AP Calls it For Bill White

[sonias]

(like it was ever in question) - He won big!

Texas Tribune 3/2/10
Governor: AP Calls it For White; Perry Holds Early Lead

The Associated Press has already declared former Houston Mayor Bill White the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary over Farouk Shami and five other Democrats, including Alma Ludivina Aguado, Felix Alvarado, Bill Dear, Clement Glenn, and Star Locke. On the other side, Gov. Rick Perry led challengers Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina in very early (and inconclusive) returns, as election officials began counting votes cast in the state's 254 counties tonight.

:dem:

[sonias]

1. Texas Tribune has the best reporting results page

2010 Primary Elections

:yourock: TX Tribune!!

[Texasgal]

2. Just got home from the phone bank

and the party!

Here's to BILL WHITE! *cheers*

[blogslut]

3. His campaign is actually courting my part of the state

That is unheard of and I'm so glad he's doing. I hope to hell he keeps it up for the general.

[sonias]

4. We will need the whole state

We will need to kick it up 1,000%. We need to start going negative on Perry pronto. He's going to go negative on White tomorrow, I bet.

That worthless piece of crap Perry may just get a walk in the R primary! :grr:

[sonias]

5. Democrats for Governor: White Night

Texas Observer 3/2/10
Democrats for Governor: White Night

UPDATED AT 9:25: Looking appropriately cheerful, Bill White just celebrated his huge victory in the Democratic primary for governor with what—for White—constituted a barn-burner of a speech in Houston. White struck a pugnacious tone, previewing the way he'll attack Gov. Perry—who appears headed toward a victory of his own—over the next eight months.

"We now know your tactics of divide-and-conquer," he said. "We know about your tactics of distracting voters from the truth." White recited a litany of Perry's complaints about Washington, making the case that the governor's Austin leadership bears a striking resemblance to what he complains about in the federal realm. For one: "They'll point fingers and talk about the alarming growth of government in Washington so you won't notice the growth of government in Austin. ... They think that you will not notice this."

White also signaled that he will take on Perry's claim to represent "true Texas values": "We are committed to competence," White said, "and we consider that a Texas value too."

Give'em hell Bill!

:kick:

[onestepforward]

6. A tweet from White:

"Just spoke to Farouk Shami. Very gracious. He'll help me. I do like his idea of building solar panel factories in Texas." :D

[sonias]

7. Awesome!

I really hope Farouk means it!

Plus solar panel factories in Texas would be a huge bonus. I bet the Feds would help us with some money on that one. And we don't have to bring it in the back door like Perry does. We'll have a big announcement and ribbon cutting.

:bounce:

[sonias]

8. White/Perry - Statistical tie with independents

Houston Chronicle 3/3/10
Perry to face showdown against White in November

(snip)
A poll conducted for the Houston Chronicle and other Texas newspapers last month found 65 percent of the registered voters surveyed did not know enough about White to have an opinion of him.

Despite that lack of familiarity with White, Perry’s lead over the former mayor was only 43 percent to 37 percent among likely general election voters. And they were in a statistical tie among independent voters.

Democratic political consultant Ed Martin said Perry may have been able to use voter discontent to his advantage in the GOP primary, but that same anger will work against him in November.

“Democrats are looking forward to this race,” Martin said. “We have a proven problem solver who is running against a 20-year incumbent who represents everything people are fed up with in an anti-incumbent year.”

Statistical tie with independents. These are the voters that can help White win!

:kick:

[Vogon_Glory]

9. Will Any Remaining Moderate R's Defect, Or Have They Left Already?

I was delighted to see us Democrats settle our gubernatorial nomination so quickly, but I'm a little concerned about the numbers of voters that turned out in the primaries. We'll have some work cut out for us between now and Election Day.

One of my questions is how many moderate Republicans are still left in the Elephant Party and if they will continue putting up with the stuff dished out by the Radical Right, or if they will leave the Dark Side and join us?

Or have we gotten all the defectors we're going to get already?

:dem:

[sonias]

10. Bill has a very good chance of winning the moderates

With Rick "Succession Boy" Perry as their candidate, we should be able to attract a majority of them who want to try something different. Perry has been a failure and his record will easily reflect that.

We just need a full court hard press game on his sorry ass. Game on!

[onestepforward]

11. An informal governors' poll

on a local message board in Ted Poe's district, which is 90% repub:

POLL: Vote 4 Texas Governor Here

Rick Perry Vote 38.0% (19)
Bill White Vote 62.0% (31)

A few comments:

"I'm a Republican but I will not vote for Rick Perry. I'm really sad that Medina drew off so many votes off KBH. But, with 52% of the vote, I doubt KBH would have won anyway.
So, I'll be voting for Bill White."


"I will be voting for Bill White because I believe Rick Perry (Governor Good Hair) has done a complete disservice to the state of Texas. The education system in this state is flawed and has needed to be fixed for years but Perry himself has said he doesn't care about education. This past session, he held two special sessions and failed to even bring up the topic of education."

Very surprising!

[sonias]

12. Outstanding

That's what I'm hoping too - that moderate Rs will cross over and vote for Bill White or more correctly vote against Rick Perry.

Plus the independents will get to know White better and they too will vote against Rick Perry.

And then we really have to kick up the Democratic turnout too!

:kick:

:woohoo: :bounce:

[sonias]

13. Lone Star Project's Press Release

www.lonestarproject.net

Democrats United for Bill White,
Chart Mainstream Course
Perry dominates Hutchison, moves Texas GOP even further off the edge


The 2010 Texas Primaries revealed the strategic approaches the two parties are taking in the upcoming General Election.

Democrats have nominated mainstream, centrist-minded candidates in an effort to broaden their party’s appeal to a wide cross-section of independent Texas voters, exemplified by Bill White’s overwhelming win in the Democratic Primary.

Conversely, Texas Republicans have adopted the more cynical tactic of moving even further to the extreme right, hoping to motivate and mobilize the most ideologically and politically extreme elements in their party. Rick Perry’s relentless attacks on Kay Bailey Hutchison provide a clear picture of the GOP tactics to be expected.

Republicans take a hard right
Rick Perry brutally extinguished Kay Bailey Hutchison, but in doing so he may have harmed the long-term prospects for his party. Hutchison entered the contest as the most popular elected official in Texas. After the barrage of Perry attacks, she was left with less than one-third of the GOP vote. Meanwhile, extreme-right Republicans Rick Perry and Debra Medina together won nearly 70 percent of the vote. Perry must now face Bill White, who has just completed service as the popular Mayor of Houston and who carries none of the Washington baggage that burdened Hutchison. Widely respected political analyst Stuart Rothenberg acknowledged Perry’s problems and White’s appeal when Rothenberg rated the Texas gubernatorial race as only a “narrow advantage” for the Republicans.

State House Dems benefit from GOP in-fighting and feuds
The AP summed up the landscape of the State House, saying:

"Rep. Tommy Merritt of Longview, chairman of the House Public Safety committee, was defeated by businessman and conservative tea party activist David Simpson in Tuesday's primary. Meanwhile, Rep. Delwin Jones of Lubbock, chairman of the House redistricting panel and one of the longest serving members of the Legislature, was headed for a runoff with tea party activist Charles Perry. " (Source: Associated Press, March 3, 2010)

In one State House race after another, center-right Republicans were defeated by far-right extremists, leaving room for Democrats to attract and win independent voters in the fall.

Texas GOP to Hispanic candidates: DO NOT ENTER
Perhaps the clearest signal of Texas GOP intolerance was the dramatic rejection of Hispanic candidates running in the Republican primary. Every Hispanic candidate facing an Anglo in the GOP primary either lost outright or was forced into a run-off. In one of the most striking upsets of the night, incumbent Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo was beaten by the unknown, underfunded CPA David Porter. The incumbent Carrillo, who was nominated by Perry in 2003, spent over $600,000, while challenger Porter spent less than one-tenth that sum. Despite his cash advantage, Carrillo only won about 40% of the vote. Republican campaign consultant Susan Lilly points out the obvious, "We've got the problem of an Anglo surname versus a Hispanic." (Source: Austin American-Statesman, March 3, 2010)

In Harris County, highly controversial Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez lost his primary to Don Sumners, despite having both funding and incumbency advantages. Francisco "Quico" Canseco ran second in Congressional District 23 with just 32% of the vote, despite being the most well-known and best-funded candidate in the five way primary. Canseco now heads into the runoff as the underdog.

:kick: