The mouse that roared in CD10

This is the funniest thing I've read all weekend.

Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik has asked Democrat Ted Ankrum to withdraw from the race against U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, to give the Libertarian a better chance at unseating the freshman representative.

[...]

"There's a lot of people, who, without a Democrat in the race" would cast a ballot for Badnarik "just to vote against the Republican," Badnarik's spokesman Jon Airheart said. "We feel we draw from both parties."

Apparently, the concept of straight ticket voting is not one with which Mr. Badnarik is familiar. And just for the record, Badnarik has already been the Libertarian in a two-way race against a Republican before. In 2000, he challenged then-State Rep. Terry Keel in HD47. He garnered 15,221 votes, for 16.87% of the total. That's about 1300 votes more than write-in candidate Lorenzo Sadun got in CD10 last time.

All I can say is that for a guy who got 0.52% of the vote in Texas as a Presidential candidate, he's got quite a bit of cheek. And as for Badnarik's big campaign warchest, well:

In the latest campaign filings, Badnarik reported having $9,504 on hand, though a press release Friday reported he had received an additional $17,000 from supporters in recent weeks.

That may be more than Ted Ankrum currently has on hand, but color me unimpressed anyway. My prediction of the usual 2-3% for a Lib candidate in a three-way race stands.

One more thing:

Ankrum was not immediately available for comment Friday.

The timestamp on the Postcards from the Trail post is 4:53 PM Friday. The following press release that I got from Ankrum hit my Inbox at 11:17 AM on Friday:

"This race is only improved by three candidates," said Ted Ankrum, Democratic candidate for Congressional District 10. "Michael Badnarik has asked for me to drop out of the race, but the common good of the district is not served by that outcome. I won a four-candidate primary election, and won the runoff by 71%. I welcome a three-way race in the general, and the opportunity to unseat the Republican candidate who seems to hold office because Tom Delay Gerrymandered a district for him.

"Mr. Badnarik loudly proclaims his fundraising, but his money comes primarily the National Libertarian Party. My fundraising is local, coming from numerous donations within the district, and without the support of the national Democratic party. They're concentrating their support in only a few places in the country, and no challengers in Texas are being supported by the national party. In Texas, we don't give up when the odds are against us. It only makes us fight harder."

"Prior evidence shows that a third-party candidate won't win, and I have no intention of leaving this race to be decided because the Republican incumbent happens to be married to the daughter of the owner of Clear Channel Communications. I welcome the competition, and Mr. Badnarik's candidacy. It's what America and this district are all about," said Ankrum.

"Michael Badnarik and I agree on many issues, including that the one-term Republican incumbent has betrayed his constituents. We have great support in the district, and I have no intention of letting the district down," Ankrum said.

I should note that this was a corrected press release. The original arrived at 2:43 AM. Tara Copps at the Statesman needs to check with her colleagues on these matters before she hits the Publish button.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 27, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBack