December, 2005:

Not a whole lot of filing news today. Matt reports that we have another Democratic contender for State Senate, an activist from Dripping Springs named Kathi Thomas, who filed yesterday to run against Sen. Jeff Wentworth in SD25, which covers north Bexar County plus Kendall, Hays, Comal, Guadalupe, and a piece of Travis (see PDF map). It’s about a 63% GOP district, but since it covers a big piece of CD21, it’s nice to have as many Dems running there as possible.

Also in the State Senate, Carlos Uresti made his filing to challenge Sen. Frank Madla in SD19. He had a few endorsements to announce in his press release:

Uresti was endorsed by Mr. Bill Sinkin, the longtime San Antonio financial and community leader.

“We have all been impressed by Representative Uresti’s work on the crisis confronting our Child Protective Services,” Sinkin said. “He is exactly who we need to take the lead for our children.”

Also backing Uresti as he filed his official candidacy were San Antonio City Councilman Roland Gutierrez, longtime Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo, Pecos County Commissioner Oscar Gonzalez, Southside Independent School District board member Andrew Herrera, former President of Southside ISD School Board Tony Uriegas, and the President of the Harlandale ISD, Victor Resendez.

“Carlos has the energy to get the job done for our district,” said Councilman Gutierrez.

“As a legislator, Carlos has been involved in our schools from the beginning,” President Resendez said. “Unfortunately, we have rarely if ever heard from his opponent.”

“This campaign is the difference between a new direction and more of the same old politics that haven’t worked for our children,” said school board member Herrera. “It is critical to elect new leadership at this moment in our history,” said Mr. Uriegas.

Reeves County Judge Galindo and Pecos County Commissioner Gonzalez agreed that Madla has been non-responsive to the needs of their community.

“Carlos Uresti understands the unique challenges facing our region,” Judge Galindo said. “He knows that we can do better and has already visited us in the western part of the district to listen to our concerns.”

SD19 stretches from Bexar County out to El Paso. It’s a moderately Democratic district; Carlos Uresti won the piece of it that covers his former HD118 by a 3-1 margin, but that represented less than 15% of the total votes cast there in 2004.

Staying in Bexar County, here’s Larry Stallings’ statement on filing in HD122.

Now seems like a good time to thank all the folks who not only said they support Larry Stallings, but have acted on that with their time in gathering signatures, giving money, educating the candidate on so many issues critical to the folks in HD 122. A savvy steering committee is taking shape, with lots of expertise to help not only prepare Larry for the campaign, but to help him after he is sworn in as the new representative from 122 in ’06. We have toll road experts, education experts, a taxation and budget pro, and some medical folks are on board too, to help us speak to the complexities of health care delivery in the District. Larry also has his own “band of brothers”, including Treasurer Terry, who are retired military members who not only plan to work on his behalf, but watch his back during the campaign. They are all, every one of ’em – Republicans. We have also had the informal advice of a number of political consultants, for which we are very grateful, for we couldn’t have navigated the murky waters of setting up a campaign in just under 6 weeks without them advising us along the way.

I’m going to enjoy watching that race. Good luck to you, Larry.

Meanwhile, the campaign in CD23 for Rick Bolanos got off to a stumbling start.

In a maneuver that rival Rick Bolaños called a “low blow,” U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla’s campaign treasurer sought to short-circuit the El Paso Democrat in cyberspace earlier this month.

Treasurer Jill DeYoung registered at least four Web addresses that included Bolaños’ name on Dec. 9 — the same day the San Antonio Express-News reported his interest in the District 23 seat, according to a search of Internet domain-name registrants.

She got control of rickbolanosforcongress.com, rickbolanosforcongress.net, rickbolanos.com and rickbolanos.net. Registering a domain name essentially establishes ownership rights over it, keeping it out of others’ hands.

“You know what? It’s pretty dirty — it’s dirty politics,” Bolaños said. “A Web site gives you the ability to raise money and to put your platform out there. … It’s kind of a low blow when somebody does something like this.”

Bolaños, who so far is the only Democrat to file for the District 23 seat, said he’s hiring an attorney to determine whether to take legal action. He’s also considering filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.

Officials with Bonilla’s campaign could not be reached for comment Friday. But Frank Guerra, a strategist for past Bonilla campaigns, said the tactic of snatching up domain names isn’t unusual.

