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.

Politifact vs. ABC News (Aussie)

Just an observation.

Politifact is the outfit that attempts to rate statements politicians, public figures, etc., in terms of their truthfulness.

Politifact's Truth-O-Meter has the following levels:
True
Mostly True
Half True
Mostly False
False
Pants on Fire!
No Flip
Half Flip
Full Flip

The flips are primarily in relation to the presidential campaign.

What's interesting is that in Australia, ABC News created a similar type of Truth-O-Meter in conjunction with the most recent federal election called Fact Check.  There are some differences.  ABC has three types of verdicts: Red, In Between, and Green.

For the Red verdicts we have the following results: Figure Not Credible, Implausible, Improbable, Incorrect, Misleading, Spin, Unsubstantiated, Wrong.

For the In Between verdicts: Cherrypicking, Close to the Mark, Debatable, Doubtful, Exaggerated, Improbable, In the Ballpark, Incomplete, Inflated, Lawyers' Picnic, Not the Full Story, Out of Context, Outdated, Overblown, Overreach, Oversimplified, Overstated, Speculation, Splitting Hairs, Unenforceable, Unlikely, Unsound, Unsubstantiated, Unverifiable, Yes but More to It.

For the Green verdicts: Accurate, Checks Out, Close to the Mark, Correct, Fair Bet, In the Ballpark, On the Money, Stacks Up, Unverifiable, Yes but More to It.

I don't know if nuanced is the right word, but at the very least ABC does have a wider vocabulary.

Bexar County DA: 3 Way Democratic Primary?

Democrats may be faced with a plethora of choices for DA.

We have 1 announced candidate, attorney Therese Huntzinger, 1 semi-announced candidate, Judge Phil Kazen.

The third?

Attorney and 2010 candidate Nico LaHood.  We heard this mentioned over the weekend, but apparently LaHood announced it tonight at an event.

Update: Rumor Mill Alert: Democratic Elected Official to Run for DA

By now the cat is out the bag that the countywide Democratic elected official considering the DA race is Judge Philip Kazen.

If Kazen decides to take the plunge, he won't have the race to himself. Local attorney Therese Huntzinger is also planning to run for the job.  It would be an interesting primary if it happened.  A sitting district judge versus an attorney who is female and gay.
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The rumor mill has been turning recently.  The latest being that a countywide Democratic elected official may announce for District Attorney. I say announce because we're getting close to the filing deadline opening and closing.  Candidate filing opens Nov. 9 and closes Dec. 9.  At this stage a candidate mounting a challenge to an incumbent needs to get started.

Calls apparently are being made and feelers are being put out as to whether he should do it and what kind of support he would have.

Knowing the individual in question, we'd say that incumbent DA Susan Reed (R) would definitely be in for a fight.

William Elmer, Tea Party bigot, lives in a national forest

If MyLife is to be believed, this is William Elmer.

The Teabagger is the spokesman for the Texas Ethics Advisory Board, previously mentioned here and here.

Again, if MyLife is to be believed, he is 80 years old and lives in Huntsville, TX.

Once again Mr. Elmer has decided that he needs to spread his bigotry outside his home in Huntsville.  See Mr. Elmer and his group are upset that their bigotry decreases every election.  So since they can't win at the ballot box, they choose other means...like using the government to browbeat and scare their opponents into submission.  Once again San Antonio is in their cross hairs, specifically the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio.

If MyLife, along with official government documents are to be believed, Mr. Elmer's house is located within Sam Houston National Forest.   Believe it or not, there is a section of Huntsville located within Sam Houston National Forest, and there is a housing edition located on Elkins Lake.

Again, if MyLife and government documents are to be believed, this is Mr. Elmer's house.  Apparently he has Dish Network.

Updated2: Who Will be the New Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice?

Update: Rick Perry did elevate a current member of the court.  He chose Justice Nathan Hecht to be the new Chief Justice.  As we pointed out, his last pick for the court was a white male. 

