I am pleased to report that our Houston TexBlog PAC fundraiser, at the lovely home of David Mincberg and Lainie Gordon, was a big success. By my count, we had about fifty people, and a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm for next year’s election. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the next Speaker of the Texas House, addressed the crowd and spoke about all the reasons why it’s important to change the direction of our government – from CHIP to proper funding for the schools to inclusiveness and good stewardship of our state’s resources, she made the case clearly.
I was more than a bit nervous about this, having never attempted to organize anything like it, but the event exceeded my expectations. We raised some money, but as importantly we raised some hope. We’ll need as much of the latter as the former next year. You can still help with each by making a contribution to help us take back the House, and by getting involved early and often with the campaigns that will do it.
Some pictures from the event are here. Since Tiffany says there’s never a picture of me on this site, here’s one for her (which she took, I might add):
After Rep. Thompson is sworn in as our new Speaker in 2009, I’m going to print that out and ask her to sign it for me.
Among the many people who were there to lend their moral and financial support were State Sen. Mario Gallegos; State Reps. Thompson, Garnet Coleman, Hubert Vo, and Ellen Cohen; Judge Susan Criss; Judge Ruben Guerrero; Council Member Melissa Noriega; the Hon. Chris Bell; the Hon. Sue Schechter; champion debate teacher and former Congressional candidate Jim Henley; former State Rep. and current candidate for Travis County Tax Assessor Glen Maxey; candidates for State Rep. Armando Walle, Kristi Thibaut, and Ginny McDavid; judicial candidates Leslie Taylor, Larry Weiman, Mike Engelhart, David Melasky, and Fred Cook; District Clerk candidate Loren Jackson; and Harris County Department of Education candidate Debbie Kerner. I’ve probably overlooked someone, and if so I sincerely apologize for the lapse in my memory.
My thanks to everyone who attended. When we have the next one, be sure you don’t miss out.
UPDATE: Stace has more.