Yesterday in a great analysis piece on the expected outcome of the San Antonio mayoral race the San Antonio Mayor blog speculated about whether Cibrian could finish in second place. That sparked a series of comments that made me start thinking a little about the situation and what the campaigns might do. Prior to that entry a lot of us gave our predictions for what the final Castro result would be. San Antonio Mayor put him at 57% and I put him at 55%. Regarding second place there was a lot of debate about what the strategy should be for Cibrian and DeBerry-Mejia. You see, if Castro wins with anything above 50% this race is over. There is no run-off. So both Cibrian and DeBerry-Mejia have to drag Castro down below 50% to even have a second chance at this race. Read more…
This week marks the home stretch of the San Antonio mayoral race, one that started as early as last July when Julian Castro wrote this opinion piece to the Express-News published on Independence Day. Diane Cibrian entered the race around the middle of November with a statement to the Express-News. Trish DeBerry-Mejia jumped in around the same time with hints at her run as early as the November election. Sheila McNeil probably took the longest of any candidate I’ve seen to jump in when she entered at almost the last hour before the filing deadline. Finally, after 6+ long months of campaigning we are in the last week of early voting capped off with the general election next Saturday, May 9th. So where have we ended up in this race for the center seat? Read more…
Today the final campaign finance numbers came in for the city council elections. In an article by Greg Jefferson in the Express-News the numbers listed for the Castro campaign seem to indicate a large advantage over both DeBerry-Mejia and Cibrian. As of March 30, Castro maintains a campaign war chest of almost $300,000 while DeBerry-Mejia has a little over $60,000 and Cibrian has a little over $75,000. What is even more telling is the difference of money raised compared to money spent. Only Castro raised more money than spent. Both DeBerry-Mejia and Cibrian experienced a deficit in spending compared to funds raised. Read more…
It’s municipal election season in Texas and everyone is publishing their candidate picks for their respective races. Several have been posted by the respective organizations. Heck, Burnt Orange Report even came out with their April Fool’s Day endorsements. In light of a lot of the issues in the Express-News comments I figured it was time for me to bow out of the commentary on the mayoral race and direct my commentary to this blog. In doing so it will provide me with a better means to explain my choice. Small comments in the midst of a flurry of rhetoric and trash do not do the reasoning justice. So here it is. Read more…
This week has resulted in some interesting changes in the San Antonio mayoral race. Two forums have been broadcast for the public to watch or listen, one on KLRN on Thursday and one on TPR on Friday. The four major candidates participated in both. I did hear from sources that the five minor candidates protested outside the KLRN studios during the debate about their exclusion. In those debates Sheila McNeil demonstrated her coolness in the forums and started winning some support This week Diane Cibrian ramped her criticism of Trish DeBerry-Mejia about conflicts of interest regarding work of Guerra DeBerry Coody, the firm Trish helped found, with the city of San Antonio. This week has almost been like Texas weather – wait a few minutes and it’ll change. Read more…
Scott Stroud, politics/government editor of the Express-News, wrote a column regarding the recent filing by Diane Cibrian for mayor. Up until this point, as Stroud pointed out, many were speculating as to whether Cibrian would drop out of the race after a series of media gaffs and public opinion that has placed her in third place at best. Thursday ended all that speculation in typical Cibrian fashion. When asked about her campaign Cibrian replied “I think my name identification is very high. I think folks know that I work hard and I’m honest.” The problem is the type of name recognition Cibrian is getting may not be the kind she wants. Read more…
Dianne Cibrian officially entered the race for mayor of San Antonio Sunday in an announcement ceremony at the Tower of the Americas. While it has been no secret of her entry the announcement on Sunday served as a means to showcase her support base. In an article in the Express-News some of the supporters mentioned included longtime Democratic and civic activist Bill Sinkin, BJ “Red” McCombs, developer Marty Wender, and DPT Labs head John Feik. That list seems to confirm that Cibrian is the developer-friendly candidate as has been rumored. Read more…
Yesterday the San Antonio Police Officers Association endorsed mayoral candidate Julian Castro as their candidate for the 2009 mayoral race. The endorsement is one of the most coveted one’s in any city race and especially so in San Antonio. Who wouldn’t want to be the the police officer’s choice as a candidate and be viewed as the public safety choice in a race? Of course that endorsement set off the claims from the other candidates, some petty, some childish, some down right wrong. Read more…
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