Posts Tagged ‘2016 Election’
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
More post-Super Tuesday results and election tidbits.
“Cruz is the only one who can beat Trump and everyone else should unite behind him.”
Looking at delegates, Super Tuesday’s race between Cruz and Trump was closer than it appeared. (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
“The GOP must stop Trump to stop Hillary. There is no other option. And, Cruz, objectively looking at the delegate counts, is the best vehicle to do that.” (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
“It is time for Rubio to accept he will not be the nominee.”
Conservatives need to rally around Cruz. (Hat tip: Conservatves For Ted Cruz.)
Ted Cruz raised $12 million in February.
James Lileks is on the #NeverTrump bandwagon, even though he doesn’t think it will work. “His supporters are impervious to this argument.”
Heh: “His were the eyes of a man who has gazed into the abyss, and the abyss gazed back, and then he endorsed the abyss.” (Hat tip: Virginia Postrel on Instapundit.)
Tuesday was very kind to Texas incumbents. “No congressional incumbent who wanted another term was defeated…Three incumbents seeking re-election to the Texas Supreme Court held their ground against serious challengers. Two judges on the state’s highest criminal court emerged from their primaries unscathed. No state senator who sought another term was defeated.”
Voters to Ferdinand Frank Fischer III (AKA Trey Martinez Fischer): No you can’t have a state senate seat. Not yours.
In Dallas, indicted Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price wins nomination for his eighth term. “Price’s federal indictment actually helped him because it fed the perception that Price was angering the right people – Dallas’ white establishment.”
Voting oddity one: As a commenter on yesterday’s thread noted, here in Williamson County, GOP Presidential choices spanned two pages, with longshot Elizabeth Gray on the second page all by herself. Result: she won 3.57% of the county vote.
Voting oddity two: Long-gone longshot Gilmore was reported to have have won the most votes in Chelsea, Massachusetts. That was a computer counting glitch that has since been corrected. He actually got 2 votes.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Chris Christie, Dallas, Donald Trump, Elections, Elizabeth Gray, James Lileks, Jim Gilmore, John Wiley Price, Marco Rubio, Massachusetts, Ted Cruz, Texas, Trey Martinez-Fischer, Williamson County
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016
So read the tea leaves:
Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who briefly led the Republican presidential race before his campaign began an extended public implosion, will tell his supporters in a statement Wednesday afternoon that he does not see a “path forward” and will not attend Thursday’s debate in Detroit, according to two Republicans familiar with his plans.
Carson, however, will not formally suspend his campaign. Instead, the Republicans said, he has decided to make a speech about his political future on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, just outside of Washington.
Carson is a fine man who had no business running for President.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Ben Carson, CPAC, Elections, Republicans
Posted in Elections, Republicans | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016
Not quite as down as I was last night. There’s lots of the commentary this morning on how Donald Trump under-performed vs. expectations.
Here are some random primary results and links:
“So far, Trump wins open primaries and Cruz wins closed…and the calendar is starting to change toward more closed primaries.” Also: “So here’s where it potentially gets interesting. Although the media are looking forward to March 15, this Saturday (March 5) there are four Republican primaries/caucuses: Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine. All are closed.” If Cruz can take three of those four, it’s a whole new race. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Ted Cruz wins Alaska, despite Sarah Palin’s Trump endorsement.
It was generally a bad night on the anti-Joe Straus front. Straus won his primary, as did Jason Villalba, and Straus-backed Lance Gooden took out conservative Stuart Sptizer in the Texas 4th Congressional District, while Hugh B. Shine took out conservative (and bit of a loose cannon) Molly White. For a while it looked like Straus crony Byron Cook might lose, but he eked out a win over Thomas McNutt with 50.4%.
Michael Quinn Sullivan is a bit more optimistic:
The chairman of the Licensing Committee, Wayne Smith, and the chairman of Special Purpose Districts, Doug Miller, are now facing tough run-offs against conservative challengers Briscoe Cain and Kyle Biedermann.
State Rep. Debbie Riddle, a Straus loyalist on the powerful Calendars Committee, was defeated outright by Valoree Swanson in a four-way race.
