Good to see. Planned Parenthood’s political arm is embarking on the most aggressive campaign it has ever waged in Texas, with plans to spend $3 million to turn out voters for Democratic candidates including Sens. Wendy Davis for governor and Leticia Van de Putte for lieutenant governor. Bolstered by a $1 million donation from a […]
Posts Tagged ‘fundraising’
The relevant numbers in the finance reports
The headlines will say one thing but you need to dig a little deeper to get the picture. Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott has amassed a $35.6 million war chest in his campaign for Texas governor, a figure his aides called unprecedented Tuesday. Abbott’s cash-on-hand figure dwarfs the $13.1 million that his Democratic opponent, Sen. […]
Why would you want to regulate that?
I mean, what are a few fiery explosions among friends? Members of the state House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee have been struggling for several months over how to respond to last year’s massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. that killed 15 and devastated the nearby city of West. On Tuesday, committee Chairman […]
Convention coverage
Wendy and Leticia and a whole host of others rally the crowd in Dallas. Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte shared the spotlight at the Texas Democratic Party convention on Friday night, promising to change the direction of the state, ripping their Republican opponents and imploring Democrats to break the GOP’s two-decade grip on […]
What would you have done differently?
Lisa Falkenberg remembers the Wendy Davis filibuster and complains about what has and hasn’t happened between then and the one-year commemoration of it. You don’t just dust off a social movement because a year has passed and you need to raise money. The fire Davis lit has to be fed and tended if it’s going […]
Great moments in false equivalence
The headline reads Money from disputed tax bills flowing to candidates for top tax chief, and then the story tells us that more than 99% of that money is going to one of those candidates. Business entities and taxpayers are pumping thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of candidates who, if elected state comptroller, […]
Dan Patrick loves the Latinos
Can you feel the love? State Sen. Dan Patrick’s victory over incumbent David Dewhurst in the Republican runoff for lieutenant governor on Tuesday night came as no surprise. And while the conciliatory tone that marked his victory speech — in which he pledged to make inroads with Hispanics — sounded nothing like the fiery immigration […]
Probably the last thing I’ll write about Jim Hogan
At least, I hope it’s the last thing, because there ain’t much to say. Texas Democrats are not holding their breaths for a win for the office held by Republicans since Perry ousted Jim Hightower in 1992. Democratic consultant Jason Stanford went so far Wednesday as to say [Jim] Hogan’s candidacy [for Ag Commissioner] is […]
Look out for LVdP
Do not underestimate her. In the lavish Belo Mansion, tucked in the heart of this city’s downtown, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte is locked in a back-and-forth with small-business owners from the region. Van de Putte, the San Antonio Democrat running for lieutenant governor, is courting support — and cash — from the mix of […]
The Texas Future Project
Very interesting. High-powered Democrats from Texas and California have joined with national labor unions in an effort to mobilize out-of-state donors and raise millions of dollars to build a progressive majority in the Lone Star State that could change state policy and national elections. The Texas Future Project – that also will seek to convince […]
Davis outraises Abbott on the 8 day report
Nice. Democrat Wendy Davis reported that she outstripped Republican Greg Abbott in fundraising, bringing in $2.85 million over a 29-day period. His totals were reported here. Davis has $11.3 million tucked away looking ahead to the general election. Her overall bank account still lags well behind Abbott’s $30 million. The Republican attorney general has seen […]
January campaign finance reports for Houston officeholders
One more set of finance reports to document, from city of Houston officeholders and candidates. I’m not going to link to the individual reports this time, since the city’s system automatically downloads the PDFs and I don’t feel like uploading these all to my Google drive. Here are the basic summaries, with my comments afterwards […]
Abbott outraises Davis on 30 day report
Would have been nice to have done better. Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott outraised Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis by more than 3-to-1 in the first three weeks in January in the race for governor, according to figures reported by each campaign Monday. The $3.1 million-plus that Abbott raised from Jan. 1 through Jan. 23, […]
Alameel wants a refund
Good luck with that. Just like his first run for office in 2012, David Alameel’s second bid for public office is drawing questions about his past campaign donations. Alameel, the owner of a multimillion-dollar chain of dental clinics that caters to Hispanics, is one of five Democrats vying for the U.S. Senate seat currently held […]
You know you’re not supposed to do fundraising activities while in your official capacity, right?
