Texas Megathread

[badgate]

Got some good reads for y'all.



1. A local Tea Party leader has denounced an opposing candidate for being METHODIST.
Ft. Worth Telegram - In Grapevine, a Tea Party Leader says no to - Methodists?
http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02/20/5587683/in-grapevine-a-tea-party-leader.html?storylink=addthis#.UwdYgTQVPFN.twitter&rh=1


2. Texas Monthly takes stock of the Davis campaign's improvements moving past the flap over her bio and subsequent issues w/ the press. This piece more than any before it shows that it's the people around the candidate who have caused the problems.
Texas Monthly - Behind The Curtain With Wendy Davis
http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/behind-curtain-wendy-davis?fullpage=1


3. Primarying U.S. Senators may be going out of vogue, but here in DFW we are seeing one of the most contentious primaries for a state senate district. Yeah.
Texas Tribune - Carona, Huffines Face Off in Contentious SD-16 Primary
https://www.texastribune.org/2014/02/21/attacks-not-issues-propel-district-16-senate-race/



4. Now that Ted Nugent has apologized for his remark about President Obama, Greg Abbott desperately wants the press to stop running stories about his ill-fated campaign stops with the rocker. We can bet that Abbott is going to sleep tonight thanking God that Nugent hasn't said anything awful about Wendy Davis.
San Antonio Express News - Nugent Apologizes, Abbott Wants to Move On
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-politics/2014/02/nugent-apologizes-abbott-wants-to-move-on/



5. James O'Keefe has released a new video, this one centering on what legal experts agree is a small grey area in our state's unnecessarily complicated voter registration laws. More than drawing negative press to BGTX, this has driven attention to the possibility of Greg Abbott, as AG, investigating his political enemies, questions about wether Abbott's volunteers are doing the same thing as BGTX, and the fact that Texas law makes it complicated to register people to vote.
http://www.texastribune.org/2014/02/20/brief/
Texas Tribune The Brief: Another O'Keefe Video Drops on BGTX

[Badger]

Badger, I'm NOT trolling you uppity agitator

That's about as trollish a way one could put it.

Thanks for the sig material though.

[Vega]

So... do we think that Dewhurst will win re-election?

[badgate]

So... do we think that Dewhurst will win re-election?

No, I don't. Whoever wins second in the March 4 primary will win the runoff. Things could happen, though, but if the current status quo remains that's how I see it playing out.

[bluedogsam]

i hope Abbott wins it all

[TX Conservative Dem]

Y'all don't think Dewhurst has a shot of securing a 4th term?

I'm pulling for him to get his 5th statewide victory overall.

[free my dawg]

Y'all don't think Dewhurst has a shot of securing a 4th term?

I'm pulling for him to get his 5th statewide victory overall.

Nope. The Tea Party is too strong here.

[RTX]

Given the recent poll, any predictions on a Cornyn vs. Rogers matchup? I'd say Cornyn 68% to 30%.

And...

1. Could Rogers pick up a significant number Tea Party supporters who like her strong Impeach Obama platform, along with anti-Cornyn backlash?

2. Will Cornyn pick up any large Democrat counties like El Paso, Dallas, Travis, or some of the Rio Grande Valley counties?

[Indy Texas]

Given the recent poll, any predictions on a Cornyn vs. Rogers matchup? I'd say Cornyn 68% to 30%.

And...

1. Could Rogers pick up a significant number Tea Party supporters who like her strong Impeach Obama platform, along with anti-Cornyn backlash?

2. Will Cornyn pick up any large Democrat counties like El Paso, Dallas, Travis, or some of the Rio Grande Valley counties?

1. No.

2. He'd win Dallas County and maybe Travis if a bunch of Democrats decide to vote Green or Libertarian. (That's usually what has happened if a Republican has won Travis County in a statewide race.) El Paso and the Rio Grande counties will vote Democratic no matter who the nominee is; they are simply reflexive Democrats out of force of habit. Even Kay Bailey Hutchison, a sort-of-moderate Republican with broad crossover appeal, only barely carried Webb County in 2000 against a placeholder Democratic candidate. And when George W. Bush had his two-to-one landslide reelection in 1998, he barely made a dent in the Valley and only barely carried El Paso County after pouring a ton of money into it.

[TX Conservative Dem]

I think Alameel wins the Democratic nomination due to running TV ads.

Cornyn will kick his ass in November, here's how I think folks will vote:
Anglos will be 72-28 in Cornyn's favor.
African Americans 87-13 in Alameel's favor
Latinos 65-35 in Alameel's favor.

