Wow. Let me just say Wow to begin with.
Not a single Democratic seat was lost in the State House. Four Republican seats were picked up, with a fifth still possible. Say Hello to State Reps Valinda Bolton, Paula Hightowner Pierson, Alan Vaught, and (woo hoo! hot damn! yahoo!) Ellen Cohen. Let’s also give a special shoutout to the the Dems who held the three at-risk open seats: Joe Farias, Solomon Ortiz, Jr, and the man of the night, who did the nobody-thought-he-could-do-it, Joe Heflin.
With one precinct still not counted, Juan Garcia trails by 24 stinking votes. If he wins, the State House becomes 81-69 GOP; if not, it’s 82-68. Either way, we may have seen the last of Tom Craddick as Speaker.
Nick Lampson won a majority of the votes cast in CD22, and was the lead votegetter in all four of the counties that comprise that district. There will be a runoff in CD23, and though I fully expect Henry Bonilla to win, the proof of concept has been achieved. Given the right opponent, Bonilla is a dead man walking.
Dems did not win any countywide races in Harris, but the gap was narrowed significantly – Mary Kay Green got 49.40% while winning a majority of Tuesday’s votes, and no Democratic judicial candidate did worse than 46.92%. Bill Connelly also won a majority of the votes that were cast on Tuesday.
And did I mention that Jim Sharp carried Harris County? If Dems don’t put together a full slate of well-funded judicial candidates in 2008, they’re crazy. In Dallas County, the Dems won all 47 races in which they competed, despite predictions of a GOP revival. Harris County is next.
In Galveston, Dems held the line at the county level, while Fort Bend Dems fell short. Not for lack of trying on their part, that’s for sure, but they still have a way to go.
Though Dems did not win any new Congressional seats beyond CD22, there was progress made. Consider:
– Joe Barton in 2004 – 66.02% (Morris Meyer, 32.70%). In 2006, Barton wins 60.46 to 37.07
– John Culberson in 2004 – 64.11% (John Martinez, 33.30%). In 2006, Culberson wins 59.19 to 38.46.
– Mike McCaul ran unopposed in 2004, and was named on about 67% of the ballots in a district that was about 62% GOP. In 2006, McCaul wins 55.42 to 40.37. That leaves 4.31% for Libertarian Mike Badnarik, by the way, and is not far off from the poll result.
– Ron Paul ran unopposed in 2004, and like McCaul was named on about 67% of the ballots in a district that was about 64% GOP. In 2006, Paul wins 60.95 to 39.05, with some boxes in Galveston not reflected in that total. Yes, I was hoping for a better result in this race. It’s still progress.
– Kenny Marchant in 2004 – 63.98% (Gary Page, 34.22). In 2006, Marchant wins 59.87 to 37.11 against the same opponent.
– Michael Burgess in 2004 – 65.75% (Lico Reyes, 32.71). In 2006, Burgess wins 60.10 to 37.35.
– John Carter in 2004 – 64.76% (Jon Porter, 32.45). In 2006, Carter wins 58.40 to 38.89.
I call all of that progress. May we see more of it in 2008.
I haven’t mentioned the Governor’s race yet. Obviously, I’m disappointed. Will Rick “39%” Perry learn to play well with others, or does he believe he still has a mandate? We’ll see. In the meantime, consider this: If you voted for Valinda Hathcox but not Chris Bell, congratulations. You helped give Rick Perry four more years.
Finally, on a national note, we aren’t yet sure how big the Dems’ margin in the House is yet, and there’s still some doubt in the Senate where the Dems have leads in Montana and Virginia but will face recounts, but no matter how you slice it, they won big. No Democratic seat in either chamber flipped – that’s a historic result for the House, where even in 1994, the Dems flipped five seats. And I leave you on the following note:
South Dakota abortion ban: Rejected.
Arizona gay marriage ban: Rejected.
Missouri stem cell initiative: Passed. Thank you, Michael J. Fox.
You didn’t mention the other big news: These elections make J.R. Molina Texas’ new Democratic Party Standardbearer! 😉
Arizona’s English-only: Passed.
You’ll see a lot of these in 2008. It’ll be the new Gay Marriage issue.
Bob Ney may be gone, but William “Cold Hard Cash” Jefferson holds the lead in LA-2. Truly disgusting, will be a test of the anti-corruption/ethics of the Pelosi regime.
Also, I’m glad that Wong’s out. Ugly campaign, nasty and contentless ads, wasteful signs everywhere.
still not quite there in the civil rights wars, though – Wisconsin (WI!) reinstated the death penalty and wrote a ban on gay marriage into their constitution. And didn’t racist Ward Connerly carry MI? it’s like wack a mole.
Great news, nationwide, even though progress is slow in Harris County.
Hats off to Jim Sharp for proving that Dems can still win a judicial race in Harris County.
The Harris County Dems have a true opportunity to win some district court benches, as you point out, Charles. The Dems ran very close in the limited number of district and county court races they contested, in every case drawing between 47-49% of the Harris County vote.
It was a very difficult climate to recruit candidates and raise money for those races this year, but hope it will be easier in 2008.
Regarding William Jefferson. He didn’t get 50% so there will be a runoff. That’s the way LA always works. With just one opponent and national attention on the race I have to think he is history. Jefferson got 30% of the vote with 70% going to a slate of opponents. I have to think that most of the anti-Jefferson vote will go to the 2nd place Dem who got 22% of the vote.
Here in Waco all the education tax measures passed handily including a massive one for the local community college that passed with over 60% of the vote. It failed last time around. I gotta think something more happened this election than just frustration with Repubs and the national level.
Here’s a question:
Does the Dem lanslide in the House make any difference in the upcoming runoff between Henry Bonilla and Ciro Rodrequez? I think it has to.
Dems have a new head of steam at the national level and I gotta think that Ciro is going to get deep deep financial and campaign support in the runoff election. Plus the voters have a new calculation. Do they want to send back a Republican who’ll be toiling in the minority for the forseeable future? Or do they want their congressmen to be part of the new majority?
In any event, anyone know how the upcoming runoff will work? When it will be held and to what extent national money can flow into Texas in support of Ciro?
Jefferson is likely to lose that run-off if there is any significant turnout. He got 30% of the vote in this election and since the probable opponent is also a Democrat, he’s got a real problem.
Yeah, but Wisconsin – Ban same sex marriage, and bring back the death penalty.
Actually, it looks like Jefferson may lose his run-off election. And his opponent is also a Democrat, so no loss in the Democrats’ majority.
There will, however, still be plenty of Abramoff-tainted Republicans who could find themselves answering questions from a (hopefully) newly-invigorated ethics committee.
Let’s also cheer for the 2222 Repubs in Ellis county that switched sides. That is a hard place to stand up for something and we owe them a lot!