HD-17 Special Election Runoff

The Governor's office has scheduled the run-off between Republicans John Cyrier and Brent Goleman.

Early voting in the HD-17 runoff is February 9-13, with election day being February 17. During early voting, you may vote at any of the four locations in Bastrop County:

Polling Places on Election Day Please note that only four polling sites will be open on election day (Feb. 17), and you MUST vote at the site assigned to your precinct, per the following. Click to determine which precinct you are in. Note that precincts 2009 and 2011 will vote at Calvary Baptist Church in Bastrop, while all other precincts within County Precinct 2 will vote at Smithville City Hall. Election Day Voting Sites (February 17) 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

HD-17 Special Election Update!

Letter from the BCDP Board

Dear Bastrop County Democrats,

We need to apologize for an incorrect statement in our last email and website posting. We incorrectly told you that the polling places for yesterday’s special election had been changed. In fact, they were not; the Elections Department informed our Chair, Ed Skarnulis, on December 17th of their plan to use four polling places rather than all 21 locations.

This election was extremely challenging for everyone. Being scheduled over the holidays added a significant amount of difficulty and accompanying stress beyond that which accompanied the extremely short time period for this special election. The Elections Department in particular was under a tremendous amount of demand and stress, and the Bastrop County Democratic Party (BCDP) greatly appreciates the hard work they do. It was an honest mistake on our part, but we apologize for misinforming you, and to the Elections Department, for putting them in a very bad light.

If you are not sure which precinct you are in, you can check your voter registration card or go to the Bastrop Elections Department website here:
http://www.bastropvotes.org/voter-information-2/voter-lookup/#VoterSearch


Election Results
Only 7,624 total votes were cast in this election. There will be a runoff between Republicans John Cyrier and Brent Golemon.

Thanks to Ty McDonald and Shelley Cartier for their efforts on the Democratic ticket.

Special Election, TX House District 17

Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes and Lee Counties are having a special election to replace Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, who has resigned to go work for the Agriculture Commissioner. Early voting is happening right now, and runs through Friday (with a break for New Year's Day on Thursday). The election is January 6th, and with five candidates, there is a good chance for a runoff. 

Two women have filed as Democrats to run for this seat: Ty McDonald and Shelley Cartier.

Check out  Bastrop County's Elections Info Page for more details about polling locations.

GOTV!

SDEC Meeting on November 22, 2014

For anybody interested, there will be a meeting of the State Democratic Executive Committee on November 22, 2014 at the Texas Democratic Party Headquarters.
Sub-Committee meetings begin at 9AM.

Texas State Democratic Executive Committee
Saturday, November 22, 2014
1–3 PM – State Democratic Executive Committee Meeting

Agenda:
I.Roll Call
II. Call to Order
III. Approval of Agenda
IV. Approval of Minutes of Sept 6, 2014 Meeting
V. Treasurer’s Report
VI. Nominations Committee Report: Appointment of new County Chairs
VII. Any New Business
VII. Adjournment

There will be a meeting of the County Chairs Association immediately following this meeting in the Second Floor Meeting Room 201.

November 4th Sample Ballots Available!

Know your way around the ballot before you get to the polls!

Travis Voters view sample ballots here http://t.co/oiVC8CoVOB
Bastrop Voters, here: http://t.co/XYqqw07ZpM

Early Vote starts October 20 through October 31, and ballots by mail are DUE on November 4, so be sure to mail them ASAP!

#GOTV

SDEC 9/6/14 Update

Hi, folks!

Thought I'd send an update to the old Yahoo Group, and post it to the blog. 

The meeting was quite good. LOTS of new faces on the SDEC this year, and under Chairman Hinojosa, they're all getting a fresh look at how the TDP operates now, instead of how it's worked for the past 20, 30+ years. 

The energy is intense! The campaigns are getting fantastic support all across the ballot (BGTX is hefting a lot of Wendy's race, and TDP is pooling behind Leticia). The Fellows program is something to be proud of (with a rather poignant shout-out to hiring a more diverse population of campaign workers in the districts, instead of only those independently wealthy enough to accept paltry (or no) wages for campaign work). 

There is going to be a massive GOTV effort ramping up soon, and the ballot by mail program is honestly staggering. Glen Maxey has turned and burned on this thing, and I was gobsmacked by the numbers—so much so that I neglected to write them down. I remember something about having 1.2 million requests in one cycle, then it dipped to 1 million in the next. This time (so far) there have been upwards of 4 million requests. If all of those ballots come in, the game will change.

In essence, I work really hard each election cycle to not get my hopes up too much. I'm used to having a happy-dance at the national level, weeping inconsolably at the state level, and then picking up a bit for local level (though I'm still miffed about JP-2 and Co Commish 3). 

Damned if I didn't fail miserably, and get my hopes up on Saturday. I feel like Wendy and Leticia are resonating with a whole lot of women who have previously checked out of—or worse, never tuned into—the political process. Women are getting torqued the more they figure out that the reproductive health thing is bogus, that Voter ID suppresses them in particular, that fair wages aren't on the Republican radar.

If the TDP efforts in the Valley pay off, we could see some truly amazing shifts. But that's no reason not to get comfy in Travis and Bastrop. We're the linchpin for Diane Henson. Both counties need to bring that race home with EVERY vote they possibly can.

Lastly, back to the SDEC: Committee assignments haven't gone out yet. We're going to get them after November 4, and before the December meeting. I'm fine with that. For the upcoming 84th Legislative Session, we're going to have a committee of the whole to cover the legislation, with sub-committees that take special areas of interest. While I have gotten my hopes up, I have a cold pit of fear in my stomach about possibly having a Republican supermajority in the Senate. (OMG, GO LIBBY WILLIS!) If Dan Patrick should stumble into Lt. Gov with a supermajority, we're in for some seriously UGLY times. We've got to work to make sure this doesn't happen!

The TDP is really very different these days. I'm proud to see the revitalization, and I want to see it continue. If you haven't signed up to be a Texas Trailblazer (http://www.txdemocrats.org/trailblazers) give it some thought. They've had 117 new contributors since rebranding the Sustaining Membership to "Texas Trailblazers," and it's brought a lot of freedom to hire extra staff, pay for customized printing for local races, and this fantastic mail in ballot application push. (http://votebymail.txdemocrats.org/)

Let's do this. 

Susan

(SD-14 Committeewoman)

Open Thread

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Please post your thoughts in the comments section.