And, yes, I've heard talk about that already. What I consider halfway serious talk.
So has friend Brains, I'm sure.
Indeed, new state Greens chair Wesson Gaige notes it was discussed last month at the state convention. (Brains will have something next week on Greens' national confab.)
And, speaking of, here's WHY Texas Greens should be wanting on the ballot, with party line access, in 2018.
Per a Brains blog post, plus a piece from Texas Monthly's BurkaBlog, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidates are shaping up to be asshat sorry. Add in this piece early this year from the Trib, about state Dems already meeting to discuss the issue. (Link is now fixed, per Brains' comment.)
Notes: At left, Wendy Davis of 2014 infamy isn't likely to run again, since she's got her lobbying shop set up. At bottom, both Castro brothers have already taken a powder. At right, Beto O'Rourke's chasing a Senate seat. At top, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker probably doesn't have a lot of "throw weight," although, in that Trib piece, she was certainly making "noises." None of Texas' other big-city mayors even got mentioned. Mike Rawlings is also a Democrat, but apparently getting no love. Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio is also a D, but new. Steve Adler from Austin has been around a while.
With no statewide offices, Dems have a thin bench. Per discussions Brains and I have had, black Democratic state senators don't want to run. Royce West likes his law practice, and possible "overrides" on some of John Wiley Price's grifting, as in the Dallas Inland Port. Former state Sen. Rodney Ellis decided that the Harris County Commissioners' Court offered better opportunity for something or another.
The Trib mentions a couple of Anglo state senators. Mike Collier, from the business wing of the party, has already announced for lite guv.
It's possible that Matthew Dowd, eschewing an indy run for senate, still considers one for guv. That, per Brains' piece, would only increase the 2006 parallel. (If Kinky Friedman runs again, I'll ask the dogcatcher of Utopia to arrest him.)
For Greens, with a somewhat unpopular Gov. Greg Abbott and an even more unpopular Lite Gov Danny Goeb, why would you wait until 2020 to try to get back ballot access?
The second reason NOT to wait is the elimination of straight ticket voting in Texas.
So, get on the ballot, and get a better gubernatorial nominee than Brandon Parmer.
David Bruce Collins, at the Houston / Harris County level, has more good points on Greens acting like an actual political party.
Brother: fix your link to the TexTrib (you got me twice, which is cool, but...)
ReplyDeletewell...it will cost about $300k to do it successfully, & onepunch b.s. means will likely have to repeat in 2020...soooooo got $$$$$?
ReplyDeleteKat, I personally don't have close to that money, of course. Should I be in a bigger city in Texas, I'd try to get signatures next spring myself, though. IMO, unless Dems pull a CCA Place 5 again, though, there's more chance of regaining ballot access in 2018 on the 5 percent rule than waiting until 2020.
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