Early Vote Tomorrow Update: Endorsements, Endorsements, Who Got an Endorsement

Update:  How conservative a paper are you when you endorse Dan Patrick? Really Lubbock? From reading that paper's endorsement of Sam Houston, all Ken Paxton would have had to do was show up and he would have been endorsed.  Hell he probably could have driven by, waved, and still gotten the endorsement.

Most people who work on campaigns would probably agree that the larger the race (i.e., president), the less likely an endorsement from a newspaper matters.  It probably has a larger impact on those down ballot races that 1) nobody pays attention to and 2) the candidates don't have enough money to get their name before the voters.  Having seen candidates win a newspaper endorsement and lose, versus those who don't get the endorsement and win, it's easy to dismiss newspaper endorsements as a meaningless folly.  Having said that, campaigns being the competitive things they are, every candidate wants all the support they can get.

So how have these meaningless endorsements gone so far?  We'll update this list as more endorsements come in.

Governor
Wendy Davis (D): Austin American-Statesman, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Cosmopolitan, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News
Greg Abbott (R): Beaumont Enterprise, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Lt. Gov.
Leticia Van de Putte (D): Austin American-Statesman, Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, El Paso Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News
Dan Patrick (R): Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Attorney General
Sam Houston (D): Austin American-Statesman, Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, San Antonio Express-News
Ken Paxton (R):

Comptroller
Mike Collier (D): Austin American-Statesman, Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News
Glenn Hegar (R): Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Land Commissioner
John Cook (D):
George Bush (R): Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, San Antonio Express-News

Ag Commissioner
Jim Hogan (D):
Sid Miller (R): Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
No Endorsement: San Antonio Express-News

Railroad Commissioner
Steve Brown (D): Corpus Christi Caller-Times, San Antonio Express-News
Ryan Sitton (R): Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

U.S. Senate
David Alameel (D):
John Cornyn (R): Beaumont Enterprise, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News

Judicial Races Statewide:

Chief Justice, Supreme Court
William Moody (D):
Nathan Hecht (R): Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News

Supreme Court, Place 6
Lawrence Meyers (D):
Jeff Brown (R): Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News

Supreme Court, Place 7
Gina Benavides (D): Beaumont Enterprise, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News
Jeffrey Boyd (R): Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
John Granberg (D):
Bert Richardson (R): Beaumont Enterprise, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News

Locally, who has the San Antonio Express-News chosen?

If a Candidate Doesn't Show Up, is it still a Debate?

About a month ago the first debate in the Texas Governor's race was cancelled, but was eventually rescheduled.  This was after the debate was agreed to by both campaigns.

It seems to me that this particular election season has seen more than it's fair share of candidate scared to debate their opponents.  I see it coming more from the Republican side.  Maybe they're afraid to get fact checked on the air like Mitt Romney.  Hard to get away with a lie or two when you can't control the moderator.

In 2004, incumbent Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) failed to show up for a debate with his Democratic opponent, and the debate went on.

In Louisiana, the main Republican canidate, Bill Cassidy, skipped the first televised debate with incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-LA).  The debate went on.

This Friday in West Virginia there will be a U.S. Senate debate that the front runner, Republican Shelley Moore Capito, will be skipping.  The debate is scheduled to go on with the Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, and several minor party candidates.

Kudos to the Kentucky, Louisiana, and West Virginia media.  I think more candidates would stop this last minute cancelling if they knew that the debate was going to happen whether they show up or not.

The station in Dallas should have just gone ahead with the debate even if Wendy Davis was the only participant.

Updated: My Ballot for the Democratic Primary

So how did my ballot do?

Losses: 5
Wins: 7* (barring any changes with recounts)
Runoffs: 3

So 5 of my chosen candidates lost (Scherr, Fitzsimons, Canales, Petty, & Forbrich).  7 won (Davis, Brown, Green, Boyd, LaHood, Wolff, & Torres).  3 are going into runoffs (Bustamante, Scharf-Zeldes, Abundis-Esparza).
__________________________________________________________________________

For the contested races in my area, this is who will be getting my vote in the Democratic Primary:

