March 7, 2014 4:52 PM HILDERBRAN WITHDRAWS FROM COMPTROLLER RUNOFFStatement below “I just had a great conversation with Glenn Hegar I told him I was withdrawing from the runoff and endorsing him as the Republican nominee,” said Hilderbran. “I am proud of the campaign that we ran, and I will always be grateful to my tireless campaign team and the hundreds of contributors and thousands of supporters that we had from all over Texas. I ran for this office to enact a plan to improve the Comptroller’s office for taxpayers and I am excited that Glenn has agreed to work together to enact much of my platform, for the benefit of all taxpayers. I urge all Republicans to support Glenn as our nominee and help ensure that he is elected the next Comptroller in November.” |
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March 7, 2014 4:29 PM PRESS RELEASES: VICTORY LAPS, NEW LEADER OF INSURANCE COUNCIL, CLOSING WOMEN'S CLINICS DEVASTATING AND MORE
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March 7, 2014 2:19 PM POSITIONING IS UNDERWAY IN THE LITE GUV RUNOFF Patrick has the wind at his back; Dewhurst promises a fight to the end Now
that the dust has settled a bit after Sen. Dan
Patrick's upset win over Lt. Gov. David
Dewhurst in Tuesday night's GOP primary, both sides sought to take hold of the
narrative moving forward in what may be a brutal runoff between the two. On
a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon, Patrick’s chief strategist Allen Blakemore said his campaign’s internal
tracking numbers showed his client would come in first place on Tuesday, but “even
my pollsters didn't tell me we were going to win by 14 points.” He said that
the momentum was with his candidate and "The position for Mr. Dewhurst is
rather hopeless.” The
Dewhurst campaign must be having internal discussions of a possible withdrawal
from the race, Blakemore said. "I would have to believe those
conversations are being held in his camp,” he said. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 7, 2014 1:25 PM GRUSENDORF: MQS DID BETTER THAN EXPECTEDFormer lawmaker evaluates meaning of Republican primary results Whether
you call them Movement Conservatives, Tea Party Conservatives, or right wing
nuts, one thing is clear --they won big this week. In
reviewing the election results, it is interesting to review the endorsement
list for the Empower Texas/ Texans for Fiscal Responsibility/ Michael Quinn Sullivan
groups. They made endorsements in seven
senate races and racked up four wins, including Van Taylor who did not even draw an opponent. In addition, one more of their endorsees, Konnie Burton, is
leading going into the run-off. Their
biggest senate win was the defeat of John
Carona by Don Huffines,
despite Huffines being outspent by $1.4 million
according to latest records. Additionally,
Donna Campbell won an impressive
victory over two opponents, without a runoff.
These were both big victories for the MQS team. The rest of Kent Grusendorf's column can be found in today's R&D Department. By Kent Grusendorf |
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March 7, 2014 12:00 PM AFTER WINNING AS A TEA PARTY "OUTSIDER," HUFFINES IMMEDIATELY TRIES TO GAIN SUPPORT FROM LOBBYISTS "Classless" invitation went out the day after the election After
running a very disciplined and victorious campaign as an “outsider” and the Tea
Party alternative to Sen. John Carona,
R-Dallas, real estate developer Don
Huffines moved quickly this week to try to garner the support of lobbyists
here in Austin. One
of the very first things he’s done as Senator-Elect Huffines is extend an
invitation to lobbyists to join him at the Austin Club on April 1 for a
fundraiser. In an invitation that went out Wednesday, Huffines' campaign told
the lobby in a not-so-subtle way that "It's not too late” to give money to
his campaign and they can still “come on board!" the late-train. Above
those words appears the image of a train topped with the words “All Welcome!”
