Democracy for Texas Announces US Senate Primary Poll

by: BOR

Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 03:21 PM CDT

The is really pretty amazing and speaks to the excitment and importance of the U.S. Senate race in re-energizing Texas Democrats. Democracy for Texas (DFT), founded out of the Dean for Texas movement, is conducting a poll of its membership and the wider left-of-center community here in Texas about who to endorse in the U.S. Senate race.

DFT has received in-depth responses from both campaigns- some of the first on the record statements about a variety of issues. BOR will be exploring these more in days to come though they are linked below if you'd like to start reading them now.  

The following went up on the DFT website this afternoon. 

John Cornyn has been on the wrong side of countless issues that are critical to Texans in general and DFT supporters in particular. Beyond that, well, he’s just an embarrassment. But we’re not telling you something you didn’t already know, right?

Democracy for Texas has never endorsed a candidate for public office. But this race is too important to the future of our state and our country not to put all of our resources behind the candidate we feel best represents our “socially progressive, fiscally responsible” philosophy.

Two candidates - State Representative Rick Noriega and Mikal Watts - are running to be the Democratic nominee to oppose Cornyn.  Which one should get DFT’s support?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Both candidates submitted answers to a DFT Issues Questionnaire, linked below.

Rick Noriega’s Issues Questionnaire Response

Mikal Watts’s Issues Questionnaire Response

Watts for Supreme Court, Noriega for Railroad Commissioner?

by: BOR

Sat Jul 07, 2007 at 06:45 PM CDT

Charles Kuffner, Hal, and McBlogger make some great points about the silliness of some people's calls for Rick Noriega, candidate for US. Senate to run for some other office, like Railroad Commissioner (huh?) or Sen. Mario Gallegos state senate seat.

Sen. Mario Gallegos, who risked his health this session to defeat the Voter ID bills, has publicly responded to these 'whispers' directly.

Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said he took great exception to comments Maldonado made to a reporter that state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, should forsake a possible bid for the U.S. Senate and instead announce for the Texas Senate when Gallegos retires.

"I think Juan Maldonado is full of the Christmas turkey," Gallegos said. "For him to tell Rick to step aside and where to run, and for him to talk about what should happen in Harris County politics, that is strange. I do not tell Maldonado what to do in South Texas."

...

Gallegos said he was backing Noriega for U.S. Senate. An announcement that Noriega is setting up an exploratory committee could come next week.

"I think you are looking at the next U.S. senator from Texas in Rick Noriega," Gallegos said. "Rick has already talked to his colleagues in the House and a lot of people have called him and encouraged him to run. I think he will beat Mikal Watts and anybody else in the Democratic primary and then we will see what goes happens further down the road."

Gallegos is right- candidates should run for the offices they want to and best match their abilities and Noriega's are certainly more applicable to US Senate than Railroad Commissioner of all things. The whispers in South Texas aren't driven out of concern for matching candidates backgrounds for electoral office (if they were, they might be urging attorney Mikal Watts to run for one of the multiple statewide judicial offices for which only Judge Susan Criss has announced).

So enough of this silly rumor-mongering based upon $$$ and posturing. We have John Cornyn to beat.