[badgate]

I've only seen a few TV ads: Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, and David Dewhurst.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Other TV ads I've seen for statewide offices include:

Cornyn-U.S. Senator
Opiela -Agriculture Commissioner
Hegar-Comptroller
Smitherman and Paxton -State Attorney General
Hecht-Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court

[Kushahontas]

I've seen Cornyn, Paxton, Branch, Patrick, Smitherman, Hegar, Dewhurst, Hilderbran, Patterson, and Alameel (lol)

[Indy Texas]

Abbott's Wife Now in Political Fray (Texas Tribune)

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Hmmm, well Greg, if you don't want to be accused of using your Latina wife as a political prop, maybe you should stop referring to her as your Latina wife. My mother does not refer to my father as her Arab husband. My father does not refer to my mother as his WASP wife. Did you marry her in a Latina wedding? When you go on vacation together, is it Latina vacation? When she makes dinner, is it Latina dinner?

The Republicans need to decide whether or not it's okay to talk about race. When a Democrat talks about race, their response is, "We don't see color! We're all 'Muricans! Stop using divisive race-baiting!" But somehow trotting your "Latina wife" around is perfectly acceptable. Next thing you know he'll be making Cecilia Abbott do a full Carmen Miranda at campaign events...

[badgate]

I dunno about the prop thing, it sounds to me when reading it that he's referring to the setting of the campaign stop: a Tex-Mex restaurant with predictable decor for that type of food.




I laughed at "When she makes dinner, is it Latina dinner?"

[Indy Texas]

I dunno about the prop thing, it sounds to me when reading it that he's referring to the setting of the campaign stop: a Tex-Mex restaurant with predictable decor for that type of food.




I laughed at "When she makes dinner, is it Latina dinner?"

I was thinking of something an LGBT friend posted on Facebook once that was like, "Stop calling it gay marriage. I just want to get married. I didn't have gay breakfast this morning. When I park my car, I don't gay park it."

[TX Conservative Dem]

Abbott has a right to be pissed.

[publicunofficial]

9 State House incumbents (7 Republicans, 2 Democrats) and 1 State Senate incumbent (1 Republican) were defeated in their primaries.



Also, that UT/TT poll was pretty garbage, as someone on DKE pointed out.

Rogers by 8? Losing by 26.
Dewhurst by 7? Losing by 13.
Medina by 13? Third place, losing by 30.
Branch by 4? Losing by 11.

[CatoMinor]

Last night was a win for the anti-toll road candidates, and it is always heartwarming to see Dewhurst go down in in flames. It still sucks though to see nearly every candidate I vote for lose.

[badgate]

I'm not crazy about toll roads but the solution isn't to elect anti-toll road candidates who have no interest in more Transportation dept. spending.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Abbott had 1 million votes in the GOP primary, while Davis had 400,000 votes in the Democratic primary: HORRIBLE numbers for a Democratic nominee.

[Vega]

Abbott had 1 million votes in the GOP primary, while Davis had 400,000 votes in the Democratic primary: HORRIBLE numbers for a Democratic nominee.

Considering that 20% of those who showed up voted for some guy who did not even run a strong campaign............ so............

[badgate]

So we have a website with info on Jim Hogan, who got first in the Dem Ag Commis race.

http://whoisjimhogan.tumblr.com

Seems like a stand up guy. #hoganfacts


Just admit it, you were going to Google Jim Hogan anyways. #hoganfacts
Jim Hogan also has some milk goats and some horses. #hoganfacts


Great site.

[badgate]

Abbott had 1 million votes in the GOP primary, while Davis had 400,000 votes in the Democratic primary: HORRIBLE numbers for a Democratic nominee.

Considering that 20% of those who showed up voted for some guy who did not even run a strong campaign............ so............

Yeah WTF with that. Our turnout problem imo was two-pronged: the voter ID law probably did deter people from coming out, and the contested races in our primary, nobody knew about. The state party didn't do much about the Ag or Senate primaries bc they thought it would work itself out (I don't know this for sure, that's just my guess based on the actions they took during primary season). So most people think "Well, I love Wendy, but she's unopposed and so is Leticia...I don't need to vote today".

Meanwhile every race on a Republican primary voter's ballot was contested. And every one of them was making headlines the last two months. So of course we're going to see a lot more people coming out in that primary.

As for turnout I am personally proud that in the county I live and have been volunteering in, Dem primary turnout was up 70+% from 2012.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Alarming news for the TX Democrats is that Davis lost several South Texas counties due to her Pro-Choice stance on the abortion controversy.