Primary Election Run-Offs

Update at 5:58 AM, April 9:

Rosemary Lehmberg beat Mindy Montford by a 2-1 margin for Travis County District Attorney.

In other races around Texas:

Bryan Daniel defeated Dee Hobbs in HD 52 in Round Rock in the Republican Primary. Congratulations to Bryan Daniel! Up next in November is Democrat Diane Maldonado. In 2006, Mike Krusee won by a slim 50% to 46% to 4% (Libertarian). This will be a tough race for Bryan.
Pete Olson defeated Shelly Sekula-Gibbs in the Republican Primary in CD 22. Olson, who was endorsed by Ed Hendee, will face Nick Lampson for Congress in the seat that Tom DeLay held for nearly 20 years.


Ralph Sheffield defeated Martha Tyroch in the Republican Primary for HD 55 in Bell County. This race got very dirty, but the better candidate won in the end as Sheffield supports the fiscal conservative agenda. Sheffield will face Democrat Sam Murphy in November, which will also be a tough fight. The winner of the race in November will replace Rep. Diane White Delisi, who has served Texas admirably for many years.

Tryon Lewis defeated incumbent State Representative Buddy West in HD 81 (Odessa). Buddy West held this seat for many years. Tom Craddick has been very outspoken against Buddy West during the primary, which pushed Lewis over the edge in this primary, winning by a 3-1 margin.

Angie Chen Button defeated Randy Dunning in HD 112 (Richardson). Button will replace Fred Hill, who is not seeking re-election. Fred Hill was one of the leaders of the charge last Session on removing Tom Craddick as Speaker of the Texas House. Fred Hill has also been the leader in putting his foot down to kill legislation to for appraisal reform and a reduction in the size of local governments.

Ken Legler defeated Fred Roberts in HD 144 (Houston). This is the seat that Robert Talton gave up to run for Congress in CD 22. Talton will be missed, but Ken Legler is the conservative in this race, which should give us some hope.

Precinct 328 Story

My wife and I went to the voting location last night at 7:30 in an attempt to find the Republican Precinct meeting. The voting location was at the Renaissance Retirement community center, nestled in the midst of apartment complexes off of Jollyville Road. When we got there at 7:30, we found people parked in the streets, up and down the road, and walking up to 5 blocks to get to the voting location.

As it turned out, all of those folks were Democrat voters who wanted to caucus for their candidate. While it is great to see voter participation, this turned into a logistical nightmare. The manager of the retirement center asked all the Democrats to caucus in the parking lot as there were 650 Democrats in attendance last night and the retirement center was in violation of the fire code to have that many people inside the building. After all the Democrats left the building, there were 32 of us lonely Republicans left in the polling place, 8 of whom left after signing in.

In the process of the mele, the election judge took the voter data list, leaving us without a way to vet candidates except by affidavit and the stamps on our respective voter registration cards. The election judge said, "You mean the Republicans are caucusing today, too? I didn't think your election was today."

In the process of listening to Democrat activists yelling at each other in the parking lot, we were arguing over Roberts' Rules of Order over how to credential the Republicans in the room. When it was all said and done, Precinct 328 had 27 available delegate slots to the Senatorial Caucus and we sent 19 delegates.

After the caucuses were done, I asked the Democrat Precinct Chairman who won their caucus, Hillary or Obama. As of 10:30, he still did not know who won. They had so many Democrats to credential and so many votes to count that they were not 100% sure who won the caucus. This is the same Democrat Precinct Chairman who held the Democrat Precinct Caucus by himself, with no other Democrats in attendance, in 2006.

The record turn out should not be encouraging to Republicans.

Returns of Interest

These are some of the returns for the Republican Primary from around Travis and Williamson Counties:

State Rep Dist 52 (Will Co)

Bryan Daniel 29.98 % 3102 votes
John Gordon 29.18 % 3,019 votes
Dee Hobbs 31.75 % 3,285 votes
Viv Sullivan 9.06 % 938 votes

Looks like the run off is between Daniel and Hobbs, barring a recount.

State Rep Dist 48 (Travis Co)

Dr. Joe Donnally 38.06 % 3,066 votes
Pam Waggoner 61.93 % 4,989 votes

Travis County Republican Party Chairman

Rosemary Edwards 70.34 % 19,754 votes
Joe Gimenez 29.66 % 8,329 votes

I'll post more later, but these are the three big races I've been following.