Meanwhile, decorated veteran Terry Wilson defeated liberal State Rep. Marsha Farney, who was rumored to have been tapped by Straus to helm the Public Education Committee in 2017.
On the other hand, conservative fighters Jonathan Stickland, Tony Tinderholt, and Matt Rinaldi won big re-election fights. Stickland, Tinderholt, and Rinaldi were top targets of the establishment, with the opponents slinging copious amounts of mud to no avail.
(Hat tip: Push Junction.)
Speaking of loose cannons, check out new Travis County GOP chair Robert Morrow.
Another Will Hurd (R) vs. Pete Gallego (D) matchup in the 23rd Congressional District. This is the only true swing U.S. House seat left in Texas, and it will probably come down to turnout. Gallego took the seat from Francisco “Quico” Canseco in 2012 and Hurd took the seat back for Republicans in 2014.
Shawn Dick beats Jana Duty for Williamson County DA.
Other Williamson County races: Robert Chody wins the Sheriff race over four challengers, Donna Parker and Landy Warren are going to a runoff for County Commissioner Precinct 1, and Laura Baker and Warren Oliver Waterman are going to a runoff for Williamson Court-at-Law No. 2 Judge.
Probably more later…
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Donald Trump, Jana Duty, Joe Straus, Lance Gooden, Landy Warren, Laura Baker, Marsha Farney, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Molly White, Pete Gallego, Republicans, Robert Chody, Robert Morrow, Sarah Palin, Shawn Dick, Stuart Sptizer, Ted Cruz, Texas, Texas 23rd Congressional District, Texas 4th Congressional District, Thoms McNutt, Travis County, Warren Oliver Waterman, Will Hurd, Williamson County
Posted in Austin, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 1st, 2016
According to early returns, Donald Trump has won five states on Super Tuesday: Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Virginia, while Ted Cruz has won Texas and Oklahoma. In states not called yet, it also appears that Trump will win Vermont (over John Kasich) and Arkansas, while Marco Rubio has a very early lead in Minnesota.
I suppose I should be encouraged that Trump didn’t break 50% in any of those races, but it’s obvious that Cruz can’t win against Trump unless Rubio, Kasich and Carson drop out…and possibly not even then.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won everything but Bernie Sanders’ home state of Vermont and Oklahoma. Sanders has a small lead in Colorado and Clinton a small lead in Massachusetts and a slightly larger lead in Minnesota.
If Cruz can’t win in Georgia and Alabama, it’s hard to see where he stops Trump with Rubio and Kasich still on the ballot.
If Sanders can’t win in Massachusetts and Minnesota, it’s simply over for him.
We’re slowly slouching toward a Clinton-Trump Presidential election.
God help us all.
Update: Both Rubio and Sanders win Minnesota.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Alabama, Colorado, Donald Trump, Georgia, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Super Tuesday, Ted Cruz, Texas, Vermont
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Monday, February 29th, 2016
Happy Leap Day, everyone! Enjoy a yuge LinkSwarm, and if you’re in Texas or another Super Tuesday state, take time to dig out your voter registration card for tomorrow.
The Case for Cruz: The Math. “In the states where Cruz is ahead of Rubio in the upcoming Super Tuesday, he is either beating Trump or within striking distance. In the states where Rubio is ahead of Cruz in the upcoming Super Tuesday, Trump has a huge lead. Rubio doesn’t lead in a single state.” (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
“Sixteen Reasons Why Ted Cruz Is The Better Anti-Trump Than Rubio.” (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
The Millennial Case For Ted Cruz. “Polls show that Hillary beats Trump in a general election. On the other hand, Cruz beats Hillary in a general election.” (Hat tip: Conservatives for Ted Cruz.)
Cruz releases nine years of tax returns, calls on Trump to do the same.
Analysis of Ted Cruz’s positions on defense.
How Ted Cruz’s ads are so Hollywood slick.
Cruz has rebuilt his stump speech around the Scalia vacancy.
Lefty Robert Reich’s attacks on Ted Cruz provides yet more reasons to vote for Cruz.
