Posts Tagged ‘Daniel Boone’

Post-Primary Election Roundup

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Numerous nuggets of non-Senate race information and observation on Tuesday’s election:

  • Two years ago, Michael Williams and Elizabeth Ames Jones were both on the Railroad Commission. Sixteen months ago they were serious U.S. Senate candidates. Now each has missed the runoff for their respective down-ballot races, U.S. CD 25 and Texas SD 25, respectively. (Donna Campbell made the runoff with Jeff Wentworth for SD25.) Evidently the Railroad Commission is a poor stepping stone to higher or lower office. Or at least for the 25th District of anything…
  • Tuesday was a bloodbath for Straus’ committee chairmen. The last attempt to oust the moderate Straus failed, but expect a much stronger effort in 2013.
  • Straus particular failed to oust conservative black Republican James White, despite extensive efforts.
  • Funny how, after gambling interests made a big investment in Straus, that Proposition 3 on the Democratic ballot was about legalizing casino gambling.
  • Democrat Silvestre Reyes was the only incumbent U.S. Congressman to be defeated last night.
  • Trial lawyers tried to steal some legislative races in Texas by running candidates in Republican races. They failed.
  • And speaking of trial lawyers, you might want to familiarize yourself with the many faces of Steve Mostyn, all of which are losers.
  • Tea Party influence was clearly evident in Metroplex races.
  • As I predicted, Sylvia Romo was no match for Lloyd Doggett’s 18-wheeler full of money.
  • Daniel Boone lost the Dem U.S. 21 race. Maybe he should have stayed in the Senate race…
  • Texas Senate Race: Boone, Holcomb Out, Grady Yarbrough In

    Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

    The latest Democratic Party filing information shows Daniel Boone no longer running for U.S. Senator, but rather running in the U.S. 21st Congressional District against the SOPA-loving incumbent Republican Lamar Smith. I’m not sure this is a good move for Boone, since I think he was at least as likely as Paul Sadler to win the nomination. Republican Charles Holcomb has also dropped out.

    Conversely, a Grady Yarbrough now appears on the list of Democratic candidates. He appears to be a personal counselor [update: apparently not the same Grady Yarbrough; see comments] and his named is spelled differently than the late Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough, who helped transform the Texas Democratic Party from a majority conservative party to a minority liberal one.

    I’ll update the candidate page tomorrow.

    Texas Senate Race Update for February 23, 2012

    Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

    Trying to catch back up with the Senate race after my trip, so some of this may be slightly old news:

  • The biggest recent news in the Senate race is the newest Texas Tribune/UT poll that shows David Dewhurst leading the race at 38%, but with Ted Cruz up to 27%. Tom Leppert and Craig James are tied way back in third place at 7% each, an outcome that must be discouraging for the Leppert team, given that he’s been running for over a year and James has only been running for two months. Glenn Addison and Lela Pittenger are the only other candidates to get any support at all at 1% each. However, the margin of error is ±5%. Full results in PDF form here.
  • Dewhurst managed to pull in big bucks from a big donor in Washington. A big democratic donor. “He was doing what he always does: reaching across the aisle. He’s not a Washington insider yet, and he’s already a Washington insider. No wonder the Texas press has so often labeled him ‘bipartisan’…This is a critical race for the Tea Party and for conservatives across the country. If Dewhurst wins, we’ll have yet another squish on our hands – and a squish who is only too eager to rub elbows with the liberal establishment.” (Hat tip: Must Read Texas.)
  • This Kate Alexander piece in the Austin-American Statesman is pretty interesting, not so much for the information there (BattleSwarm readers will find very little I haven’t already covered), but for the approach. Overall the piece is probably mildly negative on Cruz, but not unfairly negative. Unlike, say, certain of Robert T. Garrett’s pieces in The Dallas Morning News, the issues she raises are generally real and non-trivial, though not ones that most conservatives will find of burning importance.
  • Cruz womps the field in a survey of the North Texas Tea Party.
  • Cruz appeared on KYFO in Lubbock.
  • The Dewhurst campaign attacks Cruz for “not supporting Sen. John Cornyn for Republican Senate Whip.”