Do Republicans have a Primary Today?

All I hear on the media today is Hillary, Obama, and the long lines of people looking to vote for one of the two. Even the local TV stations do not even list the Republicans in the primaries. That makes me ask the sarcastic question, do Republicans have a primary today or is it at a later date?

Whose Vote "Counts" More this Primary Season?

Whose vote "counts" more this primary season?
by Michele Samuelson (michele.samuelson@gmail.com)

With all the anecdotes (and possible proof in the pudding) about the mass numbers of "crossover" voters in the Democratic primary, I'm left wondering what the effect will be on the Republican party. Starting, of course, with today's primary, where there are many important races down ballot.

The reasons given for crossover voting have ranged from wanting to ensure Barack Obama isn't the Democratic nominee because Republicans can't beat him in November, to the opposite, voting for Hillary Clinton, etc. Of course, this reasoning shows a basic lack of understanding about the primary process in Texas - first we primary, then we caucus. You have to participate in all of it to really have a say. Haven't you heard the "vote twice" commercials and robocalls? Plus, after you cast that ballot in a misguided attempt to help the eventual Republican nominee, you will be labeled a Democrat for two years. You will not be able to attend the Republican precinct, county/senatorial, and state conventions to help shape the platform and elect the leaders of our party this year. You will not be able to vote in any run-offs that occur down-ballot between Republicans vying for state legislative, county, city, etc. seats. There are Republican clubs that will exclude you henceforth because you voted in a Democratic primary.

Remember, in Texas, we don't register with a party. Our open primary system means that you can, by law, switch between parties at will. But this isn't about the law - it's about which party you want to be counted as a member of at 7:01pm today.

If you live in a county, like Travis, where there are few contested Republican races and the real decisions are being made down-ballot on the Democratic ballot, and you have no reason to believe you'll one day run for office, and you have no desire to be a participating Republican for two years, then by all means vote in the Democratic primary. If you don't meet those qualifications, however, you're risking an awful lot to vote for a person who doesn't even hold your values.

Now to the main point, concerning whose vote "counts" more this primary season. I'll venture to say that it is the Republican who votes Republican who matters. The Republican who looks down the ballot and casts a vote in important state legislative races, or in county commissioner, district judge, and even county chairman races. You will help decide if Texas remains a red state by choosing candidates who represent conservative values down the ballot.

If the only people who turn up to vote in Republican primaries in places like HD 61, where a good conservative is facing a liberal interloper with a pro-big-government agenda, are the tax-and-spend moderates and liberals of the party.....well. So long taxpayer agenda, so long conservative values. You'll end up with a RINO legislature if you're lucky and a liberal Democrat legislature otherwise.

Leave the Democratic primary to the Democrats. Republicans need to stick together in order to effect change at all levels. Then in November, cast your vote for the Republican nominee and get your friends to do the same. If you want to defeat Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, there is no other way.

-- Michele J. Samuelson

Are Republicans Wasting Their Votes?

I have had a couple of conversations since early voting began yesterday with long-time Republican voters who are chosing to vote in the Democrat Primary. They are attempting to chose the candidate that they perceive is easier for Republicans to defeat in November, which is Hillary Clinton.

What I am concerned about is whether this is a general trend among Republicans. If this is true, our down ballot conservatives will be hurt as their regular voter base will be voting in the wrong primary. When conservatives vote in the wrong primary to try and make a difference in the Presidential race, they allow the fox to guard the henhouse in the down-ballot races. The Texas House could be decided by tax-and-spend Republicans and their cronies.

When you decide to vote in the Primary, you need to make your decision on your local races and your State House races. Incumbent conservatives like Betty Brown, Phil King, Nathan Macias, Bill Zedler, Frank Corte, and Doc Anderson are depending on their conservative constituents to vote in the Republican Primary, not the Democrat Primary. In the open seats, Mike Pearce, Bryan Daniel, and Randy Dunning are counting on conservatives to vote down the ballot in the Republican Primary.

Remember, all politics is local. If you chose to vote up the ballot, you will forget to vote locally for the Republicans who are fighting for our conservative values in the Texas House.