Wow. I have to admit this one caught me totally by surprise.
In a surprise move, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.) filed papers to challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) at the last minute Monday, giving the second-ranking Senate Republican a potentially tough primary opponent just as he looked poised to avoid one.
And in a coordinated move, former candidate for Texas Senate District 11 Dave Norman filed to replace Stockman in CD36. Sorry, no linkie on that one, that was relayed to me by a friend of Norman’s.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
John Cornyn might have a lot of money in the bank but his failure to lead or listen to his constituents led to this move by Stockman. As a friend told me this evening, Cornyn ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. Hold on to your ass boys, this race just became a whole lotta fun!
And as far as CD36 and Dave Norman goes, consider it an upgrade.
I cant wait to see this! I have wanted John out for some time. Now I have to pick between Stockman and Stovall… Either we must all unite behind one and get John out. Tea party will decide this race.
So, this is another attempt at a done deal – as the Bettencourt/Dan Patrick plan was executed?
Thank God, we finally have a candidate who can beat Cornyn. The power brokers said Cruz couldn’t beat Dewhurst and I’m sure they’re saying the same thing about Stockman. This is going to be one heck of a primary season.
I totally agree with Marc we have to all get behind 1 person and get cornyn out. The question is who do we support stockman or Stovall. We need to pick and we need to support this person financially and start making phone calls knocking on door and making sure cornyn spends that money!
Several of the other candidates in this primary have substantial public service experience, funding, local name ID. I would not consider Norman a shoo-in.
Norman may be an upgrade but Stockman is not. This arrangement, which David assures us was not born of a deal, has a net result of not giving the public and possibly other potential candidates fair notice.
I have not seen much written on Cornyn on this site, but I need to be more enlightened by those vehemently against him in the comments above.
Actually, Jack, I said the opposite. It was an “arrangement” if you wish – I said “coordinated move”. There are six candidates that filed, so on the surface, the “arrangement” doesn’t seem like it worked.
Every time I write about Cornyn, I make everyone mad no matter what I say. So I don’t write about him much. But Stockman is going to make this a fun race to write about.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with Steve Stockman a number of years ago. I was not impressed. We need to be really careful to make sure that we are actually electing a better candidate – and not just punishing the current office holder for not being exactly what we want all of the time. Congressman Stockman is NOT a step up from Senator Cornyn.
David…..I am sure that if all knew Stockman was not running others may have been encouraged to run. Not pretty but that is politics. His entry provides more emotions you can milk. Further I am not mad about Cornyn and have only just in the last few minutes learned that you stated that his staffer was booed by many in the crowd. From several credible sources who do not wish to engage in this minitue said that only 2 or 3 booed and not the larger crowd. Your reporting is biased and attempts to get attention at any cost. I was glad that Sophia Mafridge at the next meeting said that the rude greeting of the young female staffer was out of place.
You are such a prejudiced guy and unfailingly give a free pass to those you personally endorse. In a rare show of balance thoughtfulness, your piece on Denise Pratt was informative and well intentioned. You should provide balance occassionally by going after Democrats as well.
Tell the crowd why you are apparantly against Cornyn. Please be specific. I thought it was your objective to get people mad. I will thank you for it.
David……I just posted this on Off the Kuff……I know you will not find this amusing but I would knock heads with Mr. Kuffner once in awhile. It may make a difference. Creating a circus atmosphere for Coryn’s challengers may not be in the best interest if the Republican Party!
“Kuff
Please answer…… Is there a slight chance that (Judge) Meyers maybe making the switch because of his chances in the Republican Primary against Jeff Brown and another candidate. Altruism has been abandoned before!
Has Larry Kilgore endorsed him yet?
Jack, honestly, why do you stick around here? If I am what you claim I am, it makes no sense for you to read BJP. Why not form a support group and help people like yourself that just can’t stop reading?
I never have a clue where you are coming from. Just check above. First, you said:
And when I said, no, I actually said the opposite, you proceeded to attack me based upon some “credible sources” (heh, those were easy to figure out).
Then, you post a comment here that you posted somewhere else, for what reason I have no clue.
Odd. Life is too short to read blogs that make you so confused and angry. Go hang out at Kuff’s and be happy.
Cheers.
There was no deal ahead of time. All indications from those in the know is that this literally all came together last minute. In any case, there is more than one viable candidate in the CD36 race. Dave Norman will be able to retread some landcsape, while Doug Centilli will have a number of advantages, having served a substantial part of the district as Chief of Staff for Kevin Brady, when much of the new CD36 was part of Brady’s CD8.
To Big Dave
I do not know what you meant by no “linkie”….I thought you were qualifying the first statement on the coordination between Stockman and Norman . I find inconsistancies in your comments when you try to be hip. Is your third to last sentence refering to the booing of the young woman or the coordinated arrangement no linkie. Perhaps you are dazed and confused.
My purpose in commenting to your blog is that I want to see you stop hurting the Republican Party. Concerned and determined and not as you say “confused and angry” characterizes my effort. I am sure you do not like to be questioned. I hope more people keep an eye on what you are saying. Your style of attempted intimitation of those who question your comments is way past its time.
