Runoff Results: Porkchop Edition
Briefly ...
» Mark Thompson for Railroad Commissioner ... someone explain that to me. Not that I'm overly concerned about his nomination in particular. My own advice to anyone on voting in these runoffs has been that it really wouldn't matter one way or the other for any of the runoffs we had. Here's hoping I'm correct in that because we have a complete unknown running for RR Commish.
» Weiman over Isenberg ... looks like the late (in more than one sense of the word) attacks on Weiman were all for naught. Might have helped if the other side had realized they were on the wrong side of the Funny Name Primary in this battle. Of course, it might also help if they worked with the party instead of against it. But that's another issue.
» On the GOP side ... Lykos over Siegler, 53-47. It's tempting to think that with a small margin like that, getting outted for cracking on the biggest church in the county might have had something of an impact. Given the geography of the primary outcome, it'll be interesting to see what changed from then till now. ... well, other than the massive dropoff in votes cast.
» Over in Ft. Bend County, interesting to see County Commissioner Tom Stavinoha get offed in a primary. Richard Morrison took care of business just fine, for his side. This one'll be interesting to keep an eye on for November.
» Among the interesting State Rep details, Buddy West got kneecapped in his own primary. Anyone even know if that's good or bad for his next door neighbor Rep, Tom Craddick? Pasadena is still looking for two precincts to settle the Leggler v Roberts runoff.
» Oh yeah ... and poor Shelley lost out in CD22. My sense was that she hit her ceiling in the primary and I don't think I'm alone in wishing I was wrong about that. But now the DC-Class Republicans here in Texas get their chosen one to run against Nick Lampson. At least Olson can't call Nick the carpetbagger in this contest. Welcome back to Texas, Petey!
» Lastly, my favorite candidate in the entire state has won a runoff against an incumbent County Commissioner in Leon County: Porkchop Ivey. He's one step closer to being Commissioner Porkchop now. I'm not all that well versed in what went down in Leon County, but I think Porkchop's winning message was the key.
Greg Ivey, 52, and Mark "Pork Chop" Ivey, 45, are both seeking to unseat Precinct 3 Commissioner Ray Gaskin in the March 4 primary election. The fact that the men are "some kind of cousins -- maybe fourth, fifth or sixth" is not an issue in the race, Greg Ivey said Tuesday.
Pork Chop Ivey targets the family lineage a little closer, estimating he and Greg Ivey are third cousins. Although the men have known each other for decades, "we've probably talked 20 words in five years," Pork Chop Ivey said.The county commissioner's seat carries a four-year term and pays about $32,000. Leon County has four commissioners elected by geographic quadrants of the population who serve with the county judge on the commissioners court. They oversee road maintenance, approve policies and determine the budget and tax rate, according to the county Web site.
Incumbent Commissioner Gaskin, 60, has served two terms and is seeking another in the race against the Iveys. Gaskin could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Greg Ivey, who works for Leon County's Precinct 4 commissioner, said he has no criticism for the other hopefuls in the Precinct 3 race.
"I don't want to be derogatory toward the other candidates," he said. "I just think it's time for a change in Precinct 3. I've watched the slow deterioration of the roads."
The political newcomer said when he heard that a distant cousin also was seeking the post, it didn't affect his decision.
"We're not that close or anything, so that's really not an issue for me," he said.
Pork Chop Ivey, a truck driver, agreed that running against a cousin isn't a big deal.
"I need the money," he said when asked why he was running.
Give 'em hell, Porkchop!
Howdy,
Well, I don't much about Mark Thompson, but from I've been able to learn Mark Thompson is a public advocate compared to being an oil & gas practitioner like Henry.
It sounded like Mark Thompson was the one responsible for holding to Commission and the Industry accountable for replacing pipeline couplings that had been neglected and were causing explosions.
Thompson wasn't communicating with guys like me, but he must have been communicating with the voters that matter especially in the runoff.
I scanned the County-by-County results and there really was any notable margin except in Jefferson County. Otherwise, it was just a matter of winning consistently in most counties. The advocacy message must have resonated with the voters in Jefferson County. This does not surprise me. They live amongst a huge petroleum refining industry, and the labor that lives there might have liked the idea of someone looking out for their interests to protect them from dangers both on and off the job.
Jasper County also caught my attention. Actually, a more dramatic margin and total vote count for Thompson than Jefferson County. I know there are many connections between Jasper just north of the Golden Triangle. It could be labor that commutes to the refineries in the Golden Triangle or perhaps there are extensive pipelines running through the county, but I don't know.
It might be interesting to correlate the votes for Thompson and presence of pipelines, and or known pipeline issues and incidences.
Personally, I find it hard to vote for a guy I can't see. Mark Thompson does not have a picture of himself on his web site. To me this dehumanizes the candidates. Now that he is our nominee, I want to see the guy. I don't care if he is not handsome.
I doubt Thompson will have the same results Bob Scarborough in his 2004 Railroad Commissioner race where he garnered the most votes in Texas of any statewide Democratic candidate although in a loosing effort.
I've been using voting results like those for Bob Scarborough, to identify Texas Blue Dog opportunities since 1998, because Democrats have not carried a statewide race since 1994. Paul Hobby had the most votes for a Democratic statewide candidate again in a loosing effort. I used Bill Moody for 2006. What I look for are Districts or Counties that these candidates carried, but the Republicans carried the top of the ticket.
My argument is that these Democratic candidates have had appeal in Republican districts. Democrats can connect with these voters with the right message and candidate. These candidates can appeal to moderates and conservatives, and this is precisely the objective of the Texas Blue Dog Coalition.
This is not the only type of analysis I do to target Blue Dog areas, but it helps fill the gaps. The best measures of Blue Dog districts are the 40 State Representative Districts with Republican voting indexes, but represented by Democrats.
Certainly the WD40 is a part of this, and since I’m a white Democrat and approaching 40, I care about this demographic :).
Keep the Faith,
Ted A. Waterston
Acting Director
The Texas Blue Dog Coalition
www.txbluedogdems.org
TexasBlueDogCoalition@groups.txdemocrats.org
txbluedogs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
I might have come across more information about the coupling issue.
I caught a report from one of the Dallas TV stations that I think is related to this. However, they made no mention of Thompson. I don’t remember which station.
It seemed to me that they were trying to take credit for the investigative report, but it sounded awfully similar to the bits and pieces I've been able to pick up about Thompson's advocacy work related to gas coupling issues.
It appears to issue should be very close to home especially those once served by Lone Star Gas now Atmos Energy. I know this includes Dallas and Plano. And I mean close to home literally. The coupling issue is one that connect from the main line to homes.
If indeed these stories are related, Thompson should have a story that really resonates with voters, and not limited to heavy Petro/Chem areas as I first suggested.
Regards,
Ted