U.S. Senate: Maxey Scherr
Governor: Wendy Davis
Agriculture Commissioner: Hugh Fitzsimons, III
Railroad Commissioner: Steve Brown
45th District Court: John Bustamante
150th District Court: Paul Canales
186th District Court: Mary Green
187th District Court: Stephanie Boyd
224th District Court: Michele Petty
D.A.: Nico LaHood
County Judge: Nelson Wolff
County Court #10: Tina Torres
Probate Court #1: Barbie Scharf-Zeldes
District Clerk: Elva Abundis-Esparza
County Clerk: Chris Forbrich

She's Gotten Under Their Skin

Wendy Davis must really have gotten under the skin of the Republicans.  They've attacked her bio, now riding in on his hobby horse is conservative porn pusher James O'Keefe.  I say conservative porn pusher, because his heavily edited videos send Republicans into fits of orgasmic ecstasy.

Jerry Jones: My Management Sucks, So Expand the Playoffs

Dallas Cowboys Owner, President, and General Manager Jerry Jones has come up with a new idea for the playoffs: expand the number of teams.  (Side question, how many titles is enough to satisfy his ego?)




As the CBS article points out:

And before you jump all over Jones for simply looking for a playoff loophole for the Cowboys, it's worth pointing out that even if the NFC had two more wild-card teams the last three seasons, Dallas still would have been on the outside looking in because of its middle-of-the-road record.

That being said, I can't help but think this is still Jones looking for a way to make up for his sucky management of the Cowboys.  Like Standard Oil, Jones has spread his tentacles into nearly every aspect of the team and to the detriment of the team.  To put it in a more modern context, he came in like a wrecking ball.

In 2012, PPP did a poll that included some tidbits on Jones:

Texas voters have a very negative opinion of Jerry Jones, with only 14% rating him favorably to 48% who hold a negative opinion. I'm pretty sure that -34 spread represents the worst poll numbers we've ever found for someone in Texas.

Prediction: If it was Jerry Jones versus Wendy Davis in 2014...Davis in a landslide.

Wendy or Greg? What Does History Say?

With the filing having concluded, we figured the good lot of you, like us, would find it interesting to know what steps our Governors took to become Governor. We looked at their political paths to see what road has been the most traveled to U-Haul it into the Governor’s Mansion.

In looking at the resumes under “Offices Held” for each governor before they won that seat, there was not one particular secret short-cut up the mountain to reach the summit, but there are some commonalities and patterns worth noting. (Of course, this doesn’t take into consideration other ginormous factors such as personal wealth and party affiliation.)

Most striking was the average number of elected positions held prior to their elections as governors. If you are advising your young protégé who you believe can become governor someday that they should run for a small local office first, then aim a little higher for Congress or the State Senate, then make a couple of pit-stops along the state-wide ballot, that path appears to be uncut—at least all the way to The Mansion. Take Carole-of-Many-Names, for instance, who served as President of the school board, Mayor of Austin, Railroad Commissioner and Comptroller—a successful career by all accounts, but not the trek to Governor.

Over Texas’s 166-year history, Texas Governors have held an average of only two elected posts (and we threw in Cabinet posts for good measure) before becoming Governor. With the advent of mass communications, that number has dwindled to 1.5 since John Connally. In fact, five governors never held a prior office. Too much time in the public eye may not be so helpful. Maybe a balance is needed. Voters and donors need to know your name, but you can out-stay your welcome with a slow ascent up the trail.

Which begs the question, which posts have these folks held? Predictably, Lt. Governor takes the cake with 11 governors moving from the number 2 slot on the ballot to number 1. Lite Gov is not so light with all that power to make and break laws, and when you run for office, you can practically say you have been Deputy Director of Vice Chair of the state—you’re ready.

In terms of the other non-lite-gov-offices that were the stepping stones right before the top we have a tie for second place: five men were Attorneys General and, to our surprise, five were state senators when they stepped up to the governor’s chair. After that, a couple held Cabinet posts, three were US Senators, a couple were members of Congress and a couple were Railroad Commissioners. Only one Mayor has ever been governor, John Ireland in 1883, and he served as a judge and in the State Legislature first. You are much more likely to be a governor if you have been a District Attorney—10 governors made that pit-stop along the way. 

In terms of professional backgrounds, 24 have been attorneys, 21 veterans and six ranchers, including Perry. After that, it’s a smattering.