I hope your……….”hold on to your ass boys….this race just became a whole lotta fun”….. does not contribute to electing a Democrat from Texas to the US Senate. You are a bull who likes to be in the China Shop. Have you considered that the Chronicle maybe using you…..as the paper’s blog of the right, you are the face of Republicans.
In any event you have some very good beliefs that I agree with. At the same time I think you have done a number of things harmful to the Republican Party to making gains. Your altruism appears to be overwhelmed by your desire to entertain and create drama.
And perhaps a surprise……. I got a response to my comment to Kuffner……
“Jack – I think party switches in general are one part genuine changes in affinity and one part opportunism. If Judge Meyers wanted to run for the Supreme Court, it’s certainly possible that he calculated his odds were better in November as a D than March as an R, and that there’s not much more to it than that. Or maybe he really did have a change of heart. Until he has more to say about it himself, all we can do is speculate.”
Engaging the Democrats in debate may not be as painful or difficult as you may think. We have to win over the middle and it won’t be done by promoting conflict and strife in the Party for conflict and strife’s sake. Republicans can no longer afford to provide theatre and comedy for the Democrats.
You can prevent me from responding to your comments. Right now I am trying to get away to the south and warmer weather if I can. Happy Christmas!
Jack, there a lot of us conservatives that are really, really fed up seeing the Republican Party move more and more to the left and this “big tent” attitude. During the last Presidential election, there were 4-8 million registered Republicans that didn’t bother to show up at the polls, many of them because they’re tired of having moderates rammed down our throats as being the best we can get. We might as well rip up the platform because the RNC thinks the same as you do. What we conservatives want is a party we can align with and the Republican party is getting farther and farther from the conservative values that the party supposedly espouses and pushing people like me away. If the party establishment had any sense, they would have figured this out with the election of Ted Cruz and his rise in popularity across the country.
Janet, I am comfortable claiming I am a conservative in word and deed. Many Republicans on the Religious Right did not vote at all or did not vote for Romney because the Mormon faith is considered a cult to them. I would rather have Romney President over Obama every day.
Further, the Tea Party has drifted away from an exclusively a fiscally and constitutionally conservative movement to one taking on more subjective social and religious issues. I am not sure what this means down the road except it creates more factions in an already highly fragmented Republican Party. And I am no longer convinced there is a Republican Party establishment. Joe Biden’s Senate seat, Harry Reid’s seat, and Democrat Senator McCaskill’s seat were all lost by Tea Party candidates developed in haste. Senator Cruz has a base that extends beyond the Tea Party. I am in agreement with most of the apparent Tea Party positions but I am concerned about more fragmentation on the right in general. Republicans have had chance to take the Senate back
I was not an ardent supporter of Cornyn but certainly not a detractor. Looking at his overall record it is difficult to understand what has happened in Texas. He is rated as the second most conservative lawmaker in the Senate. Imagine for a moment, that many Republicans were confident that ObamaCare would crash land and become unpopular with the public. Cruz’s effort was largely independent and symbolic since I, like most believe, that the defeat of Cruz’s proposal to defund ObamaCare was guaranteed to fail. I am not sure if Senator Cruz would disagree with this assessment. The rift between the two Texas Senators, real or not, was encouraged, embellished, and used by the Democrats.
It is my fear that more like Todd Akin in Missouri who may have the support of the Tea Party and or Libertarians will be also supported indirectly and secretly by Democrats over better candidates for Senate seats. This Senate is ripe for interference. I would like to see more conservatives from business and other professions here and around the country join the conservative movement within the Republican Party, Many of my friends who are fearlessly conservative believe that politics is a slimy and not a worthwhile endeavor at all. I pray that those conservatives with the wisdom and experience to be effective will join the ranks.
In the end, however, it may be the tip in the balance of American culture, that will determine the path forward. It is something worthwhile fighting for. I may take too much space and time in responding to you but I think we share more beliefs than not. Good tidings for Christmas.
Stovall or Stockman would both make great candidates. We can pick which we like best, and then vote for whichever advances in the runoff. I expect a runoff now, and that is where conservatives will win.
Uh- so after Stockman’s clown-like performances the past two years, all the ethics complaints made to the FEC for his campaign practices, and his mockery of this district, formerly partially represented by Ted Poe, people would actually support Stockman? This is like waking up from a nightmare, where you’re reading a front page headline that says “Patrick wins”…
If perhaps it should come down to a Cornyn and Stockman runoff, I’m sorry, I’ll have to go with Cornyn.. At least the Cornyn campaign (hopefully) will not be making Pat Boone Robo-calls and John hasn’t had previous drug charges… Oh, and John actually knows what it’s like to WORK and be EMPLOYED..
For the life of me, I cannot understand why people would support Steve Stockman for US Senate. It was easy for Mr. Stockman to pull off an election victory in Southeast Texas (via deceptively misleading campaign signs and materials), but its certainly going to be much more difficult to win a statewide election and take more than catchy Twitter posts and poorly written campaign newsletters Sure, his Twitter posts are fun to read and are entertaining, but that is the extent of this man’s leadership and vision: 140 characters. Here is to a Texas electorate realizing that being conservative does not have to mean excluding common sense, statesmanship and character.