    Cruz has previously told reporters it’s more important to elect Senators who would pledge fealty to a divisive challenge to GOP leadership than it is for Republicans to regain its U.S. Senate majority this year. Cruz’s glaring lack of support for Sen. Cornyn, who’s now responsible for Republican efforts to retake that majority, effectively puts Cruz’s personal ambition and interests above conservative attempts to organize and stop the Obama agenda.

    So Dewhurst is attacking Cruz for actually wanting to enact conservative ideas rather than just paying lip-service to it while toeing the Republican establishment line. Got it. (Maybe someone on Team Dewhurst might want to take a look at this.)

  • Cruz elaborates on the subject.
  • Establishment vs. the Tea Party.
  • Dewhurst appeared on KCRS:

  • There was another candidate forum that David Dewhurst skipped. Attendees included Cruz, Tom Leppert, Craig James, Glenn Addison, Lela Pittenger, and…Andrew Castanuela? Did no one inform the organizers never filed for the Republican primary?
  • Scott Haddock interviews Tom Leppert Part 1 and Part 2.
  • The Texas Tribune did an interview with Craig James:

  • Glenn Addison gets a profile by the Houston Chronicle‘s Joe Holley. Addison’s evident friendliness with the John Birch society (yes, it’s still around) is not a plus in my book. I am gratified to see that Holley, who I dinged heavily, correctly lists both the number of candidates for each party, as well as their names.
  • That same TT/UT poll shows the Democratic side of the race virtually tied, with Sean Hubbard at 12%, Paul Sadler, Daniel Boone, and Addie D. Allen all tied at 10%, and John Morton (who the Democrats kicked off the ballot two months ago) at 3%. That’s good news for Hubbard (frontrunner again!) and Allen (whose campaign might be charitably called “low-key”), and bad news for anointed Democratic establishment candidate Sadler and “Gene Kelly 2.0” Boone. But the margin of error for Democrats is even higher at ±6%, so it’s still anyone’s race at this point.
  • Democrat Addie D. Allen now has a website (though it just has the GoDaddy parking page for now) and a Twitter feed.
  • University of Texas Democrats endorse Paul Sadler. That should be good for an extra five, maybe even six votes, easy…
  • Daniel Boone appeared before the Llano Tea Party, which I think makes him the first Democratic senate candidate to take up the repeated Tea Party offers for Democrats to speak. Good for him.
  • Pro-tip for Boone: Most people put the newest content at the top of their blog, not the oldest.
  • As far as I can tell, Craig James, Charles Holcomb, Ben Gambini, Joe Agris and Addie D. Allen have not filed Q4 reports with the FEC. Maybe none of them conducted any fundraising in the quarter.
  • Jason Gibson Drops Out of Senate Race

    Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

    Democrat trial lawyer Jason Gibson has announced he’s dropping out of the Senate race and endorsing Paul Sadler. Says he didn’t want to run without the union support Sadler just picked up.

    The phrase “That leaves only two top-tier candidates left in the Democratic race to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Sadler and party activist Sean Hubbard.” should be music to Hubbard’s ears, but I still suspect they’re competing for a place in the runoff against Daniel Boone based on the well-established Gene Kelly principle…

    Websites of the 2012 Texas Senate Candidates

    Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

    Here’s an updated list of the declared 2012 Texas senate candidate’s websites, along with any subsidiary pages that change frequently (in-the-news, press releases, etc.), along with their Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and FEC fundraising report pages, plus any additional pages worth noting. (For example, Tom Leppert’s website provides links to his LinkedIn page, and his YouTube and Flickr streams, so I have included those here.) I’ve also tried to be flexible; Ted Cruz doesn’t have links for separate YouTube or Flickr sites, so I’ve included similar pages on his campaign page.

    Consider this a one-stop research stop for lazy efficient journalists and bloggers (as well as a handy cheat-cheat for myself, since I’ve been doing extensive coverage of the race).

    Where candidates have sign-up splash screens, I have omitted those to go straight to the website (or, for Facebook links, their wall).