“That’s pretty standard for political campaigns,” he said. “Campaigns routinely purchase domain names so that it takes away one of their (opponents’) weapons.”

Bolaños said he learned of DeYoung’s move this week when his campaign tried to register a domain name.

Despite the nuisance, he said he found the action somewhat encouraging. “I seriously think they wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t think we have some name recognition,” Bolaños said.

Link via The Jeffersonian. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This is not a dirty trick, and while it does not speak well of the people you have advising your campaign when it happens, the ultimate responsibility rests with the candidate. Only you know for sure that you’re going to run for office. As soon as you do – hell, as soon as you start leaning that way – register whatever domain names you think you may want. Don’t give your opponent a chance to do it for you. One the cusp of 2006, there is simply no excuse for this.

Completing our tour of Bexar County, Andre and Eddie have updates on Ciro Rodriguez.

That’s about all I’ve got for today. Monday will be the busy day. Lyn will be liveblogging from HCDP headquarters, so keep the Houston Democrats site in a window, or drop by and see what’s happening for yourself.

What does it say about your campaign when this is a story?

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s campaign Friday declined to dismiss rumors that she will file Monday as an independent candidate for governor.

Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders would not answer direct questions about whether Strayhorn will file Monday in the Republican primary or as an independent.

“Carole Keeton Strayhorn is a candidate for governor. She is a Republican. She will be filing for that office on Monday,” Sanders said.

As non-denial denials go, that one’s pretty good. You kind of have to reread it to realize that Sanders never actually says she’ll be filing for Governor as a Republican. I still don’t have any clue what she’s doing, but I’m clearly not alone in that regard.

Betty Hill, a Republican activist who is serving as Strayhorn’s Bexar County campaign coordinator, said she had not heard the rumor. But, if true, Strayhorn will likely have to look elsewhere for support.

“If she runs as an independent, we will have a slight problem,” Hill said. “I think most of us are committed to the party.”

Bexar County Republican Party Chairman Richard Langlois said he’s heard the whispers but nothing concrete.

“Frankly, I think that would be smart for her because that’s the only way she’s going to get to November,” he said.

Contacted on his mobile phone, former Bexar County GOP Chairman Roy Barrera Jr., perhaps Strayhorn’s best-known San Antonio supporter, declined to comment Friday afternoon and abruptly hung up.

Look on the bright side, dude. These stories have to end on January 3. You can hang on that long.

The problem with doing these big accumulation posts is that it’s easy to forget some stuff. Fortunately, blog software makes publishing easy…

Rumors are flying around the campaign of Carole Keeton “One Discombobulated Grandma” Strayhorn. Will she run as an independent? Will she cross us all up and run for Lite Guv (I got the same email Bluebonnet did)? Will she shave her heard and move to Botswana? Hey, I figure I’d better get in the rumormongering business while it’s still brisk. If you hear that one anywhere else, you’ll know where you heard it first.

Matt reports a rumor that there could be a second Democratic contender for HD122: former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair Rudy Casias. The Jeffersonian is unimpressed.

Things are still screwed up in the aforementioned Bexar County Democratic Party. Film at eleven.

Lots of filing news to report as we approach the January 2 deadline. Let’s get started…

Celebrity has its privilege, as radio personality Dan Patrick’s filing for SD07 rates a fairly sizable Chron story. He’s off the air until he loses or finishes serving however many terms he wins, but he’s still there in spirit, as he’s being replaced by his son.

Recent polls have shown Patrick with a commanding lead in the four-way race for the GOP nomination. Jim McGrath tries to make lemonade from that:

Patrick recently released a poll of likely Republican primary voters that shows him earning 54 percent of the vote if the election were held today. Nixon had 10 percent, Hamric had 9 percent and Ellis garnered 7 percent among those polled.

The poll, commissioned by Patrick and conducted by the Colorado-based polling firm Vitale & Associates, was taken in early December.

Nixon spokesman Jim McGrath questions the results.

“He’s been on the air in the Houston market for years. Naturally he has a name ID advantage. We dispute that he has that level of support,” McGrath said. “Name ID is one thing, support is another.”

