11.08.06
My Thoughts On Election ’06
The good news was mostly national, the Texas house, and Nick Lampson, of course.
The bad news was Texas in general and Williamson County in particular - as far as winning goes. Democrats did make gains, the possibility of a new Speaker, and what Karen Felthauser and Brig Mireles were able to do in their races shows that if these candidates could have only gotten a little money they would have won. Democrats don’t need more money then Republicans but they need enough to let the average voter know they are there. I was really hoping that Mary Beth Harrell would have done better than she did, obviously, and I hope she will stay in politics, no matter the office. Hopefully two years with a worthless congressman in the minority party will change more minds.
In Williamson County most of us know and knew that this was the first step of many in a process of rebuilding the Democratic Party in Williamson County.
Another thing I noticed was that there are many people in Texas looking for alternatives to the Republican Party candidates. This is evidenced by the 3-6% that Libertarians were getting in most three-way races. One area that Democratic candidates must work on in the future and I will be exploring more is making The Case for the Libertarian Democrat(s).
As the race for governor was winding down last night the first thing that popped into my mind was that Rick Perry won this race the day John Sharp took the job of heading the Texas Tax Reform Commission. That took the only major challenge to his office off the table. I’m not necessarily a John Sharp fan but he could have won the Democratic nomination, held the base, kept ‘ol What’s Her Name from getting in the race and probably gotten enough Republican voters to cross over to win this election. Without Sharp’s help Perry may not have gotten this “fix” to the school finance issue.
This election showed hope. HD 52 is a winnable district. There are many people in Williamson County willing to look at Democratic candidates again. Democrats need to work on registering more new voters voters as the population continues to increase and urbanize.
Seafarer said,
November 9, 2006 at 9:53 am
Hi, I’m new to the blog and to Williamson County, but based on the Democratic success in Hays County I think there’s hope for a return to a vibrant 2-party (or more!) system in Texas.
As I commented elsewhere, I’d consider voting for a moderate Republican if any existed anymore.
I also voted for a lot of Libertarians on Tuesday simply because there were no Democrats running. Where are they? A total lack of a name is telling; that needs to change, and sooner rather than later.
salcostello said,
November 9, 2006 at 12:39 pm
DIST 52: KRUSEE VS. KAREN
The fact that the house transportation
chair Krusee spent 76k compared to
Felthouser’s 9k, and only won by 5
points, in what is considered a Republican
dominated district is significant.
His unpopularity has grown more than
I expected since his primary challenge
earlier this year.
Krusee’s reports show he invested time and
his PAC money into his campaign. He also
worked hard to collect more contributions
from the road and toll lobby.
According to his reports, Krusee purchased
consulting services, produced signage and
sent out direct mail, which was far and
above what Karen could afford. He also
sponsored the Republican Part Grand Old Picnic.
Sal Costello
http://salcostello.blogspot.com/