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…
Today in the Express-News columnist Jaime Castillo highlights some of the inconsistencies being displayed by two of the mayoral candidates, Trish DeBerry-Mejia and Diane Cibrian, regarding their labor positions. In the column Castillo points out that even though the candidates are now taking an anti-union stance they actively courted both the SAPOA and SAPFA in February according to leaders of both organizations. DeBerry-Mejia’s campaign even goes as far as to link Castro to efforts to organize the rest of city employees under current efforts by SEIU through a series of “guilt by association” assertions. But I really have to ask the question is having the support of organized labor a bad thing? 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…
This morning the Northwest Democrats hosted a mayoral forum during their monthly meeting. Trish DeBerry-Mejia and Julian Castro were present for the hour long discussion. Diane Cibrian was noticeably absent from the forum even though an invitation had been extended to her citing another engagement. You would think the District 8 council member would attend a candidate forum in the heart of her district. Rhett Smith, another mayoral candidate, was in attendance but was not included in the discussion forum despite requesting to be included at the beginning of the meeting. The moderator cited time constraints as the reason for exclusion. 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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