I suppose that’s true, and perhaps for a primary election where most of the voters are more committed to the process than average, you’re less likely to get someone to push the button for the only name they recognize than you might get in a general. That’s still a lot of ground to make up, and whoever does make the hoped-for runoff with Patrick had better also hope that the two losers aren’t too disgruntled to give an endorsement. Otherwise, expect Danno to be off the air for a long time.

Staying with the State Senate, we now have a second Democratic challenge to a GOP-held seat. Eye on Williamson introduces us to Stephen Wyman, who is running against Sen. Steve Ogden in CD05, which covers Brazos, Burleson, Freestone, Grimes, Houston, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Trinity, Walker and Williamson Counties (see PDF map). If a Democrat steps up in Ken Armbrister’s SD18, we’ll have a challenge to an incumbent (Ogden in SD05 and Frank Madla in SD19, assuming he wins his primary) and a race for an open seat on each side. Elam has some news about SD18, where Glenn Hegar appears to be consolidating support – I’ve also got a CapInside piece that says he’s got State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham in his corner. It’s the hair, people. Hegar could swap grooming tips with Rick Perry. Never underestimate a good head of hair.

Moving to Congress, most of the remaining names on the Democratic side have been filled in, as several incumbents plus Robert Ricketts (CD19), John Courage (CD21), and Rick Bolanos (CD23) submitted their paperwork in the last day or two. Here’s a few words on Bolanos:

Swinging through San Antonio on Wednesday, El Pasoan Rick Bolaños kicked off his bid to unseat District 23 U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla with a fiery speech that took on the Bush administration more than his would-be Republican opponent.

Bolaños so far is the lone Democrat to announce for the March 7 primary.

Known as “the Band of Brothers,” Bolaños and his three brothers, all of whom served in Vietnam, stumped nationwide for John Kerry in 2004, aiming to counteract attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate’s military record.

Speaking to supporters in an Omni Hotel meeting room, Bolaños recalled his father’s fervent patriotism and his own experiences in Vietnam, including tending to a gravely wounded friend during the Tet offensive.

“If he had lived, what would this administration have said about him if he ran for president?” Bolaños said, his voice wavering.

He went on to attack President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, the administration’s handling of health insurance for children and the outsourcing of jobs.

At the same time, Bolaños said he wants to see an end to rigid partisanship in Congress. “We have to be more passionate about America,” he said, “and less passionate about parties.”

District 23 reaches from San Antonio to El Paso, and Bonilla — who so far has not drawn a primary opponent — has held the seat since 1992.

Here’s an older story that mentions Ricketts’ candidacy:

On [December 8] Randy Neugebauer announced that he will seek another term as congressman for District 19. The Lubbock Congressman wasn’t the only one to make that announcement.

At Texas Tech, Robert Ricketts announced his candidacy for the congressional seat. Ricketts is the Director of Accounting Programs for Tech and will run as a Democrat. He hopes to use his more than 20-years of tax policy practice to help solve the nation’s budget problems.

On [December 9] Fred Jones intends to announce his candidacy for District 19 on the Libertarian ticket.

By the time you read this, David Harris will have paid his fee in Austin to file for CD06. Here’s his statement:

On Friday afternoon, I will deliver my filing to run as the Democratic Candidate in TX-06 to the state headquarters in Austin. It is an awesome responsibility that lies ahead and my family and I appreciate the encouragement and support we have received over the past few months.

Recently, according to the New York Times, “Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.), an architect of the Medicaid proposals, said the higher co-payments were needed to `encourage personal responsibility’ among low-income people.”

While Barton believes those less fortunate need to learn to exercise more “personal responsibility”, I believe the elected official for TX-06 should take more “personal responsibility” for what that job should be…an instrument to serve the constituents of the district from which you are elected, not a position of power to line your pockets. Now that TX-06 has dirtier air, rapidly shrinking salaries in Tarrant and Ellis counties and children dropping off Medicaid rolls at alarming rates its time to enforce our own term limits…its time for Joe to go.

I hope each of you will Follow Me to DC…it is truly the most important work we will ever do.

