July 13, 2007
Report from the Tejano Democrats endorsement meeting

Stace attended last night's Tejano Democrats endorsement meeting and has a report on what happened, along with pictures.


Although there were several contested races for the coveted endorsement, the most competitive turned out to be, as expected, the Houston City Council District I race between James Rodriguez and John Marron. Each candidate brought out their core supporters, but in the end, it was James Rodriguez that received the majority of the votes and the Tejano Democrats endorsement. (Full disclosure: DosCentavos was an early endorser of James Rodriguez). Both candidates spoke to the membership and guests, but candidate Rodriguez split his time allowing term-limited District I Council Member Carol Alvarado to give him a rousing endorsement.

In the At-Large #5 race, the competition for the endorsement was between Zaf Tahir and Jolanda Jones. Tahir gave a great presentation on his ideas for the future of Houston, stating that Houston's diversity must be addressed at the Council level through representation. Ms. Jones, on the other hand, spoke about her own Latino experiences and her commitment to serving all constituents--a strong presentation. Jones got the nod. (Full disclosure: Since I met John C. Gibbs when he came out to Kingwood for the 4th of July parade, I became a fan of his. As a CD-02 Democrat who works his a** off to put Ted Poe in his place, I have a huge problem with Ted Poe being on Jolanda Jones' steering committee, and I'll be stubborn as a donkey about that. Tahir, on the other hand, is quite impressive with his ideas.).

The District D race is another one of those that has some good people running. Michael P. Williams, who serves on the HCC board and community activist and City of Houston employee Wanda Adams both gave great presentations. The HCTD gave the nod to Ms. Adams.

Others endorsed: Mayor-Bill White; Controller-Annise Parker; At-Large 1-Peter Brown; At-Large 2-Sue Lovell; At-Large 3-Melissa Noriega; At-Large 4-Ronald Green; District H-Adrian Garcia.


Douglas Britt has more on this. As I understand it, in all three cases the HCTD steering committee recommended one candidate, but the membership voted to endorse the other. Obviously, these were some close calls. It'll be interesting to see how other influential groups make their choices.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 13, 2007 to Election 2007
Comments

Marc Campos strikes again. HCTD really needs to evaluate the screening & endorsement process. They should adopt a measure to prevent the "old school" vote stacking method. The YD's have a rule stipulating eligibility for voting in endorsement meetings - you must have attended a meeting prior to the endorsement meeting in order to vote. The integrity of any organization is
compromised when stunts are pulled like the one Marc pulled last night. We all know this was not about James. It is about Marc Campos and the influence he is trying to exert through young people who really don't have a clue. How unfortunate.

Posted by: Marie on July 13, 2007 11:29 AM

Way to go James! The endorsement clearly went to the better candidate. Your opponent doesn't hold a candle to you. Marie, how sad of you to assume that all the young people that voted for James "don't have a clue". Way to insult the youth that are trying to take an active role in politics and have an interest in their community.

Posted by: kris on July 13, 2007 12:24 PM

It's intriguing to know that the interest in our community began on the June 12th deadline to become a paying and voting member of HCTD. Marc's paw prints are all over this endorsement. I know James' campaign played by the rules, but I strongly suggest that other clubs & orgs beef up their endorsement rules & requirements. It will prevent your valuable endorsements from being hijacked by non-members.

Posted by: Marie on July 13, 2007 1:30 PM

Maybe the group should listen to their members if every candidate the recommended was not endorsed by the members. The change should be in the screening committee members not the process.

Posted by: Dan on July 13, 2007 1:42 PM

"It will prevent your valuable endorsements from being hijacked by non-members."

Marie, as a long-time member, let me tell you that John Marron was not seen at any meetings until he was running. It will interesting to see if he comes back after this. James Rodriguez was the right candidate for us and our community.

Posted by: Eric on July 15, 2007 9:41 AM

Marie, whoever the Marc person is, you're sure giving him a ton of credit. Anyway, way to go James!

Posted by: Alexis on July 16, 2007 9:05 AM