One lobbyist who received the invitation said it was “just classless.” The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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March 7, 2014 9:47 AM GOV. PERRY GETS GOOD REVIEWS AT CPAC Perry tells conservatives "You represent the renewed hope that America can be renewed again.” In
a rousing speech that the Washington Post said drew a “huge
response,” Gov. Perry of course
blasted Washington and talked about the successes of Republican governors,
interestingly omitting Gov. Chris
Christie, R-New Jersey. This
is a continuation of the re-branding HK has talked about many times. He
is making a clear distinction between functioning Republicans – those would be
any Republicans not in Washington – and those non-functioning members of his
own party in DC. You
can watch the speech on C-SPAN video here.
By Scott Braddock |
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March 6, 2014 6:48 PM UPDATED: A LONGER WAIT THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED IN COMPTROLLER RACE All provisional ballots are due in by March 13, RPT set to canvass on March 16 Note: This story has been updated to reflect when the RPT is set to address this – SB The campaigns of both Sen. Glenn Hegar and Rep. Harvey Hilderbran will have to wait a bit longer than they at first expected to find out if they will face each other in a runoff for Comptroller. It had been thought that provisional ballots would be potentially all accounted for by tomorrow, but the numbers are so close that Hegar’s campaign is going to wait for the Republican Party of Texas to canvass the election on March 16 before agreeing to the necessity, or not, of a runoff. Hegar, as you know, is sitting at 49.99% of the vote after Tuesday’s results – just shy of what he needs to win outright. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 6, 2014 5:57 PM IT IS DOWN TO A DUEL FOR DEUELL'S SENATE SEAT End-of-life bill carried by Deuell a central issue; Deuell vows “I will defend this seat.” One
of the somewhat surprising runoffs triggered by Tuesday’s vote is the fight in
which Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville,
finds himself until the end of May. The longtime incumbent told QR on Thursday “I will not let that
guy have this seat.” The guy he’s talking about is businessman Bob Hall, who calls himself “The right
Bob for the Texas State Senate District 2.” Deuell,
who was first elected in 2002, said that he and his supporters were not totally
taken aback by the fact that he’s going into overtime. He nearly avoided it by
getting 49% Tuesday night. Hall came in at 38% with some help from groups like Empower
Texans, which Deuell said did at least three of their standard mail
pieces against him. Naturally,
both Deuell and Hall make the argument that they can attract the people who
supported the third candidate in the race, Mark
Thompson. Thompson claimed nearly 13% of the vote by railing against the
proliferation of toll roads and touting his support of an open carry law for handgun
owners. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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March 6, 2014 5:56 PM CHECK THE PRESS RELEASES SECTION: MORE REACTIONS TO ELECTION RETURNS, ABORTION CONTROVERSY, & EDUCATION NEWS
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March 5, 2014 5:18 PM PRESS RELEASES: END OF LIFE CONTROVERSY CONTINUES, VICTORY LAPS, CONCESSIONS AND MORE
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March 5, 2014 4:16 PM A HOLDING PATTERN IN THE RACE FOR COMPTROLLER Hegar might yet cross the finish line with no runoff necessary Well,
it's still not quite the Comptroller's race many were counting on and certainly
no one expected to see Sen. Glenn Hegar rack up 49.99% of the vote on election night. Hegar’s supporters, including big money donors, of course would much
rather see him get to 50% and not have to continue into a runoff with Rep. Harvey Hilderbran
and at this moment it’s difficult to say how it’ll shake out. Hilderbran received just
over 28 percent as of last night, but there are provisional ballots from all
over the state yet to be considered. Many of those in Travis County, where icy
conditions led to a difficult Election Day. Voting didn’t start until 11am and
