well as for the social event we were witnessing. As a former Green Party member, she did seem disappointed we were stuck with our two party system in this country, but also realized that joining forced with Democrats was the right thing to do at this time in her life.
Throughout the evening, I learned in addition to my own endeavor of forming the Stonewall Democrats of Denton County this August, Paul Tran would also be attempting to form a Stonewall Young Democrats group at the University of North Texas in Denton, and Kris Banks just started a Stonewall Young Democrats of Houston. The youth movement is strong in this country, and especially strong among the gay community in Texas, as evident by last evening’s events.
Pictures from the Noriega event can be found here.
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Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 05:57 PM CDT
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October 11th is National Coming Out Day and Stonewall Democrats of Williamson County is coming out in support of Our Democratic Candidates. We will meet from 7 PM till... with as many candidates or representatives from different campaigns as we can get to attend.
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 at 07:36 PM CDT
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The Stonewall Democrats of Williamson County had their first meeting on August 17th. After electing officers for the next two years, a motion was made for the club to raise funds for yard signs saying "VOTE DEMOCRAT" and donate them to the county party to help energize the Democrats in Williamson County.
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