Predictably, most (twenty-six to be exact) held a statewide office before they became Governor. But several statewide posts have never been a direct stepping stone to Governor: Agriculture Commissioner, Land Commissioner and Comptroller. While two have stepped up directly from Railroad Commissioner, it should be noted that the last was Beauford Jester in 1947 during the days that the Commission ultimately controlled worldwide oil production in the way OPEC does today.

In fact, nobody has ever held the positions of Land Commissioner nor Comptroller and been elected governor. The Railroad Commissioner position is a tricky one. Rick Perry is the only one who has been Agriculture Commissioner and, of course, he served as Lite Gov first.

But Good Hair may not be the last. There is something to be said about cutting a new path for others to follow. When you look at the governors’ histories, it’s interesting to note a possible pattern that we are coining as “consecutivity.” (Unlike Palin and Bush, we know we’re making this one up.)

While the paths do differ, there have been some whose paths have been identical or near-identical. There is the oh-so-popular Lt. Governor/Texas Senate path that four governors traversed. An equally popular and less predictable path that four more governors traveled is the Attorney General/District Attorney avenue. The fact that Jim Hogg and Charles Culberson both served in these positions before winning their races for governor is interesting. The fact they did it back-to-back as Governors #20 and #21 is even more interesting.

As new pathways are cut, “the group” may see only what is directly in front of them and decide this is the new path. With Big Hair in office right now, many may have decided that the path to the Mansion has several stops: a local office, the Legislature or Congress, then to a down-ballot office, to a higher statewide office then to Governor. An examination of history suggests, however, that this could be a tricky path.

What does not seem to matter is a lot of experience or “paying your dues.” If you’ve got what it takes, you’ve got what it takes. Of course, that could be a lot of things, such as money, charisma, luck, a little glamour, connections—but that’s a whole other recipe for us to cook up.

As for the two likely nominees:

Wendy Davis

         Professional background: Attorney

         Political background: Fort Worth City Council, State Senate

Greg Abbott

         Professional background: Attorney

         Political background: State District Judge, State Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General

Open Question: Has Greg Abbott admitted to being a lapdog?

Today State Sen. Wendy Davis (D) went after Greg Abbott (R) for defending the horrendous cuts to public education made by the Legislature.

Defending himself, Abbott made the claim that he is essentially handcuffed and must defend the laws passed by the Legislature.

Wrong.

There have been numerous instances when Attorneys General from across the country have declined to defend laws on the books in their states.  A recent example was from California.  Attorney General Kamala Harris refused to defend Prop 8.

Abbott is just trying to have his cake and eat it to.

In addition to playing Solomon, Abbott also admitted that he Rick Perry's lapdog. From the Dallas Morning News:

"If she were governor, would she ask her attorney general not to defend the laws passed by the Legislature?” Abbott asked. “That’s what Barack Obama asked Eric Holder to do. That’s the style of government she’s offering.”

I didn't realize that Abbott got his position through an appointment.  Oh wait...he didn't.  He was elected independent of Rick Perry.  He doesn't serve at the pleasure of the governor, he serves at the pleasure of Texans.

Question for Abbott: If Rick Perry and you were running for re-election and Perry lost to Wendy Davis, would you be her attorney general?

Followup: If she asked you to defend a law you didn't want to, would you?  And if she asked you not to defend a law you wanted to, would you?  I mean, in that scenario you would be her attorney general.  By your logic, you would have to do what she says.

14 Years

14 years.  Unless someone else files on Dec. 9, this will be the first time Democrats have had 2 elected officials running for executive statewide office since 2002.  Democrats have had elected officials run for the U.S. Senate and the statewide judiciary, but it has been 14 years since at least 2 incumbent officials have attempted to make the leap to one of the statewide executive offices (Gov., Lite Gov, AG, Comptroller, Land Comm, Ag Comm, Railroad Commission).  Just to be clear, when I say elected official I mean someone who is currently in office and running for another.

We've had former officials run in the past:
2010 - Bill White and Hector Uribe
2006 - Chris Bell, Fred Head, VaLinda Hathcox
2002 - John Sharp and Kirk Watson

Elected officials who ran:
2014 - Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte
2002 - David Bernsen and Tom Ramsay

If Sen. Carlos Uresti had filed for Attorney General, we could go even further back.  The last time Democrats had at least 3 elected officials try for statewide executive office was 1998: Garry Maruo, John Sharp, Richard Raymond, and Pete Patterson.

