An Upset in Austin?
No, UT didn't beat a ranked team ....
Charles Soechting Elected Texas Democratic Party Chairman
AUSTIN?San Marcos attorney Charles Soechting was elected today to chair the Texas Democratic Party during a meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC).Soechting received a majority of the votes from SDEC members (34 of 62) on the second ballot. Chairman Soechting will serve out the remaining term of outgoing chair Molly Beth Malcolm.
Chairman Soechting was elected out of five contenders, all of whom addressed the general session of the SDEC. Every candidate spoke in favor of unifying the Party, during speeches this morning to the Democratic gathering.
Soechting was previously the Hays County Democratic Chair and has been the Texas Democratic Party General Counsel for the last two years. Chairman Soechting?s biography is below:
Charles Soechting is a fifth generation Texan, living six miles from where his great great grandfather, Friedrich Heinrich Andreas Soechting, first settled upon arriving in Texas. Soechting is a lifelong Democrat, having become actively involved in his first campaign while a student at Wharton County Junior College, where he worked on several different political campaigns. Early on, he learned his first political lesson that to win, you have to fight, be organized and be prepared to unify the party in the aftermath.
After finishing Junior College, Soechting became a Highway Patrolman and within a few short years was selected to be a member of one of the very first law enforcement minority recruiting teams in the nation. He completed his college education at Southwest Texas State University, while still a patrolman. Upon graduation, he started law school in Houston, at South Texas College of Law, and was awarded the George T. Barrow Outstanding Future Attorney Award at graduation.
A private practice attorney since 1981, Soechting now manages the San Marcos office of the Houston based law firm of O?Quinn, Laminack & Pirtle. In 1982, he was the Hays County Coordinator for the Lloyd Bentsen campaign and has a solid history of working to support Democratic candidates statewide. Perhaps Soechting?s greatest contribution to the Democratic Party has been his unwavering commitment to legally support and defend party loyalists. Specifically those loyalists singled out by Republicans whose sole purpose was to take away legitimate gains in the voting booths by the initiation of frivolous lawsuits and criminal charges at the courthouse.
Charles Soechting believes there are millions of Texans thirsty for the Democratic Party message that will lead to a forthcoming Democratic revival in our state.
UPDATE: Chron coverage:
Soechting's election, which required a majority of the 64-member committee, took two ballots. On the first, he led Mauro, 28-22.Malcolm abstained from voting for her successor, and the remaining 13 votes were split among state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, committee member Mary Moore of Bryan and lawyer David Van Os of San Antonio.
Coleman, who had received seven votes, then withdrew from the race, and on the second ballot Soechting won with 34 votes. Mauro again finished second with 23.
Mauro, who won four statewide races for land commissioner before losing the 1998 gubernatorial race by a wide margin to Bush, said he was aware there was an "anybody but Garry" faction working against him within the party. But he said he knew how to win elections and could help the party get back on a winning track.
Soechting said he wanted to keep Mauro "deeply involved" in the process of rebuilding the Democratic Party, including fundraising.
Less than two hours after Soechting's election, a Mauro spokesman, Bob Mann, said the former land commissioner would seek a full, two-year term as chairman at the June convention in Houston.
Look for one of two things ... Mauro will get payback as the activists that know him best will be there to support him in June ... or he gets an offer to run for an office with some party support to clear the deck for him. Should the latter happen, I doubt it would be for a return to the Land Commish office. Should the former happen, I guess I can forget about Strayhorn ever switching sides.