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March 09, 2006
Recapping March 7th
Now that we have had a day or two to breathe deeply after Tuesday night's statewide primary election (those of us who actually noticed there was one), it's time to look back at the first skirmish in what promises to be a fascinating political year in Texas.
Roughly 1.17 million Texans voted in the March 7th primaries -- 660,000 on the Republican side and 510,000 in the Democratic election. Not a high turnout (there are about 13 million registered voters in Texas), which provides continuing evidence that hardly anyone votes in primaries anymore. That said, there were some interesting results.
On the GOP side, contests in the Texas House provided the most entertainment. 5 candidates backed by San Antonio doctor and businessman James Leininger challenged sitting Republican House members. Dr. Leininger poured over $2 million into these races, a staggering sum. Two of the challengers won, one of them by less than 50 votes. Not a great return on his enormous investment, but not a total disaster.
Several House members loyal to Speaker Tom Craddick were challenged by candidates backed by the education community, and a few fell. Most notably, Kent Gruesendorf, the Speaker's point man on education, was defeated, as was Elvira Reyna. Incumbent Scott Campbell ran a weak second, barely making a runoff, and is not expected to survive.
Rumors are already swirling that Craddick will get a leadership challenge during the upcoming special session. Tuesday was not a good night for him -- what a shame.
It was a great night, however, for former Houston TV sportscaster and talk radio personality Dan Patrick. Patrick garnered 68% of the vote against three other candidates in the primary to replace retiring State Senator Jon Lindsay. While Patrick was widely considered the favorite, and even predicted to win without a runoff, his margin of victory was stunning. He will go to Austin next year with a clear mandate from District 7 Republican voters.
Inexplicably, the rest of the field in the Senate race, and specifically candidate Joe Nixon, never really went after Patrick to pull him down. Nixon reportedly spent $800,000 to receive 3,600 votes, or 8% -- ouch. Rather than spending some of his considerable resources trying to bring Patrick back to the pack, Nixon opted for "soft positive" commercials on very expensive network television. Nixon has, let us say, a face for radio. Hard hitting direct mail targeting Patrick likely would have better served his cause. Oh well.
In the 22nd Congressional District primary, incumbent Tom DeLay was renominated with just over 60% of the vote, a less than stellar performance from the longtime member. DeLay has typically received 80% or better in previous primaries, but his legal and political troubles have clearly taken a toll. When nearly 40% of the true believer base rejects you, your general election prospects would seem less than certain. Again, oh well.
On the Democratic side, former Houston City Council Member and Congressman Chris Bell handily beat Bob Gammage in the race to carry the Democratic flag against Governor Rick Perry this fall. His road to the Governor's Mansion won't be an easy one, but he must be pleased with Tuesday night's convincing result.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Houston lawyer and political newcomer Barbara Ann Radnofsky led a three-candidate field and moved to a runoff against perennial statewide candidate Gene Kelly (as she points out, not the former dancing star of the silver screen.)
South Texas featured a couple of very interesting races. In Congressional District 28 -- a Tom DeLay gerrymandered special that runs from San Antonio down to Laredo -- incumbent Henry Cuellar survived a challenge from his 2004 opponent Ciro Rodriguez, despite Cuellar's cozy ties to the Bush administration and conservative groups like the Club for Growth, which contributed heavily to Cuellar's campaign. Rodriguez, who trailed badly early on in the race, was able to close the gap down the stretch thanks to several hundred thousand dollars raised from national liberal blogs, but still came up short. State Senator Frank Madla was ousted by San Antonio House member Carlos Uresti in the area's other big race.
Here in Houston, the biggest fireworks came in the race for State House District 146. Incumbent Al Edwards, he of "booty bill" fame (as seen on The Daily Show) was challenged by two young professionals. Borris Miles, a local insurance agent, pushed Edwards into a runoff -- a real blow for a 28-year incumbent who has never faced a serious challenge. This race is likely to get ugly leading up to the Aprill 11th runoff, and will be a close one.
So another day of excitement has come and gone for the politically wretched. But for those junkies needing a fix, we have another one coming in just over 30 days. Oh well.
Posted by houtopia at March 9, 2006 10:01 PM