Texas Parliamentarian Karina Davis has Record of Railroading Rules

Earlier, we presented an award to the Texas Senate's Parliamentarian for her terrible interpretation of the rules on Tuesday.  Turns out there's more.

Apparently Texas Senate Parliamentarian Karina Casari Davis already had a record of trying to circumvent the rules and railroad dissenting views.  In 2011, David Hanna, the Texas Legislative Council’s lawyer, sent an email to Karina Davis, copying her husband Doug Davis who was Dewhurst’s senior policy advisor on redistricting.

Hanna advised Karina that it would not be a good idea to upload a new redistricting plan with the Council—even though it would be hidden from the public—because it would still be time-stamped and thus show that amendments to be offered by minority representatives were clearly not going to be considered at all—even before they were even offered. So much for democratic principles!

He didn’t think it would be good for preclearance when the Justice Department would review Texas’s redistricting plans.  

In 2004, Dewhurst replaced Walter Fisher with Karina Davis, even though she had limited parliamentary experience.  A search on the State Bar of Texas site also reveals that she is not an attorney, a qualification you might expect for a new Senate parliamentarian with almost no experience.

Her husband Doug is one, a graduate of Texas Tech Law School and currently a lobbyist for the Texas Wholesale Beer Distributors.

Ron Wilson Award for Rules Enforcement Goes To...

Senate Parliamentarian Karina Davis:

For anyone who watched the Texas Senate on Tuesday, you saw Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth).

But you were also treated to the sight of a woman in white on the dais standing to the left of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) and any other Republican Senator acting as chair.

Dressed in white you might have thought she was a shoulder angel, giving the Senate President the honest advice on how to handle the rules.

Unfortunately, this angel would have been better dressed in red and standing on the Senate President's right.

Salon probably sums it up best:

For at least an hour, it was great theater. State parliamentarian Karina Davis spent a lot of time looking like gymnast McKayla Maroney, whispering sideways into Dewhurst’s ear and seeming not terribly impressed.

This year's Ron Wilson Award for Rule Enforcement is presented to Senate Parliamentarian Karina Davis for her complete railroading of the rules.  You may remember when former Rep. Ron Wilson was installed by former Speaker Tom Craddick as House Parliamentarian in order to hold onto power at any cost.

Her performance last night proved she's not a parliamentarian, but a political hack.  Damn the rules, full speed ahead!  Any honest parliamentarian would have correctly interpreted the rules even to the dislike of the Republicans.

Talking about Planned Parenthood's budget in relation to an abortion bill is completely germane to a bill that would restrict abortion.  Strike 1. Talking about the sonogram bill that passed last session and is law and the additional burden placed on women if SB5 were to become law is completely germane to the bill.  Strike 2.  Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) never yielded the floor to Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls), therefore Estes motion was out of order.  Strike 3.  Karina Davis...you're out.

What's not germane is Karina Davis remaining parliamentarian when she clearly doesn't know the rules.

Senate District 10

We come to our first and only competitive district.  During the 90s this district was in 3 counties: Johnson, Parker, & Tarrant.  Republican Chris Harris represented District 10 at the time. After the 2001 redistricting, this district shifted to be wholly within Tarrant County and Republican Kim Brimer represented it until 2009.  With changing demographics and an increased turnout, Democrats captured the seat with star candidate Wendy Davis.  The big test for Davis will be if she can win re-election in a non-presidential year.  The good news, she ran ahead of the President Obama in both '08 and '12 and got almost the same vote totals both times. 2008: 147,832.  2012: 147,103.

2012

President

Romney - 53.3%; 155,936
Obama - 45.4%; 132,707

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 53.1%; 153,424
Sadler - 44.5%; 128.536

Which state fits this competitive district?  Hint: I've got you on my mind

Hard to pick either Willie or Ray, so I went with both.

Romney carried Georgia by 7.82%.  He won SD 10 by 7.9% and Cruz carried by 8.6%.

We've already mentioned one of the problem for Democrats...too many districts that have high margins of Republican winning percentages.  Here's the second problem that goes along with that...not enough districts that are competitive.  If you had more Georgia-like districts...