Moving to the State House, I did a little counting on the Dem filings and GOP filings pages. By my count, 80 seats so far have Democratic candidates filed for them, while 78 have Republicans. Three of those 80 Dems are not yet listed on the page but will have filed by the end of the day today (HD50 – Mark Strama, about whom more in a jif, HD122 – Larry Stallings, and HD125 – Joaquin Castro – scroll down on the page). The districts which do not yet have anyone filed for them:

HD24 – Larry Taylor (R)
HD33 – Vilma Luna (D)
HD34 – Abel Herrero (D)
HD37 – Rene Oliveira (D)
HD38 – Open (D)
HD42 – Richard Raymond (D)
HD65 – Burt Solomons (R)
HD74 – Pete Gallego (D)
HD90 – Lon Burnam (D)
HD95 – Marc Veasey (D)
HD100 – Terri Hodge (D)
HD104 – Roberto Alonzo (D)
HD123 – Mike Villareal (D)
HD128 – Wayne Smith (R)
HD130 – Corbin Van Arsdale (R)
HD132 – Bill Callegari (R)
HD135 – Gary Elkins (R)
HD138 – Dwayne Bohac (R)

Interestingly, none of the Harris County GOP contingent is listed as having filed yet; in contrast, all of the Dems have done so. Either the state party’s page is out of date, or they’re being especially laggard about it. Other than the open seat in HD38, I’ve not heard anything about retirements in any of these, so I presume it’s all just procrastination. We’ll have a much clearer picture soon.

Speaking of Mark Strama, his statement upon filing today is beneath the fold. Greg has a twofer on the contested primary in HD146, and news about filings for Harris County offices. I just want to say that J. Goodwille Pierre, candidate for Harris County Clerk, has an awesome name.

Finally, a piece of unexpected news at the statewide level: The Dems have a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Marshall resident and attorney Ben Z. Grant on Thursday announced he will be a candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor in the March Democratic primary.

Grant, 65, a former state representative who also served 17 years as justice of the Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana, said he is looking forward to the statewide race.

He shipped his filing papers Thursday to Texas Democratic Party headquarters in Austin. As of Thursday afternoon no other candidates had filed.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst filed on Dec. 15 as a Republican seeking re-election. Grant said, assuming he wins the Democratic Party primary, he is looking forward to likely taking on Dewhurst next November.

“I realize it will be an uphill battle,” Grant said, “but I want to give the people a choice.”

Grant said voters across the state are unhappy with the lack of progress by the Texas Legislature on solving the state’s school finance challenges.

“There has been a lot of disenfranchisement from both parties because the legislature has been unable to get together on school finance,” he said. “It’s not an easy task, but I feel I can work with people of both parties.”

Grant retired from the Sixth Court of Criminal Appeals when his term ended in 2002. He served as a state representative from 1971 until 1981.

Grant was also a district judge for the 71st Judicial District Court in Harrison County and was appointed to the court of appeals in 1985 by then-Gov. Mark White. He said he spent 37 years in government, starting his career as a school teacher.

Grant has also been a weekly Sunday columnist for the Marshall News Messenger the past eight years. Those columns will cease as of this week, newspaper officials said.

Is this state big enough for two former media personalities running for office in 2006?

If you want proof that what Grant says about working with people of both parties is more than mere rhetoric, consider this:

County Republican Chairman Sam Moseley said, while he wishes Grant well, he anticipates Dewhurst will continue serving as Texas Lieutenant Governor after the November election.

“Ben Grant is a good personal friend whom I admire in many ways,” Moseley said Thursday afternoon. “I know this statewide campaign will be a valuable experience for him.”

Moseley and Grant ran against each other in 1970 for state representative with Grant winning that race.

“Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also a friend, and a person of great personal skill and integrity,” Moseley said. “Legislators from both parties say he serves very effectively as our state’s lieutenant governor.

“I have confidence in Gov. Dewhurst, and expect him to continue serve our state honorably and well.”

That’s about as nice a quote as you could expect from a county chair for the opposing party, especially someone you once beat in an election. I look forward to learning more about Ben Grant.

Click the More link for Mark Strama’s statement.

(more…)

And then there were three challengers in the GOP primary against Tom DeLay for CD22.

Thomas A. Campbell, who specializes in environmental law, is the third Republican challenger to take on DeLay, who has held the post since 1985.

Campbell paid the filing fee of $3,125 to the Texas Republican Party in Austin on Wednesday and entered his name in the race.

