Jan Soifer Elected Travis County Democratic Chair

by: Michael Hurta

Mon May 20, 2013 at 09:30 AM CDT

This meeting saw high turnout, as over 70 precinct chairs were present to choose their new leader. Congressman Lloyd Doggett and Senator Kirk Watson were present, too.

Both Doggett and Watson expressed their gratitude for outgoing chair Andy Brown's hard and diligent work. For that work, that CEC would pass a unanimous resolution praising Andy Brown for his service to the party.

Doggett and Watson also expressed their support for Jan Soifer. Soifer was the only candidate nominated to fill the role in an interim basis -- there will be a full election in the March primary -- and she was elected by acclimation.

Soifer is currently a Democratic precinct chair. She's a practicing attorney who has been long involved in Democratic politics in Austin. Like Andy Brown, who lost an election to a different political office before running for Chair, Soifer's involvement includes a run for District Judge in 2004. Her experience will undoubtedly help her in the chair's most frequent and important function - raising money for the Travis County Democratic Party. The transition is already off to a good start in that manner, as Kirk Watson handed over a $15,000 party right before Soifer was elected.

Soifer started immediately, as she chaired the rest of this May's CEC meeting. In remarks to the precinct chairs, she enumerated several immediate goals: continue the party's solid fundraising immediately, recruit more precinct chairs (over half many of the county's precincts are without Democratic chairs), and finally hire a full-time Executive Director to replace former ED Laura Hernandez.

Soifer is the first female chair of the Travis County Democratic Party in over three decades, and she plans to run in the 2014 primary to finish the term.

9:37 pm 5/20 Correction: The original posting said that over half of the county's precincts were without Democratic precinct hairs. That is not correct. Depending on semantics, one might be able to say that almost half were without chairs -- but the CEC approved about 15 new chairs on Sunday.
Clarification: While Andy Brown ran for HD48 in 2006, he dropped out and endorsed Donna Howard, but too late to take his name off of the primary ballot.  

McClendon: The People Deserved a Fair Public Hearing of the Exoneration Review Commission Bill

by: Michael Hurta

Sun May 19, 2013 at 00:00 PM CDT

Read on to see this week's op-ed from Representative Ruth Jones McClendon.

PPP Polls: Ted Cruz a Top 6 GOP Contender for 2016

by: Michael Hurta

Fri May 17, 2013 at 08:00 AM CDT

From PPP Polls' new survey:

PPP's monthly look at the 2016 Republican field for President finds essentially a 4 way tie at the top- Marco Rubio has 16%, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie 15% each, and Rand Paul 14%. Paul Ryan at 9%, Ted Cruz at 7%, Rick Santorum at 5%, Bobby Jindal at 3%, and Susana Martinez at 1% round out the potential candidates we tested.

So 6th place and 7%. On first glance, that's unimpressive, but Ted Cruz has actually put himself in a fantastic position to run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016 should he choose to do so. Read on for that analysis.

Carlos Uresti: Testing and curriculum changes present benefits and challenges for students

by: Michael Hurta

Sun May 12, 2013 at 04:30 PM CDT

Click below the fold to read Senator Uresti's column.

José Rodríguez: A Win for El Paso

by: Michael Hurta

Sun May 05, 2013 at 00:00 PM CDT

With his bill now passed by both the Texas Senate and the Texas House, Senator Rodríguez is declaring a victory for El Paso and its entire legislative delegation at the capitol.

Find out why below the fold.  

Matt Angle: On Redistricting, It's About Morality

by: Michael Hurta

Sun May 05, 2013 at 10:00 AM CDT

In today's first Sunday Opinion, strategist Matt Angle gives yet another reason why the so-called leaders of Texas just need to stop meddling.

Read below the fold to get the latest.

Pete Gallego's Remarks at Immigration Panel

by: Michael Hurta

Tue Apr 30, 2013 at 08:00 AM CDT

In Gallego's opening remarks, he spoke of the modern American Dream. In his speech, he told the story of Josue Obregon, a Retired United States Marine Corporal:

This is a story from Del Rio, Texas. Retired United States Marine Corporal Josue Obregon filed a petition for his wife Estéfania who still lived in Ciudad Acuña. The young couple was expecting their first child- when she suffered from an internal cyst which would require a blood transfusion.

She could not get the appropriate medical treatment in Mexico. And even though Mrs. Obregon had been approved for a spousal visa, it was still "being processed."  

She would not be allowed to come to the United States to get the treatment she and her unborn child needed without an emergency visa.

Read the rest of the Obregons' story and Congressman Gallego's speech below the fold.

New Texas Democratic Party Executive Director: Will Hailer

by: Michael Hurta

Thu Apr 25, 2013 at 09:00 AM CDT

Will comes to Texas from Minnesota where he served as Campaign Manager and later District Director for Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05).  Prior to that he served as Director of Development for the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus, where he raised millions of dollars for the caucus and their candidates and he has worked in various leadership positions for the Democratic House Caucus in Minnesota.

Will got his political start doing grassroots community organizing with the late Senator Paul Wellstone.  From that beginning he has been active in the campaigns of hundreds of Democratic candidates in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Virginia.  He is a veteran of recounts of Al Franken and Mark Dayton among others and has done caucus organizing work for the Dean, Edwards, and Clinton campaigns as well as several gubernatorial and congressional candidates.

Will has the experience, energy and ideas to help turn Texas Blue and the TDP looks forward to his leadership.  His start date with the Party will be April 25 but he will be around this weekend at the Equality Forward Summit, so those of you in attendance take the time to meet him and welcome him to Texas.

Will has undoubtedly already realized that there's much work to do. But Texas will only gain from more experienced hands on deck. Between TDP's revival, Battleground Texas, and more; we might actually see a Blue officeholder before this decade's end.

Follow Will on Twitter @willhailer! And click below the fold to read TDP's full email.

Suit Filed to Remove Lehmberg; Next Move for Judge & Escamilla

by: Michael Hurta

Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 05:42 PM CDT

From the KXAN story:

An Austin lawyer is asking the courts to removed Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg from office, saying her arrest last weekend on a drunken driving charge undermined her abilities as a prosecutor. "As a prosecutor with other 35 years of experience prosecuting drunk drivers, Lehmberg was well aware of the extreme danger of getting behind the wheel of a car intoxicated and driving it at night on a public road," Kerry O'Brien said in his petition to the district courts of Travis County. "Lehmberg violated the public trust, demeaned her office and created a substantial risk of injury to others." The petition from O'Brien, an employment attorney who owns his own law firm, was filed with the courts on Tuesday and cites Lehmberg's own letter to the courts saying that she planned to plead guilty. O'Brien specifically asks the court to temporarily remove Lehmberg while a case is prepared to have her permanently stripped of her office.

In Travis County, however, the District Attorney's office doesn't prosecute most DWI offenses, misdemeanors handled instead by the County Attorney's office.

Below the jump, watch Harold Cook explain that and other problems with Lehmberg leaving office.

Annise Parker Calls for CSN Houston Summit

by: Michael Hurta

Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM CDT

The Burnt Orange Report readers who root for a Houston team or two may be frustrated that they cannot see their favorite baseball, football, or soccer team on television.

The Houston Rockets, the Houston Astros, and NBC Sports started a Houston-based sports network six months ago, the Comcast Sports Network - Houston, and the network shows Houston Dynamo games, as well. But the network is available only on Comcast, owned by NBC. Comcast does not even cover a majority of Houston (not to mention Austin or other nearby markets with fans).

Mayor Parker, hoping to help remedy the situation, today called for a summit with the local television providers and CSN Houston. Read on to learn about the proposed summit and its chances of success.