Monday, August 9, 2010

Notes from Texas House District 135 (UPDATED)

Just a quick pop back into the political realm of blogging to make note of something I found to be unusual.

The Harris County Republican Party is holding a "Meet and Greet" on Wednesday, August 11th for State Representative Gary Elkins.


Rep. Elkins is running unopposed in the November election. (Even the Libertarians didn't field a contender.)

Given the questionable status of HCRP finances doesn't even a small expenditure on an unopposed candidate seem like a waste of time, effort and money that could be spent on candidates in actual races?

All Elkins needs to win is one vote. Heck, his family could go to the polls, pull the lever and win it for him. I'm willing to be they wouldn't cost a couple of hundo while doing it.


Odd.


UPDATE:

David Jennings or, as you might know him Big Jolly dropped by and explained it in the comments. It was a good explenation so I wanted it high-lighted on the main post:

I can clear that up for you. It is all about the Judicial candidates. They cannot campaign together unless it is at a party sponsored event such as this or a non-partisan event such as the League of Women Voters Meet and Greet on Sept 18th. Dumb rules and mostly preaching to the choir type of campaigning (almost all of the attendees will be regulars on the meet/greet circuit) but it is something.

Plus, these things don't cost the party anything - attendees buy their own food/drinks, the eblasts are free, and the candidates pay for their own handouts. Also, it helps keep the choir motivated.


My response as follows:
OK, but why not group them together with a candidate who has something to benefit from this?

I understand the judicial angle, just not the inclusion of a candidate with no opposition. Seems like a lost opportunity to me unless you're specifically targeting a judicial district that's wholly in the confines of Elkin's district that is.


I get the judicial angle, I really do, and I freely admit to not being privy to the intricacies of politicking. Campaigns and party politics are not my thing. It just seems to me that there are better ways to spend your time, even if there's a secondary goal?

Ah well, now you see why I'm not a political strategist and content with the title of "World's worst blogger". Back to sports blogging and working in real life.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I can clear that up for you. It is all about the Judicial candidates. They cannot campaign together unless it is at a party sponsored event such as this or a non-partisan event such as the League of Women Voters Meet and Greet on Sept 18th. Dumb rules and mostly preaching to the choir type of campaigning (almost all of the attendees will be regulars on the meet/greet circuit) but it is something.

Plus, these things don't cost the party anything - attendees buy their own food/drinks, the eblasts are free, and the candidates pay for their own handouts. Also, it helps keep the choir motivated.

Cory said...

OK, but why not group them together with a candidate who has something to benefit from this?

I understand the judicial angle, just not the inclusion of a candidate with no opposition. Seems like a lost opportunity to me unless you're specifically targeting a judicial district that's wholly in the confines of Elkin's district that is.

Unknown said...

Harris County is huge geographically and the judges are elected county wide. To me, it makes sense to go to the various House Districts. The Senate Districts are too large and there really aren't any other geographical breakdowns that work, as far as I can tell. They've had them in 133, 134, 141, 148, and 149 thus far. I obviously don't have inside knowledge but I'd bet that they try to cover all of the HC House Districts before early voting starts.

I doubt you can be the World's Worst Blogger - after all, you're an award winner!

Rorschach said...

I suspect because the HCGOP really does not have a blockbuster candidate that is drawing huge amounts of attention. All of the Republican held races are pretty much shoe-ins, and the democrat controlled ones are pretty much lost causes as much as it pains me to admit to it.(Gene Green vs Morales MIGHT be competitive, but I kinda doubt it. and while SJL has really stepped on her crank lately, her constituents are too freaking stupid/racist to give a crap, so as much as I like John Faulk, I suspect he is not going to make much headway. But I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.)So the next best thing is to bring in someone who well and truly is safe.

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