Our cultural elites just can’t figure out why those ignorant gun- and religion-clinging redneck freaks of JesusLand keep flocking to Trump when he says he love them. It’s an insoluble mystery…
40 reasons not to vote for Donald Trump.
Trump University was a scam. “Many people believe that higher education is a de facto scam. Trump University, Donald Trump’s real-estate institution, was a de jure one.”
Hillary heckled.
DNC vice chair steps down to support Bernie Sanders. An understandable move, given the DNC is so far in the tank for Hillary under Debbie Wasserman Schultz that supporting Sanders is probably looked on as akin to treason… (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
Mark Steyn lays out some grim election analysis: “No one loses as expensively as Republicans.”
720,000 taxpayers have their tax form information stolen from the IRS. Our country is in the very best of hands!
Public employee unions are the establishment. (Hat tip: Pension Tsunami.)
Left-wing protesters shut down lecture on welfare reform at London School of Economics. Here’s the book protester’s don’t want people to read: Adam Perkins’ The Welfare Trait: How State Benefits Affect Personality.
Muslim immigrants will cost Sweden fourteen times more than their defense budget. Good thing Germany and Russia are such historically peaceful neighbors…
Merkel must have a political death wish: “German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended her open-door policy for migrants, rejecting any limit on the number of refugees allowed into her country despite divisions within her government.”
Stratfor analyses China’s new military facilities on Woody Island. “While the media’s response to China’s actions on Woody Island suggests that they represent a watershed moment in the militarization of the South China Sea, in reality they are neither surprising nor particularly meaningful.”
How disasterous Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could be removed from power.
The truth about the MiG-29. Longish but interesting piece. Turn out the Soviet super fighter was very good at basic fighter aircraft maneuvers, but had poor avionics that severely limited the pilot’s situational awareness.
Mass transit doesn’t actually save any energy. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
“Male feminism is a sort of disease.”
Joe Straus’ primary opponent Jeff Judson has a couple of major financial backers, including Alice Walton.
Beloved, innocent man shot down by Seattle police. And by “innocent” I mean “a convicted rapist with a gun, crack and heroin.”
“Turn down the fucking music.” “The more and more you attempt to compensate for the fact people have no social skills, making the music so loud conversation is impossible, the more and more intelligent and competent people you will drive away.” (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)
Soldier of Fortune magazine to cease publication.
Man makes video designed to show that SERPA holsters are safe, proves the opposite. (Hat tip: Tam via Dwight.)
Tweet 1: The bus is turning around. Tweet 2. The bus is on fire. Tweet 3. The bus exploded. (Hat tip: Moe Lane.)
The OSS World War II escape knife.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Alice Walton, Antonin Scalia, Border Controls, China, Crime, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrats, Donald Trump, Germany, Guns, Hillary Clinton, IRS, Jason Villalba, Jeff Judson, Jihad, Joe Straus, Karl Rehn, LinkSwarm, Mark Steyn, Military, Seattle, Social Justice Warriors, South China Sea, Sweden, Ted Cruz, Venezuela, Woody Island, World War II
Posted in Border Control, Communism, Crime, Democrats, Economics, Elections, Foreign Policy, Guns, Military, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2016
I’m running out of election season! So here are some quick and dirty Republican Primary recommendations (beyond the very obvious one of Ted Cruz for President) on the last day of early voting:
Statewide Races
Railroad Commissioner: Wayne Christian: Christian is a solid conservative. Gary Gates, who has poured a lot of money into the race (if the number of flyers I’ve received is any indication) concerns me mainly because his Texas Citizens Coalition seems to lean heavily on the Joe Straus wing of the party. (Noted for the record: former senate candidate Grady Yarbrough is one of three candidates running on the Democratic side.)
Texas Supreme Court Place 3: Michael Massengale: Debra Lehrmann isn’t horrible, but Massengale has earned the endorsements of Michael Quinn Sullivan and Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
Texas Supreme Court Place 5: Paul Green: See this post for all the reasons to choose Paul Green over Rick Green.
