"And the office goes to..."
Find the Fort Bend County Republican Primary Runoff Election Results here.
(And if anyone cares, even though it doesn't really matter because they won't get elected in November anyway, the FBC Democratic Primary Runoff Election Results are here.)
Well, at least it's finally over. No more campaign mailers, campaign commercials, or campaign phone calls -- at least until October, anyway.
So who was left standing? Here's my two cents on the FBC GOP results:
HD-28 // Zerwas vs. Melanson -- It was certainly a lot closer than I expected (53% to 47%), but the winner was no surprise. I'll have to look at a county by county breakdown to see why it was as close as it was, but the tight margin of victory was unexpected.
Judge, County Court at Law #1 // Childers vs. Schaefer -- As best I could tell, it was better name vs. better qualifications and, as usual, the better name won out in a squeaker (51% to 49%). I haven't been involved in FBC politics long enough to know any backstory to this race, but this seemed to be exceptionally tight. I will say this, though: I read a mailer where Childers went on record as a "Reagan Republican" and Schaefer listed her preference for "George H.W. Bush." Next time, Ms. Schaefer, in a GOP primary, don't ever pick the "Read-My-Lips President" over the "Mr.-Gorbachev, tear-down-this-wall President". In a race where the margin of victory was only 138 votes, you better believe that picking the mod-President over the conservative, iconic President was bound to backfire.
County Attorney // Cordes vs. McDaniel -- To be honest, I'm surprised this vote was as close as it was, despite the convincing victory (62% to 38%). Good to see that we got this one right. See my take on Ms. McDaniel's doomed campaign here and here. But I'm sure she lost just because all the voters of FBC are sexist pigs who elect Nazis.
And last but not least on my hit parade this morning...
FBC GOP Chairman // Gillen vs. Howell -- I must admit to being torn about whom to support in this race. Clearly, I am not necessarily a fan about how Gillen ran his race (see here and here) and I have doubts about his campaign finance reports (see here), but there were no doubts about his qualifications. As for Ms. Howell, she ran an admirable race, but in a primary runoff, the voters are a lot more grassroots-minded and ideologically pure. I'm certain that her lack of "Precinct Chairman" experience (despite her other substantial qualifications) hurt her, and her excuses for not serving in that role were not convincing. Ultimately, though, it was a very close race (51.2% to 48.8%), and Mr. Gillen should not assume any mandate. When the hand-picked successor with the heavy-hitter endorsements only wins by 2.44% or 192 votes, it's not a tremendous show of support.
And that's The Umpire's call!
(And if anyone cares, even though it doesn't really matter because they won't get elected in November anyway, the FBC Democratic Primary Runoff Election Results are here.)
Well, at least it's finally over. No more campaign mailers, campaign commercials, or campaign phone calls -- at least until October, anyway.
So who was left standing? Here's my two cents on the FBC GOP results:
HD-28 // Zerwas vs. Melanson -- It was certainly a lot closer than I expected (53% to 47%), but the winner was no surprise. I'll have to look at a county by county breakdown to see why it was as close as it was, but the tight margin of victory was unexpected.
Judge, County Court at Law #1 // Childers vs. Schaefer -- As best I could tell, it was better name vs. better qualifications and, as usual, the better name won out in a squeaker (51% to 49%). I haven't been involved in FBC politics long enough to know any backstory to this race, but this seemed to be exceptionally tight. I will say this, though: I read a mailer where Childers went on record as a "Reagan Republican" and Schaefer listed her preference for "George H.W. Bush." Next time, Ms. Schaefer, in a GOP primary, don't ever pick the "Read-My-Lips President" over the "Mr.-Gorbachev, tear-down-this-wall President". In a race where the margin of victory was only 138 votes, you better believe that picking the mod-President over the conservative, iconic President was bound to backfire.
County Attorney // Cordes vs. McDaniel -- To be honest, I'm surprised this vote was as close as it was, despite the convincing victory (62% to 38%). Good to see that we got this one right. See my take on Ms. McDaniel's doomed campaign here and here. But I'm sure she lost just because all the voters of FBC are sexist pigs who elect Nazis.
And last but not least on my hit parade this morning...
FBC GOP Chairman // Gillen vs. Howell -- I must admit to being torn about whom to support in this race. Clearly, I am not necessarily a fan about how Gillen ran his race (see here and here) and I have doubts about his campaign finance reports (see here), but there were no doubts about his qualifications. As for Ms. Howell, she ran an admirable race, but in a primary runoff, the voters are a lot more grassroots-minded and ideologically pure. I'm certain that her lack of "Precinct Chairman" experience (despite her other substantial qualifications) hurt her, and her excuses for not serving in that role were not convincing. Ultimately, though, it was a very close race (51.2% to 48.8%), and Mr. Gillen should not assume any mandate. When the hand-picked successor with the heavy-hitter endorsements only wins by 2.44% or 192 votes, it's not a tremendous show of support.
And that's The Umpire's call!
posted by The Umpire at 8:11 AM
2 Comments:
Best of luck to Gary Gillen. I certainly hope he meant what he said about unifying the party and being his own man (not Eric Thode's puppet). Gary has a tough job ahead of him and we need to give him a chance. I am naturally disappointed that Linda Howell did not win because I worked hard for her after I missed the runoff. I don't think her not having been a precinct chairman really hurt her. It was a bogus argument. While serving as a precinct chairman is certainly a plus, it is certainly not a prerequisite. There are so many other ways to serve the party. Our current chairman never served as a precinct chairman. In fact I am not aware of any previous county chairmen that were precinct chairmen first other than Charles Barclay and me. I think that Gary won because turnout was so pitiful and because he outspent her so badly. If either Linda or I had not run, resulting in a split of the conservative vote and the east side vote, the other one of us would surely have been elected. Over 62% of the voters in the primary voted for a change. It's a shame that they did not come back in the runoff. I just hope that Eric Thode and his divisive brand of politics are gone for good. Keep your promises, Gary!
Since you pointed out the idea that had either you or Linda not run, the other one would have been elected, let me ask you this:
Why, then, didn't the two of you get together and decide who would run so as not to split the "not-Gillen" vote?
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