First, let me get to the ‘thank yooz’. A big thanks to the Houston Chronicle’s Dean Betz and Dwight Silverman for allowing Republican judges to get their message out on the Chron.com’s Politics page. I realize that most everyone is thinking that nothing matters, everything was just a straight R vote. I think there is some truth to that BUT without R’s getting out there and supporting the brand, the straight R victory would never have happened. And I know that people reviewed those pages because I have the internal numbers to prove it. So to the judges that participated, thank you. And to the Sheri Y. Dean and James Lombardino teams – you guys rock. What an effort you put into this election. Kudos.
Second, thanks to Doug Miller and KHOU for allowing me to get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes during election night coverage. The staff was very friendly and very professional – it is amazing that they can get so many things timed down to the second. Juanita didn’t much like me because I was ‘smug’ but that’s alright – I’ve never been in the same room with someone channeling Molly Ivins before and didn’t know how to act.
Now, about those results – how ’bout them Republicans?!
Why not state the obvious? Turnout was the key. And convincing voters to vote straight R made for a record setting night. I guess most people were surprised that Jack Morman defeated Sylvia Garcia but if you’ve been following my early voting reports, it started to become clear that she was in trouble early on. Several things contributed to this:
- Clear Lake and San Jacinto Tea Parties – they brought passion and voter turnout to the table. Sure, King Street got a lot of pub but these guys brought voters to the polls. When the precinct totals are published, you’ll see it more clearly. Passion meant voters voted down the ballot – there were only 4,608 undervotes (3.43{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}) in this race.
- Strauss money to Rep. Ken Legler – In an effort to save his speakership, Joe Strauss dropped $215,000 into Legler’s race and the result was that Legler crushed his opponent, 59.44 – 38.30; this was a race that some thought might be close. Legler voters are probably 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} votes for Morman.
- Baytown Red Light Camera – It was a bad day for red light camera company American Traffic Solutions. They poured money in to Houston and Baytown and came away empty handed. Byron Schirmbeck of the Baytown Red Light Camera Coalition and the San Jacinto Tea Party fought a hard battle and beat back ATS’s money. Kudos. And anyone that voted ‘For’ on Baytown’s proposition almost certainly voted for Morman.
- Jared Woodfill and the Harris County Republican Party – They saw that Garcia was vulnerable and put money behind Morman via a radio blitz the last week.
Now we have a Commissioners Court with three Republican commissioners and a Republican Judge. Damn well better see some results from that – replacing the Harris County Hospital District Board would be a perfect start. Yes, that is pure rhetoric but the sentiment isn’t – spend money wisely, not foolishly on new brick and mortar projects.
Speaking of Commissioners Court, I was at the District Convention way back in March when Judge Ed Emmett stood before the crowd and said that his goal wasn’t just to win in Harris County, his goal was to CRUSH the Democrats.
Score one for da judge.
He led the way, garnering 469,053 votes on his way to a 61-39 win, leaving no doubt that the Judge is the most popular Republican in Harris County. Kudos.
And how about that new District Clerk, Chris Daniel? I have to admit that his win gives me more satisfaction than most of the others because of the way he was brutalized by his opponent and his opponent’s minions. Hey, it’s a good thing that Chris is more gracious than I am – the first thing I would do is rip down that stupid “Attorney’s to the Head of the Line” sign that made his opponent the darling of the courthouse. Want to see class? See Sylvia Garcia’s concession. Want to see classless? See Loren Jackson’s concession. That tells you all you need to know. Dude was elected on the Obama straight ticket vote, then whines about getting his ass kicked when it went the other way. Grow up.
There are so many more stories. Sarah Davis and her team rocked the inter-left’s world with a disciplined, low-budget, get out the vote ground game. I was hoping that Jack O’Connor would beat the slum lord but it didn’t work out. Fernando Herrera gave it a yeoman’s effort but fell short. John Faulk might not have broken the 30{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} mark against SJL but R’s countywide need to thank him for the increased turnout – do you know who was working on voter fraud before you ever heard of True the Vote? John Faulk was.
The Texas Lege is now stocked full of R’s. Voter ID better damn well happen. Lowering the appraisal cap to 3{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} better damn well happen. A better school finance distribution plan better damn well happen. This isn’t a time for cute stuff like banners over doors or cutting trans fat – this is a time for fundamental, structural changes. Stop taking money from the gas tax for other uses. Fundamental change.
Fun times ahead – there are plenty of things that both sides of the fence can work together on and move Texas forward. Compromising on the core principle of a smaller, more efficient, focused government isn’t one of them. The ball is in your court R’s – can you handle it?
UPDATE: Damn, I hate it when I’m wrong (via Chris Moran of the Houston Chronicle).
Garcia said a second reason was “anti-immigrant sort of anti-Spanish surname sentiment that I see that regrettably is going around the country.”
Okay, so I was wrong. Sylvia decided to be even more classless than Loren Jackson. Tells me I’m a racist to boot. Go figure. Or, go ask Susana Martinez how racist us Republicans are.
Just for that, I’m going to leave my Jack Morman sign up through the weekend. You know, so everyone will know that a racist lives here.