though it was extended until 9pm, ballots cast after 7pm were done on a
provisional basis. Some of the outstanding votes are in South Texas as well. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 5, 2014 3:06 PM SILLS: WENDY DAVIS’S PRIMARY RESULT STRONGER THAN SOME REALIZEParsing out the Davis numbers The
Democratic Primary of 2014 was an inauspicious beginning to what is going to be
a white-hot November election. The former has little to do with the latter. I’m
not going to do the election post mortems here, but will instead attack a
couple of memes that have developed around Wendy
Davis’s performance. (Full disclosure: I’m Texas AFL-CIO
communications director and a Democrat, with the bruises on my forehead from
banging my head against the wall to prove it. The Texas AFL-CIO COPE
endorsed Davis for governor.) Some
analysts have suggested that Davis’s performance was weak because Reynaldo “Ray” Madrigal got 20.94
percent of the vote. Also, they suggest an “excitement deficit” for Democrats,
as Davis got only 432,000 votes, compared to 517,487 for gubernatorial
candidate Bill White in the 2010
Democratic primary. Turnout
was light, in part because of bad weather, a lost day of early voting on Presidents
Day and voter procrastination. But in larger part, turnout was light because
the statewide Democratic matchups were so low on the marquee that they had to be
squeezed in with tweezers. Republicans were on TV, it seemed,
more than erectile dysfunction ads. Even Democrats’ attention was distracted in
the fashion of spectators witnessing a car wreck. The rest of Ed Sills column can be found in today's R&D Department. By Ed Sills |
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March 5, 2014 12:42 AM IT LOOKS LIKE SEN. CARONA IS ON TRACK TO LOSE TO HUFFINES IN DALLASAfter about $7 million spent by both sides, the incumbent is losing by about 900 votes with 243 of 270 precincts reporting. A recount is possible. |
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March 4, 2014 11:10 PM SEN. DONNA CAMPBELL WINS OUTRIGHT WITH 54 PERCENT
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March 4, 2014 10:50 PM HARRIS COUNTY GOP CHAIR JARED WOODFILL LOSES TO CHALLENGER PAUL SIMPSON Opponents of the 12 year incumbent spent over $300K to oust him. |
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March 4, 2014 10:43 PM SEN. BOB DEUELL APPEARS HEADED TO A RUNOFF WITH CHALLENGER BOB HALL
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March 4, 2014 10:33 PM REP. RALPH SHEFFIELD LOSES TO CHALLENGER MOLLY WHITE 53-46
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March 4, 2014 10:25 PM REP. LON BURNAM LOSES TO CHALLENGER RAMON ROMERO IN FT WORTH
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March 4, 2014 10:08 PM REP. JIM KEFFER WINS REELECTION WITH 54% OF THE VOTE - 82% REPORTING
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March 4, 2014 9:52 PM REP. SARAH DAVIS BEATS HER TEA PARTY CHALLENGER 71 - 28
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March 4, 2014 9:47 PM LOOKS SOLID FOR JD SHEFFIELD. HE'S WINNING 60 PERCENT OF THE VOTE OVER TWO CHALLENGERS - 73 PERCENT REPORTING
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March 4, 2014 9:23 PM HUFFINES LEADS CARONA 50.51% TO 49.49% WITH 42 OF 270 PRECINCTS REPORTING
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March 4, 2014 8:39 PM HARRIS COUNTY GOP CHAIRMAN JARED WOODFILL MAY GO DOWN WITHOUT A RUNOFF; CHALLENGER PAUL SIMPSON HAS 51% WITH 16% REPORTING
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March 4, 2014 8:35 PM IN EARLY VOTE, REP. DIANE PATRICK LOSING TO CHALLENGER TONY TINDERHOLT 53 TO 46
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March 4, 2014 8:27 PM ANOTHER RAZOR THIN ONE: REP. BENNETT RATLIFF BEHIND IN THE EARLY VOTE TO MATT RINALDI BY ONLY 9 VOTES
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March 4, 2014 8:17 PM IN EARLY VOTE, SEN. CAMPBELL LEADS HER TWO CHALLENGERS WITH 54 PERCENT. CHAN HAS 25 AND NOVAK HAS 20
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March 4, 2014 8:13 PM AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER RACE EARLY VOTE: SID MILLER 40%, TOMMY MERRITT 21%, OPIELA 15% CARNES 11%
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March 4, 2014 8:11 PM IN AG RACE: PAXTON LEADS EARLY VOTE WITH 43 PERCENT, BRANCH HAS 31 AND SMITHERMAN IS AT 25
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March 4, 2014 8:08 PM IN EARLY VOTE, REP. STEFANI CARTER IS IN SECOND PLACE IN A FOUR-WAY RACE. FORMER DALLAS CITY COUNCILWOMAN LINDA KOOP LEADS WITH 35 TO CARTER'S 33 PERCENT
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March 4, 2014 8:06 PM REP. JIM KEFFER LEADS HIS TEA PARTY CHALLENGER CULLEN CRISP IN EARLY VOTING 66 TO 33
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March 4, 2014 8:05 PM REP. STICKLAND LEADS ANDY CARGILE 64 TO 35 PERCENT IN THE EARLY VOTE
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March 4, 2014 8:04 PM REP. BYRON COOK LEADS HIS TWO CHALLENGERS WITH 60 PERCENT OF THE EARLY VOTE
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March 4, 2014 8:03 PM IN EARLY VOTING, REP. SARAH DAVIS LEADS HER TEA PARTY CHALLENGER 70 TO 30
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March 4, 2014 7:58 PM IN EARLY VOTE, REP. MATT SCHAEFER LEADS SKIP OGLE 62 TO 38
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March 4, 2014 7:53 PM AP CALLS REP. PETE SESSIONS THE WINNER OVER HIS TEA PARTY CHALLENGER KATRINA PIERSON
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March 4, 2014 7:49 PM HUFFINES LEADS CARONA IN EARLY VOTE BY ABOUT 150 VOTES OUT OF 21,000 CAST
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March 4, 2014 7:48 PM LITE GUV RACE: PATRICK LEADS IN EARLY VOTE WITH 42%, DEWHURST HAS 28%, PATTERSON 12%, STAPLES 17%
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March 4, 2014 2:19 PM BREAKING: POLLS WILL REMAIN OPEN UNTIL 9PM IN TRAVIS COUNTY
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March 4, 2014 11:59 AM TRAVIS COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICIALS TO SEEK EXTENDED HOURS FOR VOTING Voting didn't start until 11am in Austin because of icy roads Elections
administrators in Travis County will go before a State District Court judge
today to ask that voting hours be extended. That's after the polls were delayed
this morning until 11am because of icy conditions on the roads in the area. A
spokeswoman for the Travis County Elections Division told Quorum Report that they
will go before a judge – though, they’re not sure what time that will happen –
and seek an extension of voting hours. We
were told that an announcement will be made as soon as possible. The moment we get an update on this at Buzz Central, we’ll pass the information
along to our readers. If you’re not already signed up for our free email updates, this
would be a good time to do so. |
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March 4, 2014 11:42 AM KEFFER AND TRUITT RESPOND TO WSJ EDITORIAL THAT MISCHARACTERIZED THE EMPOWER TEXANS CASEThe two hope to set the record straight; Rupert Murdoch-owned publication doesn’t seem interested in that Note: Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland and former Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, were disturbed when they saw the Wall Street Journal published an
editorial entitled “Texas
Speech Fight” that took the Empower Texans federal lawsuit at face
value with no further vetting. The editorial board also repeated the false
assertion that the Texas Ethics
Commission’s
actions and the IRS “scandal” are analogous. They are not. Keffer and Truitt have
had trouble getting their thoughts published in the Journal, so we are proud to
offer their full response to our readers. – SB WHOA! As we say in Texas: Hold your horses! We are
compelled to set the record straight regarding an editorial entitled, Texas Speech Fight, as published in the WSJ on Saturday-Sunday, March 1-2, 2014. State
Representative Jim Keffer and I must clarify for readers the intent of the
ethics complaints we filed against Michael
Quinn Sullivan and Empower Texans, in April 2012. In
reading the piece, the first item that strikes me is that readers should know
that the Empower Texans’ scorecard is anything but objective. Its scorecard gives more weight to favorite
legislators, i.e., those who follow its vote recommendations, and poor scoring
to those who don’t march lockstep with its directives. Examples can be cited when extra credit is
given for one legislator for carrying a bill Empower Texans likes, but another
legislator, not liked by Empower Texans, does not receive extra credit for
