Congrats again Jeremy on your election. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't seated. I'm looking forward to working with you in the GLBT caucus for the next two years.

Katie Naranjo, the Texas YD region 6 director has a report here.

I'm also on the Texas YD executive committee, so here's a few observations. This was the first YDA convention for a lot of us, and we certainly learned a lot about how these things work. We've gone from having a token presence in YDA to being one of the largest delegations at nearly every national meeting in a matter of just a few years.

I expect us to address what happened on Saturday at our next executive committee meeting - none of us ever want to be embarrassed like that again, and we need implement very clear rules on how voting delegates are determined, and how that vote is allocated - actions that should have been taken in advance of this convention, but were not.

The conflict in our organization occurred because three members of the TYD executive committee endorsed De Ocampo, and to Unity's credit, they campaigned pretty heavily in Texas with some members of their slate visiting the state multiple times, which was evident in the splits that our delegation had notably on the races for Bensing and Dolin with Unity. When our executive committee met in July, we endorsed our candidate for DNC (Garibay), but the vote to endorse Gallaway failed as did a subsequent attempt on a conference vote that did not achieve quorum.

Unfortunately, we did not meet again until 30 minutes before the vote when we caucused, and could not come to agreement on how our votes would be allocated which led to utter chaos in the convention hall.  For what happened at that time forward, read what Katie wrote.

I agree here that name calling and personal attacks don't particularly help things. However, as a delegate from Texas, I would like to personally apologize for the mess that we put everyone through.  Our next Texas YDs executive committee meeting will surely be quite interesting...

Dewhurst is likely to be rewarded. He's carried water for the GOP for several years now, although has worked with Democrats in the senate better than a lot of people excpeted.  Most of us saw him as a rich right-wing nut buying his way into the most powerful spot in TX gov't when he ran for lt guv in 2002.  Dewhurst has actually managed to maintain a relatively cordial relationship with Dem state senators while also appeasing the conservative base of the GOP - not an easy task. If Dewhurst runs for Senate and invests his money into the race, he'll probably win the nomination.  Dems will try and paint him as a right-winger but it will be a bit more difficult than in 2002.  Still, Dems would rather run against him than Bonilla.  We can attack Bonilla for his DeLay ties, but he would take a significant share of the Hispanic vote, and without a strong Hispanic vote for Dems, we would have no chance. Plus, a Hispanic Republican senator in Texas would hurt long-term Dem attempts to solidify Hispanics as a Dem base constituency in Texas.

Guv - I don't know where Rove will stand.  Or Bush for that matter. They will probably stay out of it.  You are right, however, in that Perry no longer serves a useful purpose for Bush.  Bush needed Perry in 1998 to assure that he would hand over power to another Republican if he were elected Prez.  Bush needed Perry in 2002 to lead the GOP ticket and not be embarrased in his home state. Now, he has little further use of Perry. Bush will stay out of the race, but the actions of his loyalists will be telling.

Abbott will be the conservative / GOP establishment choice for Lt Guv if he runs.  They want Strayhorn gone. Strayhorn might consider switching parties, but to do so would embarrass her son, White House Press Sec't Scott McClennen. She wouldn't do that, even though she dislikes Perry and would probably like to see him defeated.

I pretty much agree. Sandlin seems to be out of politics. East Texas was brutal last year, not just for Sandlin, but several of our state reps.  The one Dem state rep incumbent to lose was in east texas, and several thought-to-be-safe state reps came within a few hundred votes of losing.  There was a major GOP/Bush turnout effort of straight-ticket voters. Sandlin is a good man, but I agree, he'd probably be a poor choice for senate nominee.  I don't believe that he is considering a run.

Texas primaries are open. There is no party registration.  You show up at the primary voting location and you may ask for a Democratic or Republican ballot. Your voter registration card is then stamped "Democratic" or "Republican" and you may only vote in the run-off primary election of the party in which you voted in the primary.

Having said that, I would discourage Texas Democrats from voting in the GOP primary.  Democrats will likely have primaries of our own - especially with a likely open U.S. Senate seat, and a potentially competetive guv race. I've spoken with a lot of Democrats that are considering voting in the GOP primary for KBH in order to get rid of Perry.  I would discourage such behaviour.  KBH would be a lock if she were the GOP nominee for guv.  

Rick Perry's approval ratings have been consistantly in the 40s over the past year.  A Dem would have a chance against Perry. It's not unrealistic unless we say it's unrealistic.  Perry and KBH will be spending up to $50 Million attacking each other. KBH will call Perry an ineffective do-nothing governor. Perry will call KBH a Hillary-loving liberal. It will be bitter.  

