Politics
May 12, 2013 - A night of expected results and unexpected signals
Saturday night, as the results came in, some were shocked and some were pleased on the selections made by less than 7% of San Antonio’s voting population. While the mayor clocked in a third term with 67% of the vote, 33% didn’t vote for him, spreading their votes across a wide spectrum of perennial and new candidates. In District 3, council’s pick for the seat was ousted by one of the candidates they overlooked. In District 5, a large field ... Read more »
May 11, 2013 - 2013 San Antonio Municipal Elections–8th Day and 3rd Day reports
To help folks find the information on campaign finance reports, which are available at the City Clerk’s website, I’ve pulled the links to the 8th day and 3rd day reports and listed them here. Sometimes the searches can be a little difficult to get right. Anyway, you can get all the information here at one single page. It also gives you a better idea of who’s running.Campaign Finance Reports for 2013 Municipal Election: Mayor Julian Castro ... Read more »
May 11, 2013 - Election night - 2013 San Antonio Municipal Elections
Since I'll be traveling around tonight, hitting a few of the Election Night Watch Parties, I decided to try something new to see if this will work. I'm going to be posting here throughout the day and night some of the things I see and some of my observations throughout the night. Hopefully I'll be able to post photos from the various locations, as well as some updates on election returns, as they come in. Not all locations have WiFi, from what I can ... Read more »
May 10, 2013 - Another municipal election, another year of anemic voter turnout
San Antonio is about to complete its first municipal election with terms extended by the 2008 charter change to allow four two-year years over the prior limit of two terms. But, even with two more terms, voter turnout for San Antonio municipal elections continues to rank among the lowest in the nation, coming in a the bottom among the 22 largest cities. City leaders and politicos have been perplexed as to why San Antonio ranks so low, offering up ... Read more »
May 5, 2013 - One day it won’t matter, but until then, it does
This past Saturday, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) was sworn in as Governor for a Day, an opportunity provided the President Pro Tem of the Texas Senate when both Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst are out of the state. While the position and scenario are very real, in terms of duties, yesterday was more about a celebration for Democrats and San Antonians at the Capitol. But, seizing that moment, Gov. Van de Putte issued a call ... Read more »
April 29, 2013 - Moderate vote for a moderate district vs. an ethics train wreck waiting to happen
Today starts the Early Voting period for our municipal elections, typically the elections with the lowest voter turnout of the city. There’s no major citywide race this election with Mayor Julian Castro seeking his third term in office with no real opposition. Looking at the other districts, District 3 and 5 are probably hotter than most races. But the race to really watch is going to be District 8 where three candidates are squaring up for what ... Read more »
April 16, 2013 - Big District 5 field doesn’t yield many big ideas
The field for the District 5 council seat is crowded. In fact, aside from the mayor’s race, it’s the most crowded race on the ballot for the May 11th election. So you would suspect with such a big field there would be tons of big ideas to help improve the district, one of the poorest in the city. Based on the answers provided at a candidate forum hosted by COPS/Metro Alliance last night, it seems a big field doesn’t always yield big ideas. In ... Read more »
April 15, 2013 - Public information at its best and worst
This past week saw the issue of public information at its best and worst. Best in the sense that a review of the public records by the Bankers Anonymous blog into SAISD superintendent candidate Manuel Isquierdo, revealing a record of financial and legal issues. Worst in the sense that a so-called watchdog group can leverage campaign finance records to launch a political vendetta against a public official, as the Texas Ethics Advisory Board, a political ... Read more »
April 12, 2013 - 2013 San Antonio Municipal Elections–30 Day reports
To help folks find the information on campaign finance reports, which are available at the City Clerk’s website, I’ve pulled the links to the reports and listed them here. Sometimes the searches can be a little difficult to get right. Anyway, you can get all the information here at one single page. It also gives you a better idea of who’s running.Campaign Finance Reports for 2013 Municipal Election: Mayor Julian Castro Sergio Falcon ... Read more »
November 18, 2012 - Our Uncivil Society
Note: This is a repost of a piece in my column in Plaza de Armas that was originally posted on Election Day. I reposted it because of interest from several friends in social media. How can you not feel for little Abbey who, in a YouTube video that has gone viral, is tired of “Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney” and has had about as much of this presidential election as the rest of us have. I believe Abbey has expressed to the nation what all of us ... Read more »
November 10, 2012 - Give P. a chance
In case you missed one of the news items last week, George P. Bush filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission to run for office, something many people expected might happen but weren’t sure when. Based on comments from Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, who’s probably going to be seeking the office of Lt. Governor in 2014, Bush seems to be eyeing the Land Commissioner office. While some might wonder why the coverage in many of the state ... Read more »
November 6, 2012 - Time to get the vote out
Yea, I know the title sounds like I’m a little late to the game on this election and actually I may be. But, after following the numbers leading to today through the early voting period I decided it’s time to quit waiting for someone else to get the vote out. So I’m going to take initiative and start the conversation on how we can get voters more engaged in the process and elections. I’m on a quest to increase voter turnout over the next several ... Read more »
November 5, 2012 - Election Results
Here is my election result link page you can use to quickly check results around the state and some key initiatives and Senate races around the nation. I didn't put them all on there because some just aren't competitive. I will update the Bexar County link once they post it. Texas races President Senate - Cruz/Sadler CD-20 - Castro/Rosa - Henry's Puffy Tacos - 6030 Bandera Road CD-23 - Gallego/Canseco CD-35 - Doggett/Narvaiz SBOE-3 ... Read more »
October 22, 2012 - We elect candidates to office, not a party
Today I received a dose of reality from, of all persons, Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of the Texas Democratic Party. The issue involved straight ticket voting, something I have been opposed to for quite a while. Today, when he provided voters with information regarding voting he also encouraged people to vote straight ticket Democrat. It was a part of his Facebook status. Having engaged in MANY a Facebook discussion, I figured I’d state my opposition ... Read more »
August 19, 2012 - In the Texas Senate, the local races are predictable
As a part of a series of entries looking at the upcoming races in the 2012 General Election, I’ve been focusing on various areas on the ballot. The last entry was on the US House races in Bexar County, with only one race, the Canseco-Gallego race for the 23rd district, as really in play. This one will focus on the Texas Senate, probably the more stable of the Texas Legislature. But even with a long-time incumbent ousted during the Republican primary ... Read more »
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