Burnt Orange Report

July 01, 2004

Texas House Democrats Lead in Fundraising

By Andrew Dobbs

Some great news out of Capitol Inside (subscription required) this morning:

Democrats appear to be raising campaign money more aggressively than their Republican counterparts so far in targeted state House races this year. A full picture won't be available until candidates file semi-annual reports with the Texas Ethics Commission on July 15. But the snapshot provided by fundraising during the spring special session hints that the minority party is off to a sizeable lead in the dollars department in the battle for Texas House seats. In contribution statements filed by candidates in Capitol Inside's top 20 races to watch this fall, the top four special session money leaders were all Democrats.

The four Democrats - two incumbents and two challengers - reported raising about $207,000 combined between the start of the special session on school finance April 20 and the day it adjourned May 17. The four leading state House Republican hopefuls combined to bring in about $51,000 - almost four times less than the Democrats with the most successful fundraising efforts while legislators were in Austin tackling the issue of public school funding. Only one of the Republicans who raised the most during the special session is an incumbent legislator. Seven of the top ten fundraiser's at that time are Democrats.

TOP SPECIAL SESSION FUNDRAISERS Patrick Rose (D-Inc) $80,000 Mark Strama (D) $55,000 Kelly White (D) $46,000 John Mabry (D-Inc) $26,000 Ann Witt (R) $17,000 Martha Wong (R) $16,000 Yvonne G. Toureilles (D) $16,000 "Doc" Anderson (R) $13,150 Katy Hubener (D) $8,600 Jim Dougherty (D) $7,700

State Rep. Patrick Rose, a Dripping Springs Democrats seeking a second term in the House, raised by far the most of any candidate vying for for a seat in the lower chamber of the Legislature in 2004. Rose reported contributions of almost $80,000 during the 28-day called session. Rose's Republican opponent, Alan Askew of Wimberly, is one of several candidates in competitive House races to not file a report by the mid-June deadline. Candidates were not required to submit a report to the state if they didn't raise any money during the time the Legislature was in session.

Alright Mark! The fact that he raised $55,000 and that Jack Stick isn't anywhere in sight bodes well for him. Texas Democrats are tired of all the crap coming down from Craddick and I think that our candidates will do quite well this year. Of course, some of the big name GOP donors haven't shown up yet but this has got to be a good sign. I really think that we have a chance of picking up 5-7 seats this year if we keep this going.

Congrats to all of our House Democrats- we'll be there for you in November!

Posted by Andrew Dobbs at July 1, 2004 09:57 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Guys, I know you love Strama, but do you really think he has a chance, when the popular Dem running against Stick in 2002 only got 41% of the vote? And with Stick now having the incumbency advantage and name recognition? And with Bush heading the ticket?

Posted by: TM at July 1, 2004 05:13 PM

I love reading this site, and you usually have a lot of insight. But I'm still laughing about the "I really think that we have a chance of picking up 5-7 seats this year if we keep this going" comment.

Where can I get some of what you're smoking?

Posted by: Carrie S at July 1, 2004 05:49 PM

We're not smoking anything- except the asses of Republicans.

Posted by: Jeff at July 1, 2004 07:07 PM

TM:

Mark Strama is going to beat Jack Stick in HD50 because Jim Sylvester, Stick's 2002 opponent, was extremely underfunded and was not nearly as qualified as Mark is. Stick sold out the district by voting for redistricting and being a pawn for the Texas Association of Business. The district is probably only about 53 to 55% GOP right now, and Mark got more votes in his uncontested primary than Stick did in his contested primary. With the fundraising numbers Strama is putting up, this should be the top target of state Dems to pick up a seat. www.MarkStrama.com

Posted by: David at July 1, 2004 11:32 PM

"...this should be the top target of state Dems to pick up a seat. www.MarkStrama.com."

Along with Kelly White, next door in District 48. www.votekellywhite.com

Posted by: Jeff at July 2, 2004 12:04 AM

With all credit to Mr. Sylvester, he did not have that great of a campaign or that great of fundraising. He got slammed with negative ads funded by the dubious Corperate money funneling scheme that's being investigated (that Jack Stick got LOTS of).

This is Travis County, you must have money. You have to go on TV. This will likly be a half million dollar race for Strama. He's well on his way there. People were saying the 'are you kidding line' about Patrick Rose 2 years ago and this district is even more Democratic than Rose's.

I'll be posting more, believe me.

Posted by: Karl-T at July 2, 2004 01:07 AM

Having lived in the district represented by Mr. Stick-Up-the-Ass, I can tell you that many folks feel very "sold out" by the little upstart. Instead of spending his time downtown working on the business of the state, Stick-Up-the-Ass spent most of his time either kissing some serious Republican ass or chasing the television cameras around town. The citizens of his district would have been much better served with someone who hadn't spent the last year and a half trying to make a name for himself.

Posted by: GT at July 2, 2004 08:00 AM

The way Patrick Rose sold out on a lot of his votes to Republican interests, tort refrom, et. al., I fear a lot of money may be quid pro quo money.

Posted by: WhoMe? at July 2, 2004 08:23 AM

Here are seats that we could pick up:

Strama (already heard about that one)
White (great candidate, marginal district, good year for Dems)
Leibowitz (his GOP opponent only won in 2002 in a Dem majority district b/c of a late-breaking scandal against the Dem that year)
Hubener (Great candidate, her opponent is facing some serious legal/personal scandals)
Vo (In 2002 a Vietnamese candidate ran against Heflin and didn't even campaign, didn't raise any money and still got more than 45% of the vote. Vo is the President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and he is working his ass off)
Peveto (Son of a longtime state rep, running a very good campaign)

Posted by: Andrew D at July 2, 2004 10:32 AM

News, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas

July 01, 2004

Texas House Democrats Lead in Fundraising

By Andrew Dobbs