Williams on the Mayoral Candidates
How "over" is the Mayoral race in Houston?
White has plenty of money to pay for television commercials boosting his runoff campaign for mayor. Though the exact number won't be known until today, when campaign finance reports are due, his campaign expects to have raised more than $9 million, including at least $2.3 million of White's own money.Between now and Saturday's runoff, the White campaign plans to spend $235,000 on television commercials alone.
Pretty over ....
Sanchez, using an anti-tax message as the crux of his runoff campaign, hopes to attract a swarm of Republican voters to the polls. Most of his spending will be aimed at energizing that Republican base and arguing that taxes will rise under White.Sanchez had hoped to get a boost from the Republican National Committee, which provided his 2001 effort with about $250,000 that the Harris County GOP used to woo Republicans to the polls.
This year, Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill expects to get less than half that much, with the national party less-than-eager to fund a significantly uphill battle against White, who has important Republican backers of his own.
Perhaps party leaders see the writing on the wall.
In Houston city elections, it is hard to get affluent white Republicans to the polls during runoffs.
Best of luck getting those GOP voters to the polls. Expect a little more than 3 out of 10 to roll that dial to Bill White's name. Not a solid investment if you ask me, but who am I to complain?
The real test for the county GOP (let's be honest, this isn't about Sanchez) is if they can keep White at 55% or below. That would minimalize any claim to having a broad multiracial coalition of support and from both sides of the political aisle. A 60-40 win pretty much makes White's case without saying a word, however.
Right now, the county GOP leaders have to be looking in their rear view mirror at things like demographics (which are nudging the county Dem slowly but surely), and their bench. Demographics aren't quite where they need to be for Dems to take advantage of the situation yet, and as I've argued, even waiting for that to happen has its own risks. But the bench for the Dems has grown to include former Judge Eric Andell (reportedly a onetime name being dropped for County Judge), Sylvia Garcia, and now (presumably) Bill White. That's not the deepest bench in the world, but if you add in a name like Paul Hobby, for instance, the bench is heavy at the top and could be ready to take advantage of the first, best opening at a county-wide race.
The county GOP is far from looking at an empty cupboard itself, but one-by-one, the other team is making gains.