“We need to return some decency and civility to the way we conduct the public’s business,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he found it has become increasingly difficult for him to vote for DeLay, who was indicted in September and October on charges related to campaign finances. DeLay has since stepped down as House majority leader.

“I wish I had a choice,” Campbell said. “And what I am trying to do is provide Republicans who are conservative a choice, an alternative.”

Campbell served as general counsel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

[…]

Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman Eric Thode described Campbell as a credible candidate but one with low name recognition taking on a popular incumbent.

“He (DeLay) has represented us well, and I am confident he will be re-elected in the primary,” Thode said Wednesday.

Thode said Campbell is not well-known among people active in the local GOP parties.

“He has no viable group of supporters,” Thode said.

Well, at least they’re not claiming he isn’t a Republican. Even Chris Elam goes moderately easy on the snark. The Houston Press has more on Campbell. While I agree with Elam and with Greg about his chances, I’ll be interested to see if the anti-DeLay trio can hold down the Hammer’s percentage of the vote in March. At what level of opposition support does one start whispering about an incumbent’s hold on power? I say that if DeLay doesn’t crack 70% in the primary, you can commence with the questions.

Checking the current Democratic and Republican filings pages, I see maybe five of 21 GOPers who could go unchallenged, while eight of the 11 Dem incumbents may skate. On the Dem side, I know that CDs 06 and 21 through 24 have at least a rumored challenger, leaving 02, 11, 12, 13, and 26 unaccounted for. For the other team, so far only Chet Edwards (CD17), Solomon Ortiz (CD27), and Eddie Bernice Johnson (CD30) have drawn opponents. Edwards will of course have a tough fight on his hands to retain a seat that the GOP thought it should have won last time. Ortiz won with 63% last year. Johnson had only a Libertarian opponent in 2004 and is in one of the safer districts around.

One last note here is that Ron Paul has apparently lost his primary opponent, which Elam confirms. Dude had name recognition issues anyway.

Moving to the State Rep races, Greg notes that we’re down to five unchallenged GOP incumbents in Harris County, as a fellow named Scott Brann has signed on to run against Beverly Woolley, but on the other hand, there’s only one GOP challenger to any Democratic incumbent, and he hasn’t made his filing yet. Far be it from me to complain if that latter trend holds true, and far be it from me to offer a little advice to the Harris County GOP (which they don’t need anyway, given how well things have gone for them lately), but some of these Dem-held districts are fairly purple. Let’s do a little comparison. Here’s all the Harris County State Rep districts that now have Democratic incumbents, and a measure of how blue they are:

Democrat   Dist  2004 %  Thomas %  Stone % Opposed
==================================================
Allen       131   100.0      21.4     80.6      No
Bailey      140    67.4      41.0     62.9      No
Coleman     147   100.0      21.4     80.9      No
Dutton      142    80.1      22.4     79.9      No
Edwards     146   100.0      27.8     75.5      No
Farrar      148   100.0      42.6     62.3      No
Hernandez   143   100.0      41.5     62.5      No
Hochberg    137    56.6      45.2     58.0      No
Noriega     145   100.0      40.3     63.3      No
Thompson    141   100.0      27.2     74.7      No
Turner      139   100.0      20.3     81.8      No
Vo          149    50.1      55.4     48.8     Yes

“2004%” is how much of the vote they got last time. “Thomas” is Sheriff Tommy Thomas, who was the GOP high scorer in all Harris County-wide races listed on each Rep’s Electoral Analysis page. I’d expect Paul Bettencourt to have done a little better, but he wasn’t listed so we’ll use what we’ve got. Similarly, “Stone” is judicial candidate Kathy Stone, the top votegetter on the Dem side. As you can see, there are five districts beyond Hubert Vo’s which could maybe be interesting with the right Republican running. But like I said, far be it from me to complain if all these folks are bored next year.

Here’s the same thing on the Republican side:

Republican Dist  2004 %  Thomas %  Stone % Opposed
==================================================
Bohac       138    63.8      61.9     43.2      No
Callegari   132   100.0      71.1     31.3      No
Crabb       127    70.4      73.2     29.5     Yes
Davis, J    129   100.0      68.3     35.1     Yes
Elkins      135   100.0      66.7     36.3      No
Hamric (*)  126    69.3      68.8     34.0     Yes
Nixon (*)   133    78.3      57.6     46.1     Yes
Riddle      150   100.0      73.2     29.4     Yes
Smith, W    128    65.3      66.5     36.5      No
Talton      144   100.0      62.7     40.4     Yes
Van Arsdale 130   100.0      77.6     24.5      No
Wong        134    54.7      59.4     47.3     Yes
Woolley     136   100.0      73.9     31.5     Yes

Nixon and Hamric’s seats are now open; Nixon’s total was against an independent, so the percentage is misleading. He got about as many votes as Thomas did, so figure he’d have scored between 55 and 60% against a Dem. The only seat that stands out as needing a challenge that hasn’t arrived yet is Dwayne Boahc’s HD138. Beyond that, you have to be happy about the level of coverage.

Elsewhere, PerryVsWorld points to this Rebeca Chapa column to note the state of disarray that is the Strayhorn campaign, but what caught my eye was this:

House District 118, the seat being vacated by Uresti, has historically been a Democratic district. His departure has prompted two Republicans to enter the race: George Antuna, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Steve Salyer, a physician assistant who ran for the seat two years ago.

Two Democrats have announced a run in District 118, but neither has enough name recognition to do well. Unless a strong, well-known Democrat emerges soon, that seat will likely go Republican.

Can someone in the still-disorganized Bexar County Democratic Party pay a little more attention to this, please?

Last but not least, some race notes from BOR. Happy reading.

The Republican field for the now-open SD18 seat has gotten more crowded as State Rep. Glenn Hegar of Katy and a veterinarian from Wharton named Dwight King have jumped in. Here’s the Chron on Hegar:

Hegar, a rice and corn farmer, is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and a newly appointed member of the Sunset Advisory Commission.

He is one of four Republicans who have lined up to replace Armbrister in the significant race. A gain of one Republican in the Senate would give the GOP 20 of 31 seats, one short of the two-thirds majority that could prove crucial on partisan issues. Senate rules require a two-thirds vote to advance legislation.

One of Hegar’s rivals in the March Republican primary will be Gary Gates, who is in the real estate and ranching business in Fort Bend County and lost two races to Hegar for the House seat he holds.

Others who have filed for the Republican nomination include David Stall of Fayetteville, the city manager in Shoreacres, and rancher-businessman Herman W. Brune of Columbus.

As I’ve said before, while the likelihood of the Senate going to 20-11 GOP is high, in practical terms it doesn’t mean much since Armbrister was at best a sporadic supporter of Democratic initiatives. I’d just about prefer having someone like David Stall in that seat, assuming State Rep. Robby Cook declines to make the challenge here.

Don’t know a thing about Dwight King – Elam has some info from the Wharton newspaper. I’ll be shocked if this race doesn’t go to a runoff, as it doesn’t look like there’s a clear frontrunner. Well, if hair quality counts for anything, it’s Hegar by a mile, but beyond that, expect overtime.

No word yet on who will run to replace Hegar. Quorum Report mentions State Republican Executive Committee member Michael Franks as a possible contender. Filing deadline is in a week, so we’ll know soon enough.

You heard it here first, and now Kristin Mack confirms it: Two-time Mayoral loser Out Of Town Orlando Sanchez is aiming for the County Treasurer job in 2006.

The job is strictly administrative and carries no real power. The county treasurer is the chief custodian of county money and accounts for and disburses funds as directed by Commissioners Court.

Local lawmakers have tried to kill the position in the Legislature, following in the footsteps of other Texas counties and of the state itself. Texas abolished the state treasurer’s position by constitutional amendment in 1995 after voters elected a treasurer who campaigned to eliminate the job.

The low-profile county job wouldn’t exactly be a move up the political ladder for Sanchez. It’s not a steppingstone. But the pay isn’t bad at $96,000 a year.

How the mighty have fallen, eh?

“I have a record of proposing and voting on tax cuts. While the county treasurer cannot cut taxes or set budgets, he can keep you informed about the financial matters regarding our county,” Sanchez wrote [to Republican precinct chairs]. “If we are going to correct a problem, taxpayers need to know about the problem.”

