Council Member and candidate for Controller MJ Khan has an announcement to make tomorrow. From his press release:
Who: Councilman M.J. Khan, Candidate for Houston City Controller
What: Press Conference on a major announcement from the M.J. Khan for City Controller campaign.
When: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. (after City Council has adjourned)
Where: Steps of Houston City Hall
901 Babgy
Houston, TX 77002Info: Natural light and sound
I suppose that last bit is for the TV folks. My guess is that he’ll be announcing Pam Holm’s endorsement. I can’t think of anything else offhand that’s likely to occur and would qualify as a “major” announcement. No, these things are not automatic – remember, Sylvester Turner never endorsed Bill White even though you might have thought that would be natural for him to do. I could be wrong – he could just be announcing some other Republican endorsements, which may or may not be truly press conference-worthy. Or he could surprise me and announce the support of some high-profile Democrat, or some other members of Council. But if I had to place a bet, it would be on a Holm endorsement. We’ll know soon enough.
Speaking of endorsements, the HCDP made its endorsements for the runoffs. From their Facebook page:
The Harris County Democratic Party is proud to announce that it has endorsed the following candidates in the City of Houston Runoff Election, which will be held on Saturday, December 12, 2009:
RONALD GREEN for Houston City Comptroller
KAREN DERR for Houston City Council Member, At Large Place 1
JOLANDA (“JO”) JONES for Houston City Council Member, At Large Place 5
LANE LEWIS for Houston City Council Member, District A
MIKE LASTER for Houston City Council Member, District FIn the interest of party unity, the Steering Committee of the Harris County Democratic Party has elected to refrain from making an endorsement in races where two Democrats are running against each other.
In the citywide races and in District F (which you may recall voted strongly Democratic in 2008) this makes a lot of sense; it’s less clear you want to partisanize things in District A, but you do want to make sure your voters get out, so there you have it. As you’ve seen in the Controller’s race and will see tomorrow in the At Large races, improving performance in the core Democratic districts will be key to winning for them.
F is R in odd year elections, however. Laster’s baggage and the district’s conservative nature in city elections will be hard to overcome for Laster.
Per Miya Shay, Peter Brown is expected to announce his endorsement of either Annise Parker or Gene Locke Tues at 1:30p at City Hall. Might that be related to MJ Khan’s announcement?
Pingback: Peter Brown has an announcement, too – Off the Kuff
Following up on your comment, I think this just assured Stardig will win in A. It will also be used to turn out more Republicans in A, which will flow over to the other races.
Not what I would have done if I were running the HCDP.
What do you think about the parties — both of them — partisaning this non-partisan election? I looked at one good-turnout majority Republican precinct (McCain 55%) in the Galleria area and was real pleased to see that the variety/diversity of winners there — sometimes it was a Dem, sometimes a Rep, sometimes woman, sometimes man, sometimes gay, sometimes straight, sometimes white, sometimes black.
I love it that those voters rejected pulling a “party ticket”. I think a reasonable person can pick Parker (over Morales), Holm (over Green), Costello (over Litt/Derr), Lovell (over Burks), Bradford (over Freeman), Christie (over Jones). The Dem Party seems to think that’s just terrible, some would allege racism. The Rep Party would go equally bonkers, complaining about philosophical inconsistency and stupidity.
I myself am so tired of what I think of as hacks and lazy people who are very involved in their parties, that I go out of my way to consider rejecting party endorsements each time I find them. I know all you “solid” Dems or Reps will react with offense, but I think (hope) a good 1/3 (at least?) of the voters are like me, very tired that you continue to promote an unworthy Jolanda Jones or an unworthy Roy Morales, just because of their party.
I disagree that Jolanda Jones is unworthy. I think she doesn’t play well with others, and I think – I hope – she’s learned a few things about that this past year. But I believe she plays a vital role on Council by not going along to get along. If you listen to my interview with CM Sullivan, we discuss the fact that he and CM Jones have joined forces on a number of things. They arrive where they do by very different means, of course, but the end result is the same. I believe her perspective is a good one to have on Council.
Having said that, I agree with your assertion about how a reasonable person can choose in an election like this. I have no problems with either county party picking sides, but these are different races than the ones we see in even-numbered years, and people should evaluate them differently.
Interesting. Would you agree that Addie Wiseman or Sekula-Gibbs played a similar vital role from the right, not going along to get along, a good perspective to have on Council?
There is a parallel to Wiseman, yes. I think Jones is fighting for things whereas Wiseman was primarily motivated by obstructionism, but one can certainly classify her actions as being similar to Jones’. Her name did occur to me as I wrote that comment.
As for Sekula Gibbs, I don’t see her in that fashion. My recollection of her tenure was that it was more about self-aggrandizement than anything else, but I wasn’t paying as much attention to city matters back in the early days of her term in office.
Perhaps, but I’ll submit for consideration that you are just being too dedicated a Dem. You are willing to agree/accept that Morales, Wiseman and S-Gibbs are unworthy because they are Reps, but you won’t admit that for even one Dem?
I’ll offer that I have heard plenty of Dems around City Hall who view Jones exactly the same as S-G, and as Wiseman at her worst. Obstructionism and self-aggrandizement are exactly the words used. Those traits are at her core, in public dressed up as “concern” and “asking tough questions” — and often in her most sincere Oscar-worthy style. But there was a legitimate reason that she was the first one voted off the island. And will probably get voted off yet another island on Dec 12.