    Websites for 2012 Republican Senate Runoff Candidates

    Ted Cruz

  • Ted Cruz Website
  • Ted Cruz Facebook Page
  • Ted Cruz Twitter Feed
  • Ted Cruz FEC Page
  • David Dewhurst

  • David Dewhurst Website
  • David Dewhurst Facebook Page
  • David Dewhurst Twitter Feed (Note that the old Dewhurst4Texas feed is no longer active)
  • David Dewhurst YouTube Feed
  • David Dewhurst Flickr Photostream
  • The Official Lieutenant Governor’s Page
  • David Dewhurst’s FEC Page
  • Websites for 2012 Democratic Senate Runoff Candidates

    Paul Sadler

  • Paul Sadler Website
  • Paul Sadler Facebook Page
  • Paul Sadler Twitter Feed
  • Paul Sadler FEC Page
  • Grady Yarbrough

  • Grady Yarbrough’s Facebook Page
  • Websites for 2012 Republican Senate Candidates Who Missed the Runoff

    Tom Leppert

  • Tom Leppert Website
  • Tom Leppert Facebook page
  • Tom Leppert Twitter Feed
  • Tom Leppert LinkedIn page
  • Tom Leppert Flickr Photostream
  • Tom Leppert YouTube channel
  • Tom Leppert FEC Page
  • Craig James

  • Craig James Website
  • Craig James News
  • Craig James Media
  • Craig James Twitter Feed
  • Craig James Facebook
  • Glenn Addison

  • Glenn Addison Website
  • Glenn Addison Twitter Feed
  • Glenn Addison Facebook Page
  • Glenn Addison FEC Page
  • Lela Pittenger

  • Lela Pittenger Website
  • Lela Pittenger Facebook Page
  • Lela Pittenger Twitter Feed
  • Lela Pittenger FEC Page
  • Curt Cleaver

  • Curt Cleaver Website
  • Curt Cleaver Facebook page
  • Curt Cleaver Twitter Feed
  • Curt Cleaver Vimeo Page
  • Curt Cleaver FEC Page
  • Ben Gambini

  • Ben Gambini Facebook
  • Dr. Joe Agris

    No website yet.

    Republican Dropouts

    Declared Republican candidates who have dropped out of the race:

  • Elizabeth Ames Jones: Dropped out November 8, 2011.
  • Michael Williams: Dropped out June 17, 2011.
  • Roger Williams: Dropped out June 28, 2011.
  • Andrew Castanuela: Emailed December 21, 2011 saying he was running as an independent write-in candidate.
  • Charles Holcomb: Dropped out March 7, 2012.
  • Websites for 2012 Democratic Senate Candidates Who Missed the Runoff

    Addie D. Allen (AKA Addie Dainell Allen)

  • Addie D. Allen Website
  • Addie D. Allen Facebook page
  • Addie D. Allen Twitter Feed
  • Sean Hubbard

  • Sean Hubbard Website
  • Sean Hubbard Facebook Page
  • Sean Hubbard Twitter Feed
  • Sean Hubbard YouTube Feed
  • Sean Hubbard FEC Page
  • Democratic Dropouts

    Declared Democratic candidates who have dropped out of the race:

  • Ricardo Sanchez: Dropped out December 16, 2011.
  • Jason A. Gibson: Dropped out February 2, 2012.
  • Stanley Garza: Sent an email January 20, 2012 saying he was giving up his 2012 campaign.
  • Virgil Bierschwale: Sent an email January 25, 2012 saying he couldn’t afford the filing fee.
  • Daniel Boone: Switched to Congressional race March 7, 2012.
  • Democratic candidates whose names briefly appeared on the offical list of Texas Democratic Senate candidates, but which have since been removed, with no explanation given:

  • Eric Roberson
  • John Morton
  • Others

  • Libertarian Jon Roland
  • Independent Mike Champion
  • NEWS FLASH: Ricardo Sanchez Drops Out of Senate Race

    Friday, December 16th, 2011

    “Leading Democratic U.S. senatorial candidate Ricardo Sanchez announced Friday that he’s ending his campaign to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.”

    I didn’t exactly predict it, but I did suggest it was a strong possibility:

    Even before his house burned down, there was precious little evidence Sanchez was really interested in running for the Senate. His fundraising is abysmal, his media appearances are rare, his campaign stops even rarer (Ted Cruz and Glenn Addison do more campaigning in a day than Sanchez manages in a month), his social media footprint miniscule, and his buzz factor is non-existent.

