Category Archives: Election 2002

Meanwhile, Ron Kirk is holding his own in the money department against John Cornyn. He’s also starting to get noticed by the national press. Took them long enough. Continue reading →

Tony Sanchez has outspent Governor Goodhair by a 5-1 margin so far in the gubernatorial race. Sanchez has shelled out over $31 million, compared to $6 million for Perry, of whch nearly $28 million is his own money. Both candidates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Governor Goodhair picked up an endorsement from a group of black ministers, which may help him peel off some of the black vote from Tony Sanchez. “I don’t see why you need to change a horse in the middle of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On Sunday, Chron political columnist Clay Robison wrote about politicians who campaign on the promise to “run government like a business”. It was amusing last week to hear Sanchez, the Democratic outsider, vowing to “scrub” the budget and Perry, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Perry v. Sanchez, round 1 of many Governor Goodhair and Tony Sanchez went at it during their first joint campaign appearance. I found this bit amusing: But the Republican governor rebuked Sanchez for claiming that he could use businesslike efficiency … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Clay Robison discusses the Kirk-Cornyn matchup, for which early polls show a tight race. Continue reading →

The state Democratic convention is underway this weekend in El Paso. Gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez fired a few choice shots at Governor Goodhair: “I am going to restore respect, integrity, honesty and decency to the governor’s office,” Sanchez told the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I see that the story of the Texas GOP and its broadly inclusive platform have been fairly widely noticed in the blogosphere. Today, state Democratic chair Molly Beth Malcolm fires back: State Democratic Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm on Monday said … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having voted down the silly anti-RINO proposition at the convention, the GOP made some serious inroads to the Democrats’ traditional base when a prominent black minister from Houston threw his support behind Governor Goodhair and the GOP. The Rev. C.L. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s an update from the state GOP convention: DALLAS — Texas Republicans argued over whether their state convention was mainstream or filled with “religious zealots” Saturday as delegates approved a party platform that called for the repeal of the state … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The political season has officially begun here in Texas with the state GOP convention occurring this weekend in Dallas. The Dems get together next weekend in El Paso. The Rs are trying to figure out how they can win without … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The good news for us Dems is that the Republicans may just be serious about enforcing party purity, according to the Houston Press. This expands on the Chron story I linked to on Sunday. Continue reading →

So Ron Kirk has sent a letter to the Senate urging confirmation hearings for President Bush’s nominees, despite the fact that earlier this year he sent a fundraising letter which criticized GOP attempts to “pack the federal courts with conservative … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in April I printed this excerpt from Joshua Trevino’s blog, in which a former coworker of Josh’s who is now on Ron Kirk‘s campaign speculated that Karen Hughes resigned in part because Dubya and the national party are worried … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Victor Morales renounces Democrats, according to this story: Victor Morales, who lost the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, said he will not run for office again as a Democrat. “At this point in time, I am independent,” Morales said, citing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another sign the GOP is taking the Democratic “Dream Team” ticket seriously: President Bush is getting involved. He’s started taking pot shots at Ron Kirk and Tony Sanchez, and is scheduled to speak in Houston during the Texas Democratic Convention, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The 23rd Congressional District in Texas, pitting the only Republican Hispanic representative from Texas against his first real challenger, is profiled here. State Rep. Henry Cuellar is looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla as part of the national Democratic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The downside of living in the same town as other good bloggers is getting beaten to the punch. Ginger mostly sums up my feelings about the editorials today by George Will and Clay Robison. It’s fair game for John Cornyn … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Joshua Trevino shares an interesting email from a former coworker who is now on the Ron Kirk campaign. It’s the 29 APRIL 2002 5 entry, but I’ll quote him here since he doesn’t have permalinks: Who knows how accurate this … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tim Fleck of the Houston Press thinks the main beneficiary of the state Democrats’ “dream team” ticket will be John Sharp, the Anglo candidate for Lt. Governor. I think turnout is going to decide these races, and I think the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s not new information, but until I read today’s Chron I didn’t know that Land Commissioner and Republican candidate for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst worked for the CIA in Bolivia in the early 1970s. There were some bad things going … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s official, Ron Kirk has defeated Victor Morales for the Senate nomination. It will be interesting to see how he does against John Cornyn this November. Are you paying attention, Jason Zengerle? Continue reading →

Today’s runoff day, when we finally see who gets the Democratic nomination to oppose John Cornyn for the Senate seat that Phil Gramm is vacating. Once again there are some problems with missing officials at polling places around Houston, on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two articles in today’s Chron which serve to remind us why we bother to vote. The first is about the runoff in the Democratic primary for Senate between Ron Kirk and Victor Morales. Both candidates are out trying to get … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ron Kirk and Victor Morales traded barbs in a debate yesterday as early voting in the runoff ends today. Here’s one opinion that Morales is in for a tougher time than 1996. I sure wish I knew what the score … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff has proposed a statewide property tax of $1.40 per $100 of a property’s assessed value, which would then be distributed to districts on a per-pupil basis. The idea is to try to do something about the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The New Republic has an article about how blacks have had a hard time getting elected to high offices as Democrats lately. It focuses mostly on North Carolina state legislator Dan Blue, who is running an unfunded, unloved underdog campaign … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chron politics columnist John Williams explains how State Supreme Court judge Xavier Rodriguez, the lone Hispanic GOP candidate in Texas, lost the nomination to retain his position to a guy with a simple American name. This isn’t the first time … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Democratic race for governor brought out Hispanics in record numbers, but Anglos mostly stayed home, according to this report. The ethnic portrait of the Democratic primary is dramatically evident when this year’s voting is compared with 1994, the last … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tipper Gore in Tennessee (maybe), and Robert Ray in New Jersey. I’m gonna break my own rule about prognostication (which is: Always wait until the event you’re attempting to forecast has already occurred before making your pronouncements) and say there’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I don’t follow the Republican primaries very closely, as I am not a Republican. There was one race that interested me, and I’m glad to say that the right guy won. That was the race for State Senator in District … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tony Sanchez crushed Dan Morales in the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial nomination. This wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that Ken Bensten failed to make the runoff in the three-way race for the Senate nomination. The unsinkable … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today is Primary Day in Texas. I did the early voting thing last week, so I can play bridge with a clear conscience today. The latest polls showed Tony Sanchez with a comfortable lead over Dan Morales, and a three-way … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s official: the Houston Chronicle is not endorsing Tom DeLay in the Republican primary for his Congressional seat. They’re not endorsing his GOP opponent Michael Fjetland, either, but they still give DeLay a pretty good spanking for his “irrational opposition … Continue reading → Continue reading →