Posted on 03/06/2014 6:03:46 AM PST by Paine in the Neck
While the three tea party incumbents who were being challenged by establishment politicians won big, liberal-leaning Republicans closest to House Speaker Joe Straus lost in race after race this week.
Defeated Straus incumbents include State Rep. Lance Gooden in House District 4, Diane Patrick in HD94, Linda Harper-Brown in HD105, Bennett Ratliff in HD115, and Ralph Sheffield in HD55.
Straus lieutenant Jim Keffer of HD60 did manage to hold on to his seat, but only after spending more than $750,000 and losing in the population center of the district.
The key defensive races in the Texas House were those of State Reps. Charles Perry of Lubbock, Jonathan Stickland of Bedford and Matt Schaefer of Tyler. All three were heavily challenged by big-monied, Austin-based lobby interests. Their win-margins ranged from Perry’s 75% to Schaefer’s 61%.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Somewhat off topic, but as you’re on the ground Texas..what do you think will happen with the Ralph Hall runoff? I think he loses...
This is very good to hear. By taking command of the legislatures, conservatives make real changes.
In 2010 700 new republican legislators were elected, and republicans took control of 19 legislative bodies.
If Texas is a trend, we may make extensive progress, which will help the Convention of States project, etc.
The Establishment is putting all its focus on protecting the US Senate, that is, keeping conservatives out of it. They’re working to elect their own types and destroy any conservative candidates. John Cornyn had to spend 6 million of his 8 million just to win his primary. There won’t be the money to fund moderates at the lower levels, and that’s where we can make a difference.
I haven't been watching that one too closely but my feeling is that Hall gets retired. The base knows wants someone who can effectively fight the hard battles ahead. They'll favor youth ang vigor.
An interesting note on Hall's opponent, John Ratcliffe's, historical namesake from wikipedia:
John Ratcliffe (died in December 1609) was captain of the Discovery, one of three ships that sailed from England on December 19, 1606, to Virginia, to found a colony, arriving May 13, 1607. He later became the second president of the colony which later became Jamestown. He was killed by the Powhatan Indians when he was going to trade with them.
Great tidbit....thanks..
Keffer lost in the population districts is good. His opponent needs to engage Farm Bureau who endorsed Keffer and a lot of people trust them. I don’t think they should follow such endorsements especially in a primary but they do.
State Rep. Lance Gooden was my congressman and I am proud to say I participated in his retirement. I hope to take part in the demise of several more rinos in the years to come!!
Whether he loses or not he has announced this is his last term....Ralph has been a staunch conservative and I hope he goes out a winner!!
Straus’ base is the Democratic Party. He only needs about 25 Republicans to hold on forever.
True that, but of those 25, 8 retired and four were just defeated. I haven't dug into who replaced the retirees yet but the four defeats - Ratliff, Brown, Gooden and Patrick - have to put a thought or two into any others who might be inclined to support Straus.
And while Cornyn won, he had to spend $6million to do it.
In a PRIMARY~!
And as a sitting Senator he did not even hit 60%
The TEA party did not lose anything here, the message got out loud and clear.
I wrote this the other day about Hall...
Ordinarily, I’d tend to favor bouncing out old incumbents, but Ralph Hall cut an ad that was a hoot. For someone his age, 90, he appears to still be on his game and could pass for 15 years younger. He wants to serve one last term, and I see no reason to deny him that.
http://www.conservativeintel.com/2014/03/03/tx04-i-got-all-these-wrinkles-fighting-liberalism/
Given Hall’s closeness to the 50% mark and his promise to serve one last term, it would be very gracious of his opponent to withdraw and it would give him a leg up for the next election to succeed Hall.
Just my oppinion - it's not my district - but at 90 yrs old - the oldest member of Congress - it would be gracious of Hall to step aside so the seat - which is not Hall's personal property - can be filled by a more energetic occupant.
The Speaker gets elected by receiving votes from members of both parties. He also assigns members of the opposite party to their committees.
The authority to assign is what the Speaker uses to get elected.
So party affiliation is important, but other things come into play.
Rural versus urban has been a leading issue for a long time. Texas, like all the US, will continue to shift to the urban side. Strauss was the first urban Speaker.
We’ll have to disagree on that.
I hope you saw the link in post #12 and the commercial he just did. How many 90 year olds are that energetic and alert ?
The place where the TEA Party suffered was in candidate selection and information spreading. The Stockman candidacy for the Senate was a sham from the beginning, and Media attention along with Quisling Cornyn’s attack ads against his strawman opponent sucked the air out of the Stovall campaign.
TEA Party voters will have to do a far better job of informing themselves in the future...
The only reason Stockman ran for Cornyn’s Senate seat was to get campaign donations (Which he did, to the tune of $450,000.) to pay off past campaign debts. He had only one campaign office; probably in somebody’s kitchen. If you called, you got a recording and they NEVER returned calls. He has been my Congressman both times and the dude is freakin’ weird; not to mention he’s a shyster. But, we should be rid of him for good now.
Agreed. Local Free-gards!
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