Prior to the SCOTUS stay, yesterday was the filing deadline for the 2012 primaries. That has now been pushed back to Monday, with the likelihood of another window after we get some kind of ruling about what the maps will look like, but a flock of hopefuls acted like yesterday was the drop dead day anyway. Here, taken from an email Carl Whitmarsh sent out with all of the Democratic filings so far, is a sample of local races of interest.
United States Senator – Daniel Boone, Sean Hubbard
Anybody have any idea where Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is? Even with the delayed deadline, you’d think someone would have heard something by now.
United States Representative, District 7 – Phillip Andrews, Jim Cargas
See Stace for info about Cargas. 2010 write in candidate Lissa Squiers has been collecting petition signatures for this race, but I have no idea where she is with that. Seems like a dicey year to be collecting sigs, as no one knows which ones will be ultimately valid.
United States Representative, District 10 – Dan Grant
See BOR for the official announcement.
United States Representative, District 22 – Kesha Rogers, Doug Blatt
Rogers is the LaRouchie candidate who won the nomination in 2010. Let’s not make that mistake again, shall we? A third candidate, KP George of Fort Bend, has also filed, but since he did so in FBC he’s not in this report.
State Board of Education, District 6 – Patricia Q. Nilsson, Traci Jensen, David Scott
State Board of Education, District 7 – Dexter Smith
And to think I had been worried about getting one candidate for this race. Whoever wins will not be facing incumbent Terri Leo, as she has reportedly decided to step down, according to Ross Ramsey. District 7 is David Bradley’s, and I’m glad to see someone file against him even if I know nothing about him.
House District 131 – Alma Allen (I), Wanda Adams
We now have three current Council members looking for office elsewhere. The first was Mike Sullivan, who is running against Tax Assessor Don Sumners for the GOP nomination. The third…we’ll get to that in a minute. Adams defeated Lawrence Allen, the SBOE member in District 4 (who won the seat after Allen knocked off Ron Wilson in the 2004 primary), in a runoff in 2007 for Council District D, so this is sort of a rematch by proxy. And it’s not the only one, but once again I’m getting ahead of myself.
House District 134 – Ann Johnson
I am aware of at least two other people who were looking at this race, but as of the deadline-that-wasn’t, the field still belongs to Ann Johnson.
House District 137 – Jamaal Smith, Joseph Carlos Madden
Both Smith and Madden announced their intent to run shortly after Rep. Scott Hochberg bowed out. Brandon Dudley, a 2010 judicial candidate and Chief of Staff to State Sen. Rodney Ellis, has also expressed interest in this seat.
House District 144 – Kevin J. Risner, Ornaldo Ybarra, Mary Ann Perez
Perez is the HCC Trustee in District III, who knocked off incumbent Diane Guzman by a razor-thin 44 vote margin in 2009. Risner and Ybarra had filed earlier; there was yet another person announcing himself as a potential candidate at that time, but I have not heard anything further from him since then.
House District 146 – Borris Miles (I), Al Edwards
House District 147 – Garnet Coleman (I), Ray Hill
Yes, this is now four consecutive elections featuring Miles v Edwards. All I can say is that I hope the pattern is broken this time. If you’re wondering why Ray Hill is running against Rep. Coleman, see here for the reason. I respect Ray Hill, but Rep. Coleman has my full support.
Civil District Court 215 – Steve Kirkland (I), Elaine H. Palmer
Judge Kirkland is the only sitting Democratic jurist to draw a challenge so far. He’s also the only openly gay member of the bench. I have no idea if these two facts are related or not.
County School Board Trustee, Position 6, Precinct 1 – Erica S. Lee, Jarvis Johnson
And here we have our third Council member seeking another office, as well as our second parent/child rematch; Johnson unsuccessfully challenged Erica Lee’s mother, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, in the 2010 primary for CD18. And like that one, this one is on my ballot as well. Meanwhile, over in Precinct 3, 2010 candidate for HD132 Silvia Mintz has announced her candidacy for that precinct’s HCDE seat.
County Commissioner Precinct 3 – A. Robert Hassan, Glorice McPherson
Hassan ran for the Democratic nomination for County Judge in 2010 against Gordon Quan and in 2008 against David Mincberg, and ran as a Republican for CD18 in 2006. I know nothing about Glorice McPherson.
Constable, Precinct 1 – Jack Abercia (I), Cindy Vara-Leija, Quincy Whitaker, Alan Rosen, Grady Castleberry
Constable, Precinct 2 – Zerick Guinn, Lee Hernandez, Christopher Diaz, Joe Martinez, Jeffrey Freeman, Harry Zamora, Ruben Loreto, Daniel Vela, Danny Avalos
Constable, Precinct 3 – Ken Jones (I), Eric Reed,Kenneth Perkins
Constable, Precinct 6 – Victor Trevino (I)
Constable, Precinct 7 – May Walker (I), Samuel Hayes, Jr., Michael Coleman, Leon Hubbard
I have no idea why Constable is such a popular office. I do know that Constables Abercia and Walker are having some troubles, so maybe that’s part of it. Then again, so is Constable Trevino and he’s the only one unopposed, so who knows.
Harris County Democratic Party Chair – Lane Lewis
Last but certainly not least, another race in which there have been rumors of other candidates but no other filings as yet. One person sent out an email announcing his intent to run, then sent another saying he’d changed his mind. A second has a “draft” movement going on. Prior to either of these there was some unknown entity sending out emails to Lewis, on which a bunch of others were bcc’ed, asking a bunch of obnoxious questions. The originating addresses were bogus, and they had the feel of groundwork for a challenge to Lewis, but so far that has not materialized. We’ll see what happens at the CEC meeting on the 20th.
Monday is the official filing deadline, until and unless one or more court decrees otherwise. Expect another late flurry of filings at that time.
State Board of Education District 6 simply cannot be won by a Democrat. This is a down ballot, low visibility contest, and straight party voting will swamp any Democrat, even a well-funded one with significant name ID. If Patricia Q. Nilsson, Traci Jensen, or David Scott really want better representation from their community on the state board, they should volunteer their time in the campaign of whatever more centrist Republican may contest the position. At the moment, Donna Bahorich, a Dan Patrick aide and endorsed by incumbent far right member Terri Leo, is the only announced candidate, but others are looking at the contest.
I just want there to be someone on my ballot that’s worth my vote. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?
let the games begin,kuffner is right-i will be backing garnet coleman 100 percent,heres why,in 1995 i was struggling and battling homelessness,in addition, i didnt have any eyeglasses and couldnt see,
i personally asked rep coleman if he would assist me in finding some one to assist me in the application process for a housing assistance program called “shelter plus” and assistance in getting an eye glass perscription.He did,i was provided housing for over a year untill i was able to get on my feet and it was threw shelter plus program that he advocated to continue to fund to the state legislature,the glasses arrived in days threw another state funded program at that time threw”search”.I would ask mr hill to withdraw in this race,it sends the wrong message -at the wrong time- i assure you-ray hill.
sarah davis 134 th vs ann johnson- i am doing my best to stay out of this race but its sooooo tempting to want to dabble a bit-its way to early to see which way sarah will go-i am trying to see her camp team this go around-the jury is still out on who i will be backing in this race-but i will be pushing one of theses canidates for sure.
al edwards vs borris miles- the facts are al edwards does well in the on year rather the off years,borris is a fighter in this district but in order to win he always has to have the perfect camp and an 18 wheeler full of money-the jury is still out on who i will back in this race.i have heard rumors that the district has two state reps-al and borris is the off year alternate,that the voters have grown comfortable having both alternate and will demonstrate this at the ballot box.
respectfully submitted
joshua “ben” bullard
WaPo says Sanchez is out: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=dc6019430cded62ca5401b50339fc443
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