Guest Post – The Importance of Special Elections

(Editor’s note) **I have the pleasure to post a column by blog reader Douglas Findlay. It outlines his reflections on special elections and the importance of being involved in state-level politics. I encourage those who are interested to visit his blog, Ride2Repeal, a fascinating look at mobilizing and advocating for an issue near and dear to his heart.**

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By Douglas Findlay, Ride2Repeal Blog

I particularly enjoy reading the “All Politics is Local” blog for many reasons. It’s timely, relevant, unbiased, and uncluttered. It is also rare, because it gives me news about state legislative elections all around the country.

For most folks, this is local news. Like the school board or county council, it’s close to home. But I’ve found that state politics is where we, the people, have the most influence over our government. This is because we have the greatest ability to have a hand in shaping our future, both at the local level and the highest offices of the land.

If you look at Congress and the Oval Office, you’ll see quite a few politicians that used to be state senators, representatives, or assemblymen. The most obvious case is President Obama, who made the giant leap from state legislator to Commander in Chief inside the span of one election cycle.

Special elections are of particular importance, representing the greatest opportunity for individuals and grassroots organizations. The conventional wisdom is that nobody cares, based on predictably low voter turnout. But the truth is that the fewer people who turnout, the greater the influence of the people who do.

We are conditioned to believe that voting is the greatest power we hold over our government. It’s how the people hold their elected officials accountable. “One man, one vote” is ingrained in our minds, and the ballot box is a hallowed place. But there’s a secret weapon right under our noses, one that is ten times as powerful as the individual act of voting.

This secret weapon is campaign volunteering. Instead of a single vote, volunteers have the power of voting by the dozens. And despite every broken campaign promise ever uttered, politicians are always most loyal to the people who got them elected. Not to the people who voted for them, but to the people who got others to vote for them.

I’ve worked in dozens of campaigns, and worked on both sides of the aisle. In so doing, I’ve developed personal friendships with the people who govern. Yes, they are just as human as everyone else. And for that very reason, they take care of their friends first. After all, they can count on their friends to help them when they are most in need. And as a campaign volunteer, I am a friend indeed.

So if you watch the news and see some jerk get elected, and then re-elected time and again, it’s not because there’s nothing you can do. It’s because there are so many people who only think that there’s nothing they can do. The rest of us just get up and do it.

As with so many other things, knowledge is power. I used to spend hours and hours, scanning the news, scouring government websites, searching through the web, just to find out simple things about state elections.

It’s just not that easy, considering that government and the media are more interested in keeping power than sharing it. So they feed us McNews, and our minds become well fed — but poorly exercised.

But as an activist, the “All Politics is Local” blog always provides me with the best kind of election information: timely, relevant, and actionable. Now that’s what I call food for thought.

Election 2010 – Following the Kentucky Senate Race

To learn all about the Kentucky Senate Race, click here to read about all the candidates

At the end of January, the filing period for Kentucky (and for West Virginia) closed. Now its time for you to express your opinions on the race. Vote in this poll after clicking on the above link.

Election 2010 – Texas Supreme Court Place 3

There are 9 Supreme Court Justices in Texas – and it is one of the few states where Justices are elected. For the past decade, the court has been entirely Republican. This year, three seats are up for election and in place 3, incumbent Harriet O’Neill is retiring after 10 years on the bench. A large primary faces Texas voters – and it is important to learn about all the candidates.

All Texas voters will get to choose in this race – Place 3 does not mean anything geographically. 6 Republicans are running for the race, while Democrats have coalesced behind one candidate, Jim Sharpe, a Justice on the Texas 1st Court of Appeals. To learn about this candidate who will be on the November ballot, click here.

Full Results from New Orleans

Everyone could tell how this election would turn out – but I am not sure anyone expected such a blowout in the race for Mayor of New Orleans. 32 years after his father finished his time as mayor of the Big Easy, Mitch Landrieu was elected Mayor of a city that still has a great deal of work to do to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina and solve many fiscal and standard-of-living issues.

Landrieu’s victory is also noteworthy for his biracial appeal. Though the first white mayor since his father in 1978, Landrieu won over the African-American vote as well as the white vote and this led to his large margin of victory.

Mitch Landrieu – 58,276 (66%)
Troy Henry – 12,275 (14%)
John Georges – 8,189 (9%)
Rob Couhig – 4,874 (5%)
James Perry – 2,702 (3%)
Nadine Ramsey – 1,894 (2%)
Thomas Lambert – 239 (0%)
Other – 489

In the 5th State Senate District, Karen Carter Peterson also won easily over her opponent

Karen Carter Peterson – 13,509
Irma Muse Dixon – 3,734

Election Day in the Big Easy

A day before the New Orleans Saints attempt to win its first Super Bowl – residents will have to tamp down their fever to go vote for Mayor and a new State Senator in the 5th district.

February 6 – New Orleans, Louisiana – Mayoral Primary

February 6 – Louisiana – State Senate District 5

10:31 – Mitch Landrieu has been elected Mayor of New Orleans. There will be no need for a runoff – he has topped 65% of the vote. Congratulations to him and his staff – and good luck to his city tomorrow in the Super Bowl

Election 2010 – Texas 18th Congressional District

Now running for her 9th term in Congress, Democrat Sheila Jackson-Lee has become an important voice in the Democratic congress and in the Congressional Black Congress. She has been a strong progressive, rallying for more action to deal with the genocide in Darfur as well as backing a renewal of the ban of assault weapons. To learn more about the incumbent and her campaign, click here.

However, she angered some of constituents by backing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Presidential primary and is accused by some of being aloof from her Houston district. This has led to two Democratic primary challengers as well as three Republicans in their own primary.

Election 2010 – Texas 17th Congressional District

Target #1 for Texas Republicans has always been Chet Edwards in the 17th Congressional district. Republican presidential candidate John McCain won the district with 67% of the vote in 2008 and yet Edwards has managed to hold onto his seat since 1991. This year, Republicans hope to change this history. However, Edwards has been immensely successful at staying true to his moderate roots while bringing a great deal of federal money to the district. To learn more about the incumbent and his campaign for reelection, click here.

The 17th district falls directly south of Dallas in an odd gerrymandered fashion, scooping up Cleburne in the north, using Waco as a focal point in the center and covering College Station and George W. Bush’s town of Crawford as well. It has one of the lowest percentages of Hispanic voters in the state.

Republican Primary

Bill Flores was born into a family of service – the son of an Air Force officer – and found a home in the district while at college at Texas A&M. Like many businessmen in the area, he has made his living in the gas and oil industry and would like to, in part, focus on energy issues in Washington. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Chuck Wilson has spent part of his life in Washington and it makes sense, with his roots in the district and much of his professional life working for the US government, that he would try to make the jump to Congress. He worked as a case officer in the CIA for many years and moved back to Waco after retiring from that line of work. He wants to focus on “threats on freedom” both foreign and domestic. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Dave McIntyre opens his website with traditional political introductions but also a touching batch of links to aid those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. It fits into his career of service, where he served in the military for 30 years and was appointed to the National Security Education Board in 2008. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Another former member of the military running for office is Timothy Delasandro. A US Navy veteran and Russian Language specialist with the NSA, he switched careers when returning to Texas and became a Registered Nurse. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Rob Curnock is quite familiar to district voters. In a tough year for Republicans, he was the nominee in 2008, receiving just over 45% of the vote against the incumbent. A small business owner in Waco, Curnock is involved in local Republican politics and hopes to improve on his showing from the last election. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Election 2010 – Texas 4th Congressional District

There are many races chock full of Republican candidates this year, but the oddity about the 4th district in Texas is that it already has a Republican incumbent. Ralph Hall has been a representative since 1980 and is 86 years old. He switched parties in 2004 and has become a reliable conservative in Congress. To learn more about Hall and his campaign, click here.

However, 5 Republicans are lining up to beat the incumbent – the oldest member of the House of Representatives. They come from various backgrounds, but each believe they can win over a plurality of voters. The district runs north of Dallas, containing a few suburbs of that large city, but encompassing the largely rural area up to the Oklahoma and Arkansas border in the northeast. The large cities are Paris, Dennison and Texarkana.

Site Updates

I have updated all of the Illinois posts to reflect winners and will be updating them further throughout the incredibly long general election season. Check out the 2010 page above to learn about the Illinois races, upcoming Texas races for the March 2 primary and, as the season continues, more and more races leading to November.

I have also added a new section for Candidate Interviews. I hope to begin doing period Q+A’s with candidates running for all kinds of offices around the country – give people a little more exposure on the web and give people the opportunity to ask their own questions of candidates in the comments.

If you are a candidate and interested in participating in such a Q+A, post a comment and I will be in touch via email.

And in preparation for the gigantic snow storm that is coming to Washington DC (some people are saying 3 feet!!!! I sincerely doubt it), here are some DC winter wonderland pictures

2010 – Texas Lieutenant Governor

March 2 is the Statewide primary for Texas – It’s coming up fast

Click here to find out about other races in Texas

Click here to find early voting locations

Texas has complete Republican control on all statewide offices and this is one of the races where Democrats are hoping to change this situation.

Republican Incumbent

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst faces no primary challengers and so he will face his only test after Democrats have chosen from three candidates. Dewhurst was first elected in 2002 and is an oft-mentioned candidate for Senate in 2012. When he is not in Austin, he lives with his wife and daughter in Houston. To learn more about the incumbent, click here

Democratic Challengers

Two of the Democratic challengers have strong name recognition. Ronnie Earle was the Travis County District Attorney who gained a lot of fame going after corrupt politicians, including his prosecution of Tom DeLay. He is using this experience to make the campaign focused on ethics in politics. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Linda Chavez-Thompson has had more of a national profile during her career. Currently a national Vice Chair for the Democratic Party, she also served as a Vice President for the AFL-CIO union, the first Hispanic to serve in such a high position in the union. A longtime advocate for workers in all forms of employment, Thompson grew up in Lorenzo, Texas. To learn more about her campaign, click here.

The third candidate is a well-known local entrepreneur, Marc Katz. For the position, he would not have to move far, living in Austin where he runs his business, Katz’s Deli – fitting both his name and the world-famous deli of the same name in Manhattan. To learn more about his campaign, click here.

Libertarian Party

There is also a primary for the Libertarians in this race and both candidates have technology backgrounds. Scott Jameson is a computer engineer while Todd Minor is a computer technician.