Kansas elected a Democratic governor under similar circumstances as Republicans waged a bloody primary between the social conservatives and the moderates.  Don't forget that states just as red as Texas have Dem guvs (Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana and of course Kansas). All it takes is the right candidates and the right circumstances. The stars are aligning....

Mr Liberal - thanks for the heads up/email earlier today.

Radnofsky is the only candidate so far that has been actively campaigning for the seat. When KBH officially announces there will be a major domino effect on the GOP side.  Rep. Bonilla will definitely run, and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst is likely to run. Unless Dewhurst does not run, I would think it to be extremely unlikely for any of the other statewides to run for the Senate seat.  Conventional wisdom is that AG Abbott and Comptroller Strayhorn would then duke it out for Lt. Gov (the most powerful statewide office in TX Gov't). Then a whole slew of down-ballot open seat races would ensue.

On the Dem side, Radnofsky has had the field to herself, making the rounds.  Another candidate that I've heard of is Juan Garcia.  Garcia is a former officer in the navy who was originally recruited by the local leaders and the state party to run for state representative against Gene Seaman, a Corpus Christi area Republican.  Then, several weeks ago, a "Garcia for Senate" website (since taken down) appeared by supporters of Garcia.  When contacted by the Corpus Christi Caller Times, Garcia said that he was considering a run.

A lot of Democrats would like to see State Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) run for the seat.  Noriega is currently in the army reserves and is serving in Afghanistan.  Noriega's wife filled his seat during this past session. Noriega has been in the state house for several sessions now and has a progressive voting record.

As for current and former Dem congressmen, Frost has ruled out a run.  Lampson is running against DeLay. I would seriously doubt that Sandlin is interested in a run. Chet Edwards would be a great candidate, but we'd lose his seat in congress. Charlie Stenholm would be a good candidate statewide at some point, but I don't know if he is interested.

Anyway, I need to go... I'll comment more later.

Byron
Burnt Orange Report

For real Democrats interested in making a difference in Texas, look at Chris Bell... he's exploring a run for governor.  Website here.

well... fine... help Rick Perry get re-elected then..

that should read:

"i.e. Martin Frost's $4.5 Million and GOTV opperation, the ability to run against GOP corruption in the sheriff's office with a Latina candidate that energized the Hispanic vote..."

Yeah, I've been blogging on it here  (scroll down).  The activists are trying to take the county leadership back from a county chair who is scared of the grassroots and refuses to call executive committee meetings on a regular basis.  Dallas County Dems did well in 2004 (we won 4 countywide races), but the efforts were so disjointed and ununified, and we were lucky that a bunch of factors came together - i.e. Martin Frost's $4.5 Million and GOTV opperation with a Latina candidate that energized the Hispanic vote, the ability to run against GOP corruption in the sheriff's office, and work by DFA, Dallas for Kerry, etc.  However, I'm worried unless the grassroots don't take over the county leadership, Democrats will be unable to build on that success in 2006.

i really don't worry too much about rick perry.  He's more stupid than anything.  I laugh at him more than I fear him.  Sure, he makes me embarrassed for our state, but I can live with that.

well... everything has to go right.  No Democrat would be favored, but the right circumstances could make a Democratic victory possible.  And from my perspective, the circumstances most conducive to a Democratic victory anywhere on the ballot is for Kay to run against Perry and lose in the primary.

I'm not surprised... I had heard a week ago that Dean was Soechting's second choice (after Frost).

Texas Democratic Chair Charles Soechting has endorsed Howard Dean for DNC Chair:

Dear Fellow DNC Members:

It's no secret I think we need a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee.  For too long, the DNC has treated Texas like an ATM machine, raiding our most generous donors for millions of dollars while we struggle to remain competitive here in state and local races.

We need to change this attitude in Washington.  And that's why I'm supporting Gov. Howard Dean for DNC Chair.  He believes in a 50-state strategy, which is the only way we will ever Take Back Texas -- and our country.

Gov. Dean's message of mainstream values is all about helping the people we fight for and represent improve their lives.  His political career is all about change.  And he agrees with me that our party must change, too -- not to forget our principles, but to fulfill them.

Many of you may have heard by now that former Congressman Martin Frost is dropping out of the DNC chair race.  Martin ran a strong and clean campaign that made all Texas Democrats proud.

Now I hope you will join me in giving your enthusiastic endorsement to Gov. Dean to lead our national party in the years ahead.  I'm convinced that he is the best candidate to reflect our commitment to securing our future, balancing the budget, providing health care to every eligible child, protecting the environment, and making sure
America looks, once again, like America.

Sincerely,
CHARLES E. SOECHTING
Chairman, Texas Democratic Party