Dawnna Dukes Sticks With Craddick

by: Unnamed Source

Wed May 23, 2007 at 09:34 AM CDT

She cited her success on measures offering incentives to companies to make movies and TV shows...

The Statesman follows up on our reporting on the Speakers Race.  Not even Lucio III or Rose are naive enough to stick with this sinking ship.  If Dukes wants to represent the entertainment industry instead of the people of Austin, then step down and get out of the way.  It is time for a new rep in House District 46.

Keep in mind that her district vote Radnofsky over Hutchison 70% to 30%.  Gilbert vs. Staples 75% to 25%.

Pink Dome calls it like they see it.

Craddick D's Want New Leadership

by: Unnamed Source

Tue May 22, 2007 at 06:10 PM CDT

Rose was given the charimanship of Human Services after giving a stunning speech blaming Democrats for failing to work with Craddick in the 79th Session and Interim. Now he has changed his tune.

I respect the Speaker and his family but I believe the House has to be governed from the middle.

The drumbeat is getting louder as the day progresses.

Some Thoughts on TX-23

by: Unnamed Source

Mon Aug 28, 2006 at 04:07 PM CDT

Ciro Rodriguez: Four-term Congressman, Two-time loser.  No one knows how much money he actually has.  On his initial March 30 reports, he showed over 300k.  Ciro then filed a correction that showed him 80k in the hole.  It's like seeing my bank statement on the 1st and then looking at it again on the 2nd.

He's never had to win a race by even remotely trying to attract Republicans.  Yeah... that could be a problem.  Big turning point for Ciro will come this Thursday at the SA AFL-CIO meeting.  Labor has always been his biggest supporter. If they won't hop in this time around, that's the ballgame for Ciro.

Everyone in his base (southside SA/Bexar County)- regardless if they love or hate him- is saying, "Again?!?!" when told Ciro is running... um... again.

Already going negative against the rest of the Dems.  Will do what it takes to win, which is a good thing, unfortunately for Ciro and his campaign staff that means turning it into a intraparty fight- one that they'll all have to engage in since Ciro is the most credible and recognizable candidate right now- which would let Bonilla cruise on by everyone to a November 7 win.

Highest name ID, but crappy campaign staff.  Probably the best shot out of all the Democrats to take 2nd and go to a run-off with Bonilla.  Worst candidate to send up against Bonilla.  Bonilla. will. kill. him.

Albert Uresti:  Thinks his brother's support will transfer over to him seamlessly.  Doesn't really have a clue about the vast expanse of space there is between him working on his brother's campaign and actually running himself.

Where does he get his money from?

Nice guy but that and 50 bucks will buy you a tall cup of joe at Starbuck's.

Look for him to finish 4th... maybe 3rd if he's lucky.

Lukin Gilliland:  Lotsa money.  But trying to get Dem votes in Latino areas when he's running up against people with names like Bonilla, Beltran, Rodriguez and Uresti.

What do you think Senora Garcia in Eagle Pass is going to do when presented with a list like that?  Unless Gilliland empties out his pockets it's gonna be tough for him to push past Ciro.

500k is alot of money, but it's just a drop in the bucket for him.  If he really wanted to, he could fund this entire campaign out of his pocket.  That would hurt him financially, but he could do it.

One other thing to remember.  Don't know where the millionaire's clause threshold exactly is (the clause that says that if an independently wealthy candidate spends, say, over $400k of his own money the rest of the candidates in the race can go back to their maxed out donors and solicit another 2,100 from them) but I think Gilliland may have passed it already.

Which means Bonilla's kitty probably just jumped 300k with that clause alone.  Not a good thing.  Also, did anyone ever figure out if these candidates can resolicit donors again because it's a special election? That would suck if they could.

Still, the most intriguing of the bunch if he can get past non-Hispanic surname.  But you could drive a truck through that if.

Rick Bolanos:  This guy's a joke.  For all of his high-falutin' endorsements, my dog could've raised more money than he did in 10 months.  As a matter of fact, I think she did.

Playing for last.

Augie Beltran:  For those of you who made it all the way down here, boy have I got a treat for you.

Mr. Beltran is what they call in San Antonio a, coyote.  A 'political operative', and I use that term extremely loosely to describe these guys who will work for whomever pays them the most money regardless of party, who has done work for people like Henry Cuellar in Bexar County (Hey, he went from losing 4:1 in Bexar County to 3:1 in those exact same spots!) and most recently for Republican State Rep candidate George Antuna.

The funny thing is, I think he could outpoll Bolanos and the Independent.  How would you be able to move on from there?
There's also reports that Bonilla's people are donating to him just so they can have one more Dem on the ballot this November. Fantastic.

Needless to say, I believe, that if you wanted to give Bonilla this district and then stack him up against the worst possible opponents and almost assure him of re-election- save Gilliland- you couldn't have done much better than this.

I think it's wait til '08 in 23.

What do you think?

HD-33: Who Will Rise to Replace Luna?

by: Unnamed Source

Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 02:52 PM CDT

Also expected to seek the nomination for District 33 is Danny Noyola, Sr., a community leader and high school administrator. Noyola was recently ousted as principal of problem-ridden Miller High School in Corpus Christi. He took over the school deemed "low-performing" by the federal government and made little progress during his tenure. He served only one year in his position before being "re-assigned" to an assistant principal position at neighboring Moody High School. Several teachers disapproved of his leadership style and the cause for his demotion is still unclear.

Noyola, Sr. has been active throughout the community. He has served as President of the Corpus Christi Barrios Association, a neighborhood improvement organization. His brother Jesse Noyola is a powerful City Councilman and his son Danny Noyola, Jr. was recently elected to the State Democratic Executive Committee for SD 20.

It is also worth noting that Noyola is disliked by many in the Corpus community for his support of Republican candidates in several races. They include Mayor Loyd Neal and County Commissioner Joe McComb.

The seat has no Republican challenger for the November election. Since the 45 precinct chairs of the 33rd State House District will decide the person to replace Luna on the ballot, that group will basically be selecting Corpus Christi’s newest State Representative. The only other way to win the seat would be a well-orchestrated write-in campaign.

The vote has yet to be called by Nueces County Chair Alex Garcia. It should be close. Solomon Ortiz, Jr. is respected throughout the community and knows many of the precinct chairs from his role as County Chair. Noyola knows many of the precinct chairs himself., including his wife Precinct 116 Chair Alma Noyola.

Incidentally, outgoing State Rep. Vilma Luna works for trial lawyer Mikal Watts in Corpus Christi. He has emerged as a powerful player in South Texas politics and will likely seek the Presidency of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association during the next election. He has funded Luna extensively over the years, as well as County and State House candidates in this election cycle. At this point, it is unclear who Mikal Watts supports, but his opinion most definitely matters to candidates seeking the election in District 33.