In the game of District 35 Chicken, Ciro Rodriguez decided that no, he didn’t want to face off against Lloyd Doggett’s 18-wheeler full of money and swerved aside. Instead he’s going to run against Republican incumbent Francisco “Quico” Canseco for the 23rd Congressional District seat Rodriguez lost to him in 2010. But before that, he has to get past State Rep. Pete Gallego, who has been running for the 23rd for months and tried (unsuccessfully) to warn Rodriguez off what is now likely to be a very bruising Democratic primary fight. (John Bustamante, son of yet another former Democratic congressmen, is also running, but with only $3,000 in his campaign coffers, I see no sign that he has gotten any traction, whereas both Rodriguez and Gallego have broken the $100,000 mark.)
Ciro Rodriguez Blinks
March 9th, 2012Texas Public Policy Foundation Snags Richard Epstein
March 9th, 2012The Texas Public Policy Foundation announced that legal scholar Richard A. Epstein was joining them as a Senior Fellow at the Foundation’s Center for Tenth Amendment Studies.
That’s a terrific pickup for them. Epstein is on a very short list of the very most important conservative legal scholars in the country. His book Takings (which, I must confess, I still haven’t read) is widely regarded as the most comprehensive legal exegesis of why the New Deal is unconstitutional. I think Epstein (like Mario Loyola and Ted Cruz) will find the Center for Tenth Amendment Studies an ideal place to further his research.
Congratulations to TPPF for a very solid addition to their already impressive array of scholars.
Tea Party Takes Another Scalp
March 8th, 2012Ohio Republican incumbent Rep. Jean Schmidt has been ousted by political newcomer Brad Wenstrup in the Republican Primary. Mark her down (along with Charlie Crist and Mike Castle) as another Establishment Republican taken down by the Tea Party. John Fund comes to the same conclusion on NRO, noting “votes to raise the debt ceiling and for the Wall Street bailout, support for the pro-union Davis-Bacon Act, and a record of supporting tax increases when she was in the state legislature.” Among the issues the Super-PAC Campaign for Primary Accountability (who spent $241,000 in advertising against her) cited in opposing Schmidt were her taking money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee PAC in her first race for congress, her love of earmarks, and various campaign-related abuses of taxpayer money.
This is a safe Republican seat, so the replacement of a Washington establiushment Republican with a fresh conservative is a good thing. And, as Micky Kaus has noted, defeating wayward Republicans in primaries does wonders for keeping the others from wavering…
Williams Switches from CD33 to CD25 Race. No, the OTHER Williams.
March 8th, 2012I wonder if Michael Williams is thinking about swearing out a stalking complaint against Roger Williams.
First Michael Williams dropped out of the Senate race to run for the newly created Congressional District 33 on June 17th. Then, a week later, Roger Williams did the same. Then at the end of July, Michael Williams switched from the District 33 race to the District 25 race. Now, in the wake of the redistricting decision, ensuring that 33 is going to be a “minority opportunity” district, Roger Williams is following Michael’s lead again, announcing that he’s switching from the District 33 to District 25 as well, which means we’re finally going to get that Williams vs. Williams showdown.
I’ve made my feelings about district-shopping and carpetbagger bids clear before. Roger Williams’ home of Weatherford is smack dab in District 12, currently represented by Republican incumbent Kay Granger. I can certainly understand not wanting to take on an entrenched Republican incumbent, but that still doesn’t justify district shopping.
That said, I think either Williams would make a solid Republican Representative.
Texas Senate Race: Boone, Holcomb Out, Grady Yarbrough In
March 7th, 2012The 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.
Giving the People What They Want
March 7th, 2012The top ten search terms leading people to my blog today:
- dennis kucinich wife
- encrypted_search_terms
- mrs. dennis kucinich
- kucinich wife
- mrs dennis kucinich
- kucinich’s wife
- call girls (goes to a piece on Eliot Spitzer)
- hot wife
- kucinichs wife
- kucinich wife pictures
What can I say? I’m giving the people what they want.
Vox populai, vox dei
Dennis Kucinich Goes Down
March 7th, 2012Marcy Kaptur ended Dennis Kucinich’s congressional career last night, beating him in the Democratic Primary 60% to 36%.
There’s some talk of Kucinich moving to Washington State and running for congress there, but one wonders why Democrats there would feel inclined to elect a carpetbagger. He could try a Senate run, but after this year, the next Senate race in Ohio will be 2016. Barring another gadfly run for President, Kucinich’s national political career is most likely done.
On the plus side, that will give him more time to spend with his wife…
New Democratic U.S. Congressional Race Filings
March 6th, 2012A “no-insight-just-the-facts” post, since I don’t have time to analyze the post-redistricting candidate filings right now:
Kenneth Sanders: District 6
David: Sanchez: District 26
Katherine Savers McGovern: District 32
Salomon Torres: District 34
Lloyd Doggett: District 35
Michael Totten Has Moved
March 6th, 2012From his old gig at Pajamas Media to his new digs at World Affairs. Update your links accordingly.