Posts Tagged ‘Republicans’

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Reports of the Tea Party’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

There have been a lot of wishful thinking thumbsucker pieces from liberal media outlets proclaiming that the Tea Party is done, finished, a spent force. (Here’s an example.)

And indeed, those looking only at some top-line races in Texas (like Katrina Pierson’s failed attempt to take down Pete Sessions) might find tend to agree.

However, a look at all the races (including many down-ballot) shows that the Tea Party is alive and well.

Start at Lt. Governor. Dan Patrick says he followed the Ted Cruz blueprint and leaned heavily on the Tea Party. “If you have a candidate who will work and at least enough resources to fund a statewide race then and you have the credentials, the tea party will bring you to victory.”

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s Michael Quinn Sullivan sees conservative victories up and down the ballot:

  • The most liberal Republican in the Texas Senate lost.
  • Conservative ranks in the Senate are swelling.
  • Every House conservative won re-election (with re-enforcements coming from the open-seat races).
  • House incumbents affiliated with Speaker Joe Straus lost big.
  • Statewide races saw the TFR-backed candidates earning commanding leads going into run-offs.

    • Sullivan goes on to cite Don Huffines defeating John Carona, Brooks Landgraf defeating Austin Keith, and the defeats of Straus allies Bennett Ratliff, Ralph Sheffield, Linda Harper-Brown, Diane Patrick and Lance Gooden.

    This AP piece touts Tea Party success in Texas, but is lamentably short on details.

    Even liberal fossil Paul Burka says that “If there was a clear winner in last night’s election, it was the tea party,” noting the defeats of Joe Straus allies Harper-Brown and Ratliff.

    So too at the national level. The enthusiastic response to Sarah Palin’s speech and other Tea Party favorites shows that the movement is far from dead.

    Which is not to say huge obstacles don’t remain. The Tea Party still hasn’t built up their financial networks enough to reliably take on big-money incumbents, and even in Texas, previous Tea Party gains were insufficient to wrest the Speakership from Straus (who just spent $2,578,942.72 to retain a job that pays $7,200 a year). But the Tea Party movement is still very much alive and kicking, much to the chagrin of RINOS, democrats and the media…

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Hilderbran Withdraws, Hegar Advances

    Friday, March 7th, 2014

    When last we checked, Glenn Hegar was on the edge of winning the Republican nomination for Comptroller outright, but he ended up garnering a frustrating 49.99% of the vote.

    Thankfully, primary opponent Harvey Hilderbran has aceeded to reality and announced he’s withdrawing from the race, saving everyone a lot of money and effort for contesting a race that was already a foregone conclusion.

    Hegar will face (and most likely obliterate) Democrat Mike Collier in November.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    A Quick Overview of Primary Results

    Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

    A very brief look at last night’s primary results:

  • John Cornyn won, but couldn’t break 60% against a field of underfunded challengers.
  • The Democratic Senate runoff is going to be between the big-spender David Alameel and the LaRouche candidate Kesha Rogers.
  • As expected, both Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis won their gubernatorial primaries. But Abbott garnered 91% and over 1.2 million votes, the most of any candidate for any office. By contrast, Davis got 432,000 votes and won 79% of the vote against underfunded challenger Ray Madrigal, indicating a distinct enthusiasm gap despite Davis’ nationwide MSM cheer-leading corps.
  • Dan Patrick’s early lead over incumbent David Dewhurst in the Lt. Governor’s race held up. Patrick pulled in 550,742 votes for 41.5% of the vote, while Dewhurst got 376,164 votes for 28.3%. Maybe Dewhurst can carpet-bomb the runoff with money, but that’s an awful big gap to make up. We knew that Dewhurst losing to Cruz in 2012 hurt him; now we know how much.
  • Ken Paxton takes the lead into the runoff with 566,080 votes over Dan Branch’s 426,561.
  • Glenn Hegar is hovering right at the threshold of beating Harvey Hildebran outright in the Comptroller race.
  • George P. Bush garnered 934,501 to win the Land Commissioner primary…or over twice as many votes as Wendy Davis.
  • Sid Miller (410,273) and Tommy Merritt (248,568) are heading for a runoff for Agricultural Commissioner, leaving Joe Straus ally Eric Opiela out in the cold.
  • All the Ted Cruz-endorsed Supreme Court incumbents won their races.
  • Super-tight runoff in U.S. House District 23 between Francisco “Quico” Canseco and Will Hurd to face Democratic incumbent Pete Gallego. Canseco held the seat before Gallego, and whoever wins the runoff has a good chance of taking the swing seat back.
  • Katrina Pierson was unable to unseat Pete Sessions in U.S. House District 32, garnering 36.4% of the vote. As I feared, Sarah Palin’s endorsement came to late to truly capitalize on it in fundraising.
  • Matt McCall did even better, where he and another challenger kept Lamar Smith at 60.4% in U.S. House District 21. Though they won their primaries, Sessions and Smith might be vulnerable to further challenges in 2016.
  • As far as I can tell, every U.S. or statewide incumbent Republican either won or is leading their race. Except David Dewhurst.

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    Dan Patrick Beating David Dewhurst Soundly

    Tuesday, March 4th, 2014

    Most people were expecting to see a David Dewhurst—Dan Patrick runoff for Lt. Governor. however, you’d be hard=pressed to find anyone who would predict that not only would Patrick garner more votes in the primary than Dewhurst, but also do so by a significant margin. Right now, with 59% of the vote in, Patrick is ahead of Dewhurst by over 100,000 votes, garnering 41.8 of the vote, while Dewhurst is getting 28.3%.

    People we’re saying that Patrick was lucky Jerry Patterson and Todd Staples were the race, ensuring a runoff. Now it appears that Dewhurst should be thankful they’re keeping Dan Patrick from winning outright…

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    A Random Assortment of Texas Statewide Race News

    Monday, March 3rd, 2014

    With primary voting upon us tomorrow, it looks like I’ve run out of campaign to cover. Here then is a quick, scatter-shot batch of snippets on various races:

  • Wendy Davis is super popular…just not in Texas. “27 percent of the money Davis raised in the last filing quarter came from donors outside Texas, compared to just 2 percent of Abbott’s total.”
  • In the Comptroller race, Glenn Hegar seems to have have racked up the lion’s share of conservative endorsements, and is also winning the money race over Harvey Hilderbran (who has mostly racked up the endorsements of business groups, newspapers, and “shill” groups like Steve Holtz’s “Conservative Republicans of Texas“). 2010 Gubernatorial hopeful Debra Medina is also polling strongly despite having raised relatively little money, I didn’t think she was ready for primetime in 2010, but Comptroller is probably a great spot for a Libertarian. I’d vote Hegar over Medina, but I’d vote both over Hilderbran.
  • The Agricultural Commissioner’s race is easier to narrow down with who not to vote for, namely J. Allen Carnes, who voted Democratic until 2012, and “donated to Texas Democrats Pete Gallego, Henry Cuellar, and Ciro Rodriguez.” Also who to vote against: Eric Opiela, AKA Joe Straus’ lawyer. By contrast, Sid Miller seems to have racked up an impressive list of endorsements.
  • In the Land Commissioner race, George P. Bush does have a primary opponent in David Watts, who has actually racked up a fair number of endorsements. Plus Paul Burka isn’t impressed with George P. Bush’s campaign (and Burka may even be right for a change).
  • Lt. Governor race roundup. if the Chronicle paywall won’t let you in, search for the first sentence on Google news. Here’s some damning-with-faint-praise for Todd Staples: “‘Staples becomes a plausible alternative if you don’t have Dewhurst in the race,’ Henson said. ‘My impression is that he is well-liked in the Capitol special-interest community.'” Ouch!
  • Here’s your biannual reminder that Texas mainstream media outlets almost always endorse the most liberal candidate.

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Pete Sessions vs. Katrina Pierson: Super-Brief Race Update

    Monday, March 3rd, 2014

    I haven’t been covering the primary race between incumbent Pete Sessions and Tea Party favorite Katrina Pierson for a couple of reasons. First, it’s not my district. Second, when it comes to incumbent Republicans drifting too far left, Sessions (with an ACU rating of 97%) doesn’t even rank among the top 100. Even though I was on the other side of the battle over defunding ObamaCare. I didn’t regard inter-party tactical disagreement as a reason for excommunication.

    However, a lot of news has been popping up on the race:

  • First, Sarah Palin endorsed Pierson, which is a huge, huge boost for her. Unfortunately, it came fairly late in the primary season, making it difficult for Pierson to capitalize on it for fundraising. The fact that Pierson has also been endorsed by Freedomworks, Rafael Cruz and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds won’t hurt either.
  • Pierson rasied over $68,000 this year, which is not chicken feed, but is pretty low to take out an incumbent with over $1 million cash on hand.
  • Then it came to light that Sessions doesn’t actually live in the district:

  • But in the weirdest twist, Sheriff Joe Arpaio endorsed Pierson, then unendorsed her later the same day and endorsed Sessions, saying Pierson has misled him about Sessions being a supporter of illegal alien amnesty. (You would think Sheriff Joe would do a bit of research before offering an endorsement.)

    • Will the Arpaio kerfuffle blunt her momentum? Maybe, but Sessions more than 10-1 fundraising advantage will be a much steeper obstacle to overcome against an entrenched incumbent…

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas, video | No Comments »

    Interview With Texas Lt. Governor Candidate Jerry Patterson

    Saturday, March 1st, 2014

    Friday night, I was finally able to get an interview with Texas Land Commissioner and Lt. Governor candidate Jerry Patterson, which I’d been meaning to do for quite a while. Below is a pretty close transcription of the interview (or as close as I could make it with my 45 words-a-minute fingers).

    Lawrence Person: What do you see as current Lt. Governor David Dewhurst’s biggest mistakes in office?

    Jerry Patterson: His biggest mistake is not a mistake but a shortcoming, that being having no ability to lead and motivate both voters and members of the senate. We all make mistakes, but shortcomings are more serious than mistakes.

    Lawrence Person: Likewise, what qualities or policies do you think separate you from Dan Patrick and Todd Staples?

    Jerry Patterson: Policy-wise, there’s very little difference. Between me and Dan, my story is not going to change from day to day and venue to venue. I feel no compulsion to tell you what I think you want to hear to like me.

    As for Todd, I’m a little more of a risk-taker, I’m bolder, and I’m less consultant-driven.

    Lawrence Person: What, if any, procedural changes would you make in running the Texas state senate?

    Jerry Patterson: The first thing I’m going to do is roll the tape of the evening Wendy Davis carried out her filibuster, and make sure all the Democrats who helped encourage that riot are not in charge of committees.

    I will also make it easier for the Lt. Governor to recommit bills from one committee to another.

    Lawrence Person: The Lt. Governor has tremendous influence over the composition of the Legislative Budget Board. What specific background and qualities would you seek in those you would appoint to the board?

    Jerry Patterson: They need to be fiscal conservatives, and they need to be resistant to those who blow smoke into places you don’t usually see it, and they need to have those qualities on a consistent basis.

    Lawrence Person: How did the Concealed Handgun bill come about, and how hard was getting that passed?

    Jerry Patterson: It had been attempted several times before. I sponsored it in 1993, passed it, and Gov. [Ann] Richards vetoed it. But it wasn’t a real CHL bill, it was just a referendum on whether to pass a CHL bill. In 1995, we have a new Governor, George W. Bush, who won in part because he promised to sign a CHL bill if it came to his desk. In 1995, I was sole author of SB 60, the CHL bill. It was a difficult task. We had a lot of Democratic support, and a lot of Republican opposition. It was made more difficult when Selena [the Tejano signer] was shot and killed by a deranged woman in Corpus Christi. But I told wavering legislators I would campaign against them if they did not live up to their commitment. Then I had to deal with hostile points-of-order to kill the bill. I was the chair of the conference committee, and I hired parliamentarians with a meticulous knowledge of the rules to make sure I didn’t make any mistake that would allow opponents to overturn the bill with a point-of-order. I think the final vote in the senate was about 22-8. And that included five yeas who wanted to vote no, but knew their district wouldn’t be happy.

    Lawrence Person: What do you think are the most essential actions Texas needs to take to secure the border?

    Jerry Patterson: There are several. We have to first realize that this is a three-legged stool: border security, assimilation, and immigration reform. You cannot have border security without immigration reform, and you cannot have immigration reform without border security. We have to stop birthright citizenship, we have to stop this bilingual ballot nonsense. You know what my name is on the Spanish-language ballot?

    Lawrence Person: No, what?

    Jerry Patterson: It’s Jerry Patterson. We need to do what the GOP platform calls for: biometric ID card for non-residents, no amnesty, a guest worker program with no path to citizenship. We need to focus on coyotes, narcotraffickers, terrorists, felons. That’s where our resources should be used, not chasing kitchen help.

    Lawrence Person: Any final thought or message for BattleSwarm Blog readers?

    Jerry Patterson: I’ll always be honest with you, and I won’t change what I say to get your vote.

    Thanks to Jerry Patterson and his staff for taking the time to do the interview.

    I have another interview with Lt. Governor candidate Dan Patrick which, do to technical difficulties on my part, I’m still trying to complete. Once that’s done I’ll put that up as well.

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    Posted in Border Control, Elections, Guns, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    John Boehner and “Trust”

    Thursday, February 6th, 2014

    “House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday joined the Senate’s top Republican in suggesting an immigration overhaul this year is unlikely, citing a lack of trust among the GOP toward President Obama.”

    I’m sure the GOP doesn’t trust Obama, but that summary overlooks another glaring trust issue, namely that the constituents of House Republicans don’t trust GOP reps not to cave on illegal alien amnesty. And they especially don’t trust you, Speaker Boehner.

    The Republican establishment and their big business donors have gotten it into their head that illegal alien amnesty is just a swell idea, and widespread and near universal rejection of amnesty by actual voting Americans doesn’t seem to be able to dislodge this idee fixe.

    If you ask actual Americans how important immigration reform, it’s not the first, or fifth, or even tenth priority. People are much more concerned with the lack of jobs in the Obama Economy, and how ObamaCare is raising their premiums or ending their coverage entirely.

    Want to earn voters trust? Stop trying to sneak in illegal alien amnesty by the backdoor or in smoke-filled rooms. There should be no immigration legislation until Obama is out of office and current laws are enforced. Period.

    John Boehner is right. We don’t trust Obama. But we also don’t trust him, or the rest of the Republican establishment, not to sell out their constituents for a pocketful of promises.

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    Scenes from the Cornyn-Stockman Senate Race

    Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

    A few tidbits on this race:

  • Steve Stockman is now accepting Bitcoins for his run against John Cornyn. This is pretty much a gimmick, as the tiny, Slashdot-centric audience who follow Bitcoin are singularly unlikely to involve themselves in Republican Party primaries. Another tiny problem: they’re not approved as a donation method by the FEC.
  • John Cornyn gets endorsed by the NRA. An incumbent Republican Senator with an A rating from the NRA getting their endorsement is hardly a surprise, but it’s a good pickup for him, especially since Stockman recently said that the tears of liberals make the best gun lubricant, and counts both the NRA and Gun Owners of America among previous endorsements.
  • Cornyn’s Texans for a Conservative Majority SuperPAC has already spent $70,000 slamming Stockman.
  • Stockman also compared Cornyn to PajamaBoy (Warning: Wiegel/Slate). That’s not so much a stretch as a rubber-band that’s already broken and been thrown away…
  • The only poll I’ve seen has Cornyn up 44 points, though this early that’s largely a name-recognition issue.
  • Cornyn’s name will appear last on Brewster county’s ballots.

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    Statewide Race Update for December 31, 2013

    Tuesday, December 31st, 2013

    I thought I would do a better job of keeping tabs on Texas statewide races, but there are just too many for me to do a good job tracking all of them. Going into next year, I’ll try to do a decent job of keeping track of the Governor’s Race (Spoiler: Greg Abbot wallops Wendy Davis), the Lt. Governor’s race, and the Attorney General’s race, and tidbits on any other races will just be a bonus. (If you know of any sites doing extensive coverage of the Ag Commissioner or Comptroller races, let me know.)

    Here’s a roundup that will include some oldish news.

  • The most hilarious liberal initiative in the Texas governor’s race has to be Lady Parts Justice PAC. No, this is not an Instapundit parody. Liberals have actually reduced half American citizens to their genitalia. “Ladies! Why think with your brain when you can think with your vagina?”
  • Wendy Davis hires out-of-state consultant to run her campaign. This is my shocked face.
  • On the Democratic side, Wendy Davis and a Reynaldo “Ray” Madŕigal have filed for governor (I’m assuming it’s the same Madrigal who pulled in 5.7% in a run for Corpus Christi Mayor in 2012) and outgoing El Paso Mayor John F. Cook is running for Land Commissioner.
  • Interview with Madrigal:

  • Greg Abbott pledges to keep Texas budgets small.
  • Abbot and Davis wrangle over redistricting lawyers fees.
  • Davis is not ready for prime time. “All this leaves me seriously wondering whether Davis’ campaign has any chance of winning in 2014. Or worse: whether Davis didn’t take the Valley seriously enough to come here polished and ready and with her A-team. Surely this type of poor venue and repetitive shallow non-statements and unprofessional media handling wouldn’t play, in say, a Dallas crowd.” And that’s from a liberal Democrat.
  • There was a Lt. Governor’s debate:

    kcentv.com – KCEN HD – Waco, Temple, and Killeen

  • Todd Staples releases a good list of heavy hitting donors.
  • David Dewhurst releases a better one. Harlan Crow, Jerry Jones, Red McCombs and Drayton MacLane all stick out as particularly heavy hitters. (Another name, Kevin Eltife, is probably best know as a Republican state senator who wants to raise taxes.)
  • David Dewhurst has a campaign video out:

  • Jerry Patterson touts his 2nd Amendment credentials:

  • Dan Patrick touts the endorsement of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
  • A closer look at how Michael Quinn Sullivan and TFR do endorsements.
  • Democratic State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio makes her Lt. Governor’s run official.
  • Attorney General candidate Ken Paxton racks up over 220 East Texas endorsements for his Attorney General bid.
  • Paxton also campaigned in East Texas.
  • He also announced the endorsement of Ted Cruz for Senate chairman Kelly Shackelford:

  • As well as state senator Brian Birdwell

  • The Texas Tribune does a roundup of the AG race, noting Paxton had won 6 out of 6 straw polls, while Dan Branch raised the most money (including a check from George W. Bush).
  • Meanwhile, AG candidate Barry Smitherman touts his right to life endorsements.
  • AG candidate Dan Branch vowed to defend Texas Voter ID Laws. I doubt that’s a differentiator among GOP candidate…
  • Branch also picked up a lot of business endorsements, including Texas Association of Builders’ HOMEPAC, the Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND, and the Texas Apartment Association. It was always pretty clear Branch was going to get the lion’s share of “moneybags PACs” endorsements…
  • Susan Combs endorses Glenn Hegar for Comptroller.
  • Sid Miller is running for Agricultural Commissioner, and he’s already wrapped up endorsements from Young Conservatives of Texas, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and Ted Nugent.

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    Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas, unions | No Comments »

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