Sanchez also drew upon a hot issue among many conservatives, saying he plans to use the office as a bully pulpit to “bring to the public’s attention the financial costs of what illegal immigration is doing to our county.”

For what it’s worth, a search on Chron.com for “Jack Cato” (the current Treasurer) found only this article. Maybe that proves Sanchez’s point that a Treasurer could keep people informed about things if he or she wanted to, and maybe it just means that nobody pays attention to a position that carries no real power. One might reasonably ask why it wouldn’t be the job of the County Judge or the Tax Assessor, where the actual power does lie, to do this sort of thing. That’s especially true for the bit about “the financial costs of what illegal immigration is doing to our county”, which is just shameless demagoguery.

It hasn’t been long since he got plenty of attention himself. Remember, this is a guy who attracted the notice of the Presidents Bush in his 2001 mayoral race. In the weeks before the runoff between Sanchez and then-Mayor Lee Brown, both George and George W. endorsed Sanchez.

The endorsements lent Sanchez credibility among Republicans and gave them hope in reaching out to the growing Hispanic population. Sanchez is Cuban-American.

Gov. Rick Perry was among other Republicans lending their names during that race, and after Sanchez lost, there was talk that he might get an appointment in Austin.

That didn’t happen, though, and Sanchez failed to make the runoff in a 2003 mayoral bid. Once an up-and-comer who considered running for Congress, his contemplation of taking on an incumbent in a Republican primary isn’t likely to win Sanchez friends within the party.

Actually, Sanchez did make the runoff in 2003, where Mayor White then crushed him like a bug. If this is how he plans to climb back into the limelight, I’m even more glad now than I was in 2003 and 2001 that he lost those races.

UPDATE: I’ve since received a copy of Sanchez’s letter, which you can see here (240K Word doc).

PerryVsWorld is right: This story is getting stranger by the day.

The story sounded familiar to Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson.

A top aide to Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carole Keeton Strayhorn calls the wife of Democratic hopeful Chris Bell last week trying to get Bell to abandon his bid for governor and jump into the state comptroller’s race.

During the exchange, reported by the Austin American-Statesman on Wednesday, Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders tells Alison Bell that “there would be support” for Bell should he run for comptroller.

Larson, who heard about the story Wednesday morning from Republican strategist Frank Guerra, said the same thing happened to him about six weeks ago.

“This guy calls and says he’s Mark Sanders and that he works closely with Carole Strayhorn,” Larson recalled. “He tells me there’s a large group of people who would like to find someone else to run for comptroller against Susan Combs.”

As an enticement, Larson said, Sanders claimed the group could raise $3.5 million for his campaign and facilitate a meeting with a top staffer in the comptroller’s office to give Larson a crash course in the ins and outs of the statewide post.

“I thought it was preposterous that somebody could offer $3.5 million in contributions to a person they’ve never met,” Larson said.

Larson, who is publicly supporting Combs, a Republican, for comptroller, said he never bothered to call Sanders back because he’s “never been interested in comptroller.”

Sanders, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, told the American-Statesman he did not call the Bells on behalf of the Strayhorn campaign. Instead, he said, he wanted to advise his longtime friends that they could not win the governor’s race.

Robert Black, a spokesman to GOP Gov. Rick Perry, Strayhorn’s chief rival, said he doesn’t believe Sanders acted without Strayhorn’s blessing.

“As bizarre as it is to hear that the Strayhorn camp is offering people $3.5 million to run against Susan Combs, it’s very disturbing to hear they’re offering state resources to get it done,” Black said.

Eye on Williamson also caught this. I have some background here, while PvsW goes farther back for context. And I think he may be onto something here: I think maybe CKS figured she could keep the Comptroller gig in her back pocket if the filing deadline rolled around and things weren’t looking so good for her to take out Governor Perry. Unfortunately for her, Ag Commish Susan Combs jumped in to that race way back in January, supposedly with CKS’ blessing, and she’d be a strong favorite to knock CKS out there as well. What I don’t know is if this is just a little vindictiveness, or if Strayhorn still thinks running as a Dem for Governor might be viable if she can clear the field a bit. On that score, I’ll defer to Damon.

All I can say at this point is that if there’s a next chapter in this story, I can’t quite envision what it might be. Stay tuned and we’ll see.