Oops. [On Wednesday], the Texas Democratic Party called on Rockwall County Clerk, Republican Shelli Miller, to close down the illegal campaign fundraising operation she is running within her official office to benefit a February 1st event featuring keynote speaker, Attorney General Greg Abbott. Conducting campaign activities out of an official office is a direct violation of state […]
Davis outraises Abbott
Nice. Democrat Wendy Davis pulled $8.7 million into her gubernatorial campaign coffers in the last half of 2013, and another group committed to her election as governor raised $3.5 million over the same period, the Davis campaign announced Tuesday. Minutes after she announced the combined $12.2 million haul, her expected Republican opponent, Attorney General Greg […]
At Large #2 runoff overview
One of these runoffs is not like the others. On paper, the Houston City Council incumbent most at risk heading into Saturday’s runoff elections is first-termer Andrew Burks, in At-Large Position 2. Challenger David Robinson had spent more than $201,000 as of last week, to Burks’ roughly $76,000. Robinson, who also earned more votes than […]
More on LVdP for Lite Guv
Mostly from Monday’s Lone Star Project news roundup email. AP: Texas Democrats offering stark contrast. Texas voters won’t have a hard time telling the difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates next year. With the addition of San Antonio Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, attorney Sam Houston and party activist Steve Brown last week, the […]
Tactics are nice, but turnout is key
The main thing I learned in this story about Wendy Davis’ national connections is that at least one person in the state gets what she will really need to win. “I’m going back home to Texas and walking door to door,” said Brian Stansbury, a lawyer from Texas who has lived in Washington for more […]
Today is a great day to give some money to Wendy Davis’ campaign
If your daily reading habits include progressive blogs, especially Texas progressive blogs, then you’ve probably noticed some of my blog colleagues making a plea today for contributions to Wendy Davis’ gubernatorial campaign. Why would you want to do that? Lots of people have given their reasons – BOR has a list of many of them […]
Here comes the Dome renovation committee
I was wondering when we’d see this. Reliant Park and Harris County officials on Thursday announced the launch of a campaign to garner voter support for a plan to redevelop the Astrodome, with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee each pledging $5,000 to the effort. A referendum to fund […]
On the matter of money
This story is about the strong desire among Dems for Sen. Wendy Davis to run for Governor, but it touches on a subject that inevitably comes up whenever the subject is running statewide in Texas. A campaign for governor would cost $30 million to $40 million, said [Matt] Angle. Davis raised $4 million for her […]
Once again with Wendy and the odds
Ross Ramsey in The Trib has his turn with the “what office should Sen. Wendy Davis run for?” question. Abbott, the Republican attorney general, is his party’s favored candidate at the moment, in spite of the presence of Tom Pauken, a former state party chairman, in the race. Abbott has scads of money in his […]
Davis raises $1 million, BGTX raises $1.1 million
Considering she had only two weeks to do it, that’s not too shabby. State Sen. Wendy Davis, the new star of the Texas Democratic Party, raised nearly $1 million in the final two weeks of June, much of it from small donors who sent her money after she launched her famous filibuster of a restrictive […]
Mayoral finance reports for July
Let’s go to the press releases for the initial hype. Here’s Mayor Parker’s announcement of her fundraising haul for the July report. Houston Mayor Annise Parker has raised more than $2.2 million for her re-election campaign since February, with the support of nearly 2,000 individual donors and organizations and without loaning her campaign any personal […]
Dark money
It’s a small step, if it’s allowed to be taken, but the bill to require donor disclosure on so-called “dark money” is a step in the right direction. Senate Bill 346 takes direct aim at the cloak of anonymity that currently shields so-called “dark money” groups – those tax-exempt organizations whose donors drop big bucks […]
Reed for AG?
This is one of the stranger “draft somebody” movements I’ve seen. A movement has been building among local Republicans over the past few months to encourage Susan Reed to run for state attorney general in 2014. Reed, the hard-nosed, four-term Bexar County district attorney, would be the first female AG in the state’s history, a […]
Another Battleground Texas story
There are three points of interest in this Statesman story about Battleground Texas. Point One: They’ve convinced the people who most needed convincing, the money people and the dedicated volunteers. Battleground Texas quickly won the allegiance of Steve Mostyn and Mary Patrick. Mostyn is a Houston trial lawyer who, with his wife, Amber, is the […]
A Q&A about the TCDCC
Last week, I introduced you to the Texas County Democratic Campaign Committee (TCDCC), which is focused on recruiting and supporting county-level Democratic candidates outside of our current urban strongholds. It’s an idea and an organization that is long overdue. I wanted to know more about it, so I sent some questions to TCDCC founder Robert […]
Is this the end for the Railroad Commission?
For the name, I mean, not the Commission itself. After 40 minutes of discussion about a bill that would rename the Railroad Commission of Texas and make other significant changes to the agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, the Senate passed the measure Thursday with a 21-0 vote. Senate Bill 212, carried by […]
It’s good to be a payday lender
Bleah. Earlier this legislative session, a chief of staff for a senator noted that the $4 billion Texas payday and auto-title loan industry would soon grow powerful and lucrative enough that the Texas Legislature would be unable to take it on. That time may have already come. At a legislative hearing this morning, state Sen. […]
Gubernatorial speculation: Mike Villarreal and Bill White
A few days back, BOR had a post about who was on deck for 2014, and the first two candidates they speculated about for Governor were two I had not talked about here before, State Rep. Mike Villarreal and 2010 candidate and former Houston Mayor Bill White. (They also listed State Sen. Kirk Watson, but […]