The new question becomes who will replace Hecht?

Update: The question was answered a couple of weeks ago when Perry named 14th Court of Appeals Justice Jeff Brown.  Perry once again struck a blow for the marginalized white man.
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With Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson stepping down, who will Rick Perry name as his replacement?

If he's going to elevate someone from within the court, my money is on Justice Eva Guzman.

1) She's a woman and Republicans haven't exactly been endearing themselves to female voters.  From the 2012 election to the special sessions on abortion.

2) She's Hispanic.  Another key voting group that Republicans haven't been too popular with, and even less so with Congressional opposition to the immigration bill.

Of the remaining 7 justices, all are Anglo, with 1 being female.

If he decides to go outside the court for a Chief Justice replacement and wants a woman or a minority...

On the 1st Court of Appeals, there are 5 women, 1 of which is Hispanic.

On the 2nd Court of Appeals, there are 5 women.

On the 3rd Court of Appeals, there is 1 woman.

On the 4th Court of Appeals, there are 3 women.

On the 5th Court of Appeals, there are 5 women, 1 of which is African-American.

On the 14th Court of Appeals, there are 5 women.

Again, my money is on Guzman to be elevated to Chief Justice, with the likelihood that one of these 24 women will be elevated to the Supreme Court.  If I had to guess Guzman's replacement, I would put money Rebecca Huddle from the 1st Court of Appeals (female and Hispanic).

In terms of Perry's appointments of the current court, his last one was a white male.  So anything is possible.

State House District 14

House District 14 is very similar to HD 12...as they should be.  The districts are right next to each other.  HD 14 covers the cities of College Station and Bryan in Brazos County.  This district is literally the Heart of Aggieland, and is represented by an A&M grad, John Raney.  When this district was located in Liberty County, it was represented by future Gov. Price Daniel.






2012

President

Romney - 62.7%; 25,805
Obama - 34.8%; 14,332

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 63.1%; 25,649
Sadler - 32.9%; 13,382

Second verse, same as the first.

Like HD 12, this district best matched West Virginia in 2012.  Romney won WV by 26.76% and carried this district by 27.9%.  Cruz won here by 30.2%.

A Reminder: 11 more votes on Background Checks

Update: With the recent D.C. shooting, here's a reminder that elections have consequences down the road that nobody can foresee.

The Senate rejected background checks amendment, pushed by Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), today by a 54-46 margin.  6 more votes.  That's all that was needed.

I can find 11 votes for the Background Checks Amendment from 11 states where 1 Senator voted yes and 1 Senator voted no.

State House District 12

HD 12 occupies some space between College Station and Waco. Since the 20th Century it's been primarily located in East Texas.  Democrats will probably recognize Jim McReynolds who represented the district from 2003 - 2011.  For one term, Republican James White represented the district from 2011-2013.  After redistricting altered the district, Republican Kyle Kacal became the new representative.





2012

President

Romney - 62.6%; 32,424
Obama- 36.2%; 18,740

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 61%; 31,093
Sadler - 36.8%; 18,757

Almost heaven...

The state that fits here is West Virginia.  Romney won this district by 26.4% and carried West Virginia by 26.76%.  Cruz won here by 24.2%.

Conservative Govt: Let Police Search for Guns Without Warrant

Obviously this is not a headline from the U.S.  You really think the NRA would let a conservative elected official get away with something like that?

That headline is from Australia.  The centre-right Premier of New South Wales is proposing some new gun laws.  From ABC News (Australia):

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell has proposed new laws which will give police greater powers to search people for guns without a warrant.

The changes are to be introduced to Parliament this week and mean police would not need a warrant to search people who have been banned from owning weapons.

Their cars, homes and outlaw motorcycle gang club houses will also be able to be searched without a warrant.

Mr O'Farrell also plans to increase the prison term for anyone convicted of possessing or supplying guns to try to crack down on crime in Sydney.

The jail term will increase from 10 to 14 years.