Texas Supreme Court Place 9: Eve Guzman: Guzman has done a solid job and her opponent has long ties to the Democratic Party (his father was a Democratic state rep) and he was fined by the state bar for actions that “unnecessarily increased the costs and burdens of litigation.”
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2: Ray Wheless: This recommendation is based mainly on the impressive number of conservative endorsements he’s racked up.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5: Steve Smith: Mainly voting for Smith due to his role in litigating Hopwood.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 6: incumbent Michael Keasler: Keasler is a lifetime Republican and his opponent Richard Davis has run a sketchy, all-but-invisible campaign.
Williamson County Races
Sheriff: William “Bill” Kelberlau: Mainly based on Cahnman’s write-up on the race. “Bill Kelberlau is running to be a constitutional sheriff.” I may not agree with Cahnman on everything, but he’s not a squish. I was willing to consider Robert Chody (who has a strong lineup of Republican endorsements), but then he went and touted his Statesman endorsement on one of his flyers…
District Attorney: Shawn Dick*: I’ve been leery of Jana Duty since at least her 2012 race, and her obvious support from Democrats and unions in that race. Cahnman, again, has more on Duty. And even though Holly Hansen hasn’t updated her site since she moved to Harris County, she has lots of good (which is to say bad) information on Duty as well.
Constable Precinct 1: Vinnie Cherrone: Wins by default as his opponent, Leo Enriquez, has been invisible during the campaign.
County Commissioner Precinct 1: Landy Warren: The candidates were close, and this is one case where Warren emphasizing conservative themes in his flyers pushed me over the top.
*Corrected. I had originally reversed his names, inadvertently making him into the star of Springtime for Hitler in The Producers…
There’s a couple of Williamson judicial races where I’m still seeking additional information, but I don’t want to delay putting this up any longer.
Remember to vote either today or Tuesday!
Addition Resources:
Guide from the Texas League of Women Voters
Community ImpactVoter Guide
Tags:2016 Election, Debra Lehrmann, Dick Shawn, Eve Guzman, Gary Gates, Grady Yarbrough, Michael Keasler, Michael Massengale, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Paul Green, Ray Wheless, Republicans, Robert Chody, Steve Smith, Texas, Wayne Christian, William "Bill" Kelberlau, Williamson County
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2016
This is not exactly a surprise, given that Cruz used to work under Attorney General Abbott as Solicitor General. Still, it is a slight departure, as Abbott has tended to keep his cards close to his chest and avoid pre-primary endorsements.
Does it move the needle? Probably not. But it certainly doesn’t hurt…
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Elections, Greg Abbott, Republicans, Ted Cruz, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Saturday, February 20th, 2016
“Jeb Bush, who sought to join his father and brother in winning the White House, suspended his campaign for the presidency Saturday night after a long year-long slide in the polls and a disappointing showing in the South Carolina primary.”
Trump is winning handily, with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz fighting for second place.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Donald Trump, Elections, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Republicans, South Carolina, Ted Cruz
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, February 20th, 2016
Turns out that Trump loves the ObamaCare mandate. Then he said Obama lied making all those promises about ObamaCare…right after making similar promises about his nebulous, pie-in-thes-sky “much better than ObamaCare, less expensive than Obamacare” health care plan that he fails to elucidate.
So he likes ObamaCare’s unrealistic promises, and the ObamaCare mandate, but hates the name “ObamaCare.”
Presumably TrumpCare is paid for by taxing unicorns.
And this is the same Trump that slammed Ted Cruz for supporting (before he became a Senator) John Roberts, who ruled the mandate, that Trump says he likes, as unconstitutional. It’s enough to make your head spin, if it weren’t already spinning from all of Trump’s previous spin.
“I’m angry, so I’m going to vote for a reality TV star with no core conservative principles who makes unrealistic promises!” seems a rather self-defeating strategy for Republican voters.
More on the subject.
Tags:2016 Election, 2016 Presidential Race, Donald Trump, Elections, ObamaCare, Republicans
Posted in Elections, ObamaCare, Republicans | 1 Comment »