    Sanchez peaked when he announced for the race. Ever since then it’s been a long, painful slog, with his only reward the prospect of being slaughtered by Ted Cruz or David Dewhurst in the general election. Is there a serious non-partisan observer anywhere who looks at Sanchez’s dismal campaign and thinks he can win?

    Evidently not.

    So, Texas Democrats: Right now the only two candidates on your side who have filed are Sean Hubbard and Daniel Boone. Or a guy that doesn’t look old enough to drink, and a guy who’s been dead for 191 years. Hubbard’s been running longer, but Boone has a great name to campaign on.

    Of course there’s still time for additional candidates to file by Monday. (And maybe declared-but-not-filed longshot candidates Stanley Garza and Virgil Bierschwale will jump in.) I would imagine that DSCC chair Patty Murray will be working the phones like mad this weekend to at least give some semblance of a real Texas Senate race. Unless Tommy Lee Jones changes his mind, I don’t see her having much luck.

    Maybe Hubbard will actually start campaigning full-time. I got the impression that he was working his campaign hours around some sort of day job.

    Actually, Democrats shouldn’t be too depressed over this turn of events. All political issues aside, Sanchez was simply a bad candidate who ran a lousy campaign. At least Hubbard acts like he actually wants to run.

    Where’s Ricardo? (Plus: A New Democratic Challenger Appears)

    Monday, December 12th, 2011

    There’s some news on the Democratic side of the Texas Senate race.

    First of all, the name of the DNC’s handpicked candidate, Ricardo Sanchez, does not appear on the list of candidates who have filed for the Texas Senate race.

    Well, the deadline is Thursday. No worries. Assuming he wants to run, there’s plenty of time for Sanchez to file for the race.

    But what if he doesn’t?

    After all, even before his house burned down, there was precious little evidence Sanchez was really interested in running for the Senate. His fundraising is abysmal, his media appearances are rare, his campaign stops even rarer (Ted Cruz and Glenn Addison do more campaigning in a day than Sanchez manages in a month), his social media footprint miniscule, and his buzz factor is non-existent.

    Other signs of the moribund nature of Sanchez’s campaign: DSCC chair Patty Murray drawing audible laughs when asked about Democratic chances in Texas. “After being initially hailed as a pick-up opportunity, Texas is off the radar for Democrats. DSCC executive director Guy Cecil suggested as much last month. Murray didn’t even mention Ricardo Sanchez’s name.”

    Sanchez peaked when he announced for the race. Ever since then it’s been a long, painful slog, with his only reward the prospect of being slaughtered by Ted Cruz or David Dewhurst in the general election. Is there a serious non-partisan observer anywhere who looks at Sanchez’s dismal campaign and thinks he can win?

    Is this how Sanchez pictured his retirement? He seems for all the world like someone just going through the motions.

    However, there is one Democratic candidate who has filed for the U.S. Senate race: Daniel Boone! I believe Texans will be favorably impressed with his trackin’ and bear-killin’ skills, and thus might be willing to overlook his Missouri residency and the fact the he’s been dead 191 years.

    Sadly for Democrats, the “rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man the frontier ever knew” is not the one running, but rather a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel (which sets up a nice “flyboy vs. grunt” inter-service rivalry if Sanchez does run).

    He has a website and a Facebook page. His campaign platform is vague Democratic boilerplate.

    But a famous namesake isn’t enough to overcome Ricardo Sanchez, right?

    Think again.

    Remember Gene Kelly? The perennial office-seeker whose only notable attribute was the name of the famous dancing movie star? He won the 2000 Democratic primary runoff for this very Senate seat (then occupied by Kay Baily Hutchison) over former state legislator Charles Gandy with 58.43% of the vote.

    Want to guess what Kelly’s background was?

    Would you believe retired Air Force Colonel?

    It would be tempting to use the “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce” line, but here the first time was farce.

    If Sanchez declines the race, I would say that Boone automatically becomes the frontrunner. And so far Sanchez has run such a lackluster campaign that high name recognition (even misrecognition) might be enough to beat him…