carrying a bill favored by the organization. The rest of the story, subscribers only |
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March 3, 2014 9:50 PM POLLS TO OPEN AT 11AM IN TRAVIS COUNTY ON TUESDAY BECAUSE OF EXPECTED ICY CONDITIONSThe early vote may count for more than it otherwise would because some areas may be iced in In
parts of the state where ice is on the roads, you'll need to check with your
local elections administrators about possible changes to voting times. We’ve
learned tonight that polls in Travis County won’t open until 11am Tuesday. Weather
doesn’t look bad at all
in DFW Tuesday. It’ll be nasty
in Houston, but shouldn’t warrant a shutdown. Looks ok
for San Antonio. |
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March 3, 2014 4:54 PM CHECK THE PRESS RELEASES SECTION FOR IMMIGRATION, TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE, TESLA MOTORS BAIT AND MORE
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March 3, 2014 12:18 PM IN NEW WEB AD, ABBOTT HIGHLIGHTS BILINGUAL SUPPORT"Greg Abbott's Crisscrossing Texas" |
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March 3, 2014 11:43 AM MARGARITA MAIL PIECE DRAWS IRE OF SOME HISPANICS IN DALLAS Group says mailer may have a double meaning; Koop campaign says this is only about Rep. Carter RICHARDSON
– One of the most difficult Texas House races to handicap in
this GOP primary is the four-way scramble for the North Dallas seat currently
held by Rep. Stefani Carter. Some of
the twists and turns have made for especially entertaining discussion amongst
the Dallas chattering class. And the last month or so has been particularly bad
for the incumbent, following a Dallas
Morning News investigation of a car crash that Rep. Carter had tried
to use to her political advantage. It turned out she caused the crash. Now
a mail piece attacking Carter has become the subject of a debate about alleged racial
insensitivity in the GOP. The mailer from the campaign of well-respected former
Dallas City Councilwoman Linda Koop
criticizes Carter for, among other things, repeatedly using campaign cash to
rent a margarita machine for her Capitol office. The front of the
piece features a picture of a margarita machine with a sombrero on top and
maracas off to the side. "We don't need a margarita machine in our state
legislative office," it said. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Scott Braddock |
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March 3, 2014 10:59 AM SUPREME COURT DENIES REVIEW OF FARMERS BRANCH IMMIGRATION LAW – IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONALAfter spending $6 million, the city lost in court at every level The
Dallas
Morning News with the full
scoop.
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March 3, 2014 9:16 AM HK AND SB: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL GETS THE EMPOWER TEXANS CASE VERY WRONG All of the GOP candidates for AG say they would defend the Ethics Commission Some
Texas
Capitol observers were surprised over the weekend to see the Wall
Street Journal editorial board wade into the controversy over accused serial
Texas ethics law scofflaws Michael Quinn
Sullivan and Empower Texans. As you know, Sullivan and his group have been
locked in battle with the Texas Ethics Commission for two main
reasons. One is the failure of Sullivan to register as a lobbyist despite
meeting every legal threshold long established by Texas law and the other has
to do with Empower Texans acting as a PAC without making legally required
disclosures. A
rare formal hearing of the commission on those sworn complaints is set for
April but Sullivan's attorneys have now filed a federal lawsuit against the
commission claiming this is a fight over free speech and due process. The
Wall Street Journal apparently took Sullivan’s lawsuit pleadings at face value
with no other vetting – almost comically ignoring the two years of events prior
to the formal hearing. Instead, they camouflaged a press release as an
editorial while remaining oblivious to Texas law. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Harvey Kronberg and Scott Braddock |
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Copyright March 07, 2014, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved 