I noted on Monday that the Chron listed Ann Johnson as one of its endorsed candidates. Yesterday they wrote the endorsement editorial to go along with that.
Ann Johnson
The tea party turnout of 2010 gave Republican candidate Sarah Davis the narrow victory she needed to win in District 134, a prosperous swing district that covers areas from River Oaks to Meyerland and the Medical Center, as well.
Davis speaks about politics with a fiery passion, but her passion often seems aimed more at Washington than Austin.
She successfully navigated the minefield of wedge-issue votes that defined the previous legislative session – voting no on the sonogram bill, for example. But voters deserve a representative who doesn’t just avoid bad votes, but leads on good ones. We believe Democratic challenger Ann Johnson can be that sort of leader.
[…]
Issues like education and health care aren’t just matters of compassion, they’re necessary to ensure that Texas has the healthy, educated workforce we need to power our economy.
In this race, Ann Johnson is the better bet for Texas’ future.
It’s interesting to see the Chron buy into the “independent” image that Rep. Davis is peddling. As I did before, I would challenge them to come up with two bills of significance besides the sonogram bill on which David voted against her party. On Monday I saw for the first time a broadcast of Davis’ TV commercial, for which Texans for Lawsuit Reform bought her $100K worth of airtime. Not surprisingly, Davis pushes this idea hard, claiming to support public education despite voting to cut $10 billion from it and to oppose restrictions on women’s health care despite voting to de-fund Planned Parenthood and to kill the Women’s Health Program if Planned Parenthood is successful in its lawsuit against the state. It’s very simple: Sarah Davis was a reliable Republican vote in the 2011 legislature. Her record bears this out. You would think that a reliable Republican, running in a district drawn by Republicans to elect a Republican, would be willing to tout her Republican-ness for her re-election rather than try to obfuscate it. In the case of Rep. Sarah Davis, you would be wrong about that.
Anyway. The Chron made the right call with Ann Johnson, whose interview with me is here if you haven’t had the chance to listen to it. You can also watch this TV ad that Texas Parent PAC did on Johnson’s behalf:
And here’s that ad by the Johnson campaign that I’ve seen on Headline News:
In case you’re wondering, Bill White beat Rick Perry by a 51.0-47.7 margin in 2010. Maybe that’s why Davis is pressing her “independent” credentials. I guess I would too if I were her. Neil has more.
Finally, on a tangential note, the San Angelo Standard Times joins the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in endorsing Keith Hampton over Sharon Keller. Has anyone seen a newspaper endorse Keller yet? Again, this probably doesn’t matter much, but it could matter just enough.
jesus christ,kuffner barrels in with his own political ad for ann johnson,i got to hand it to kuffner,sometimes he just doesnt give a damn and lets it ride,heres the real facts,anyone that was in davis position would of cut the education budget,democrat or republican we just have run low on funds and when your low on funds you better cut back no matter what party your with.I like sarah davis for many reasons but the main reason is she did what any elected official would do when we are all in a budget crisis,and it saddens me to have to point out a bias stance,kuffner is trying to push sarah out the same way he tried with andrews c burks jr in the city race,only tell one side of the story,what he forgot that time,which he is has forgotten this time is democrats dont take lightly to smear tactics and political grandstanding and the refusal to allow them to make their own decision on a candidate-if you dont believe me,go look in offthekuff archives and tell me if u see a andrew c burks interview anywhere-anywhere i dare you,look,tell me when you find it-this man ran for office for over twenty years and kuffner never gave him a shot-dont let kuffner vote for you,the strong message to send is a vote for sarah davis in the 134th.
“how you like them apples”
joshua ben bullard
“I like sarah davis for many reasons but the main reason is she did what any elected official would do…”
So her most admirable quality is that she’s just like every other politician. Duly noted.
Ummm, it’s a blog, an openly Democratically leaning blog. Blogs are allowed to be full of opinions, although Mr. Kuffner is very diligent about linking to original articles and other content upon which he bases his opinions, so that his readers can make their own informed decisions. No one is being strongarmed into voting for any candidate–every voter gets to make their own choice at the voting booth.
And I also recall something called a “Rainy Day Fund”, so when the state of Texas and the Republican controlled legislature cries about there was no money to be had, I have to say they are extremely disingenuous. Here’s a link for you:
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/BNALL-BNSTAFF-BNTEAMS-BON/2011/01/18/id/383070