Loretta Haldenwang for Texas House District 105

[sonias]

Annie's List First Endorsement - House Race:

Loretta Haldenwang
Endorsed Candidate for HD-105
Irving, Texas

We are proud to announce our endorsement of Loretta Haldenwang for State House District 105 in Irving. Loretta currently serves as the External Affairs Director of the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is respected by community, business and political leaders alike. I’ve heard enough, how do I give her money?

Loretta spends each day working in her community to promote small business successes, better schools and scholarship opportunities, access to affordable healthcare, common sense transportation solutions and more. She is also no stranger to the proceedings of the Texas House of Representatives after working for two legislative sessions for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) as a District Director and Legislative Analyst.

House District 105 sits in the Northwest corner of Dallas County and includes almost all of the City of Irving. It is currently represented by an eight-year incumbent Republican named Linda Harper Brown. However, after nearly losing to an underfunded perennial candidate in 2008, reliable Republican sources have leaked that Linda has been told by the Republican leadership that it is time to retire. The self-described anointed replacement is Irving Republican Councilwoman Beth Van Duyne, a well-known far-right extremist with a colorful record on the council.

Like many urban-suburban districts that we have won in the last 4 years, House District 105 has a rapidly evolving demographic composure. Now a majority-minority seat, Democrats have performed better on the ballot every election cycle. However, in a low-turnout mid-term election, we will need a well-funded, professionally run campaign with a candidate who can relate to all Irving residents.

We have no doubt Loretta is that candidate. And as the daughter of a neurologist and a microbiologist, she is no stranger to setting ambitious personal goals and working hard to make them a reality. She is an impressive and articulate woman who possesses the skill set, savvy and stamina to be our endorsed candidate in House District 105.

With the critical June 30th Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) reporting deadline just around the corner, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. Between now and 11:59pm on June 30th, Annie’s List will match every dollar you contribute to Loretta’s campaign up to a total of $25,000.

Now is the time to take back House District 105. Loretta is the candidate to do it, and it will be one of the two seats we need to win back the Texas House before redistricting.

Please join us today and watch your contribution to Loretta go twice as far.

Outstanding! She sounds like a great candidate! :woohoo:


Remember that Linda Harper-Brown (R) barely won her race as an incumbent. I think it was just 20 votes after the recount. We can win this district!

:dem:

Sonia

[Aragorn]

1. HB 3816

What is her position on HB 3816?

[sonias]

2. Don't know

But I'll go out on a limb here. Seeing that Dan Patrick was for this, I'm thinking it probably wasn't a good thing. Was this more tort reform kind of stuff?

:shrug:

HB3816
Relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Medical Board.


Sonia

[Gulftrout]

3. Kim Limberg has also filed in HD 105

There's another woman running in TX House District 105 out of Irving named Kim Limberg. She's a Civil Engineer and former National Delegate to the DNC Convention. Annie's List isn't supposed to back one female candidate against another in the Primary, so it would be interesting to find out why they don't like Kim and have "cherry-picked" a candidate they want to win the Primary. Loretta is probably more conservative since she works for a Chamber of Commerce.

Personally, I think the voters of HD 105 should decide who their nominee is rather than a group of well-financed politicos who want to usurp the Democratic process!

[sonias]

4. I agree that the voters in HD105 will decide

However Annie's List provides a whole lot of resources to their candidates. And they have been very good at getting women elected. Maybe they picked Loretta because a more conservative candidate would be more likely to win in this district.

Women contribute to women with Annie's and Emily's list. The well financed politicos you talk about are just average women to support women running for office. I'm an Annie's list contributor.

And I've gone to the candidate and staff training they put on as well. They serve a wonderful niche in helping women candidates get elected.

Oh and let me not forget to say Welcome to DRU Gulftrout! :hi:


Sonia

[johncoby2]

5. Well said. annies list is a great group.

They actively find viable candidates in viable races. This is one such race.

I dont know either of them, but if Annies List thought they were a good candidate and is supporting them, that is saying quite a bit.

[Gulftrout]

6. How objective is their process, though?

There's no question that Annie's List provides considerable resources to their selected candidates. The question is: how do they select their candidates? Do they have a PAC committee that screens the women candidates and have them fill out a candidate questionaire? No. Do they have much involvement from their Board in these political decisions? No. Although the entire board is comprised of women, their political director is a white male (Robert Jones). It isn't exactly a women's group run by and for women.

My concern is: what kind of screening did Kim Limberg get? I would not be presumptious enough to assume that "someone" decided that the other woman was the better candidate without any idea as to the objectivity of the process. Yes, Annie's List has many average contributors, but like most of the top 20 PACs, approx. 80% of their contributions come from less than 20% of their donors, ie. large contributions totaling $ 500 or more. It's a shame we don't hear more Democrats in Austin pleading for Campaign Finance Reform, as Texas is one of the few states in the Nation without campaign finance limits. There's a litmus test by the business community to get any funding, whether you're Democrat or Republican. The fact that a candidate has to raise half a million just to be competitive in a state legislative race means the system is totally screwed up. It should never be just about the money, but in our state it is.

And yes they help get elected many women, but they also take credit for electing women in Democratic seats who won their primaries without their help (usually in majority minority districts). That seems a little disingenuous to me. They also pour money into races that could have been diverted to more winnable seats. In 2008, AL backed a candidate in HD 129 who had a DPI of only 34%. She managed to raise approx. $ 350 K and got 41%. There was no way to swing this district more than 17 points off of its DPI for a victory! Those resources could have been channelled into other, more winnable seats.

[sonias]

7. You seem to have a particular axe to grind

I don't have a problem with Robert Jones as their director. Are you saying you have a problem with their executive director not being a woman? Plus you seem to know much more about the process of the vetting than I do. For example that they don't have a candidate questionnaire. I frankly don't know what their vetting process is, but I do know that they support good candidates that can win. And if they don't win the first time they try again and are successful. Kristi Thibaut is a good example of someone that won the second time she ran. I'm sure the 1st time she ran she at least learned from the run and built up experience running a campaign.

And I totally disagree with you that the call for campaign finance reform has not been an issue in Austin. Clean Elections have been a very important issue and it is one I support. There have been several efforts at the Lege to get public financing for campaigns and many advocacy groups have worked on it. But as long as Rick Perry is Governor and the Lege is controlled by the money that flows from Bob Perry and James Leininger and business interests it's not going to be easy. Hell we don't even get fully funded health insurance for kids in this state and you think the Lege is going to take up campaign finance reform?

Annie's List resources are totally up to them to decide how to use them. I will not fault them for trying to work Davis' district. He's a total jackass and it will take time but one day that district will unseat him.


Sonia

[Gulftrout]

17. Male Director

A male director of a women's organization? That's ironic as hell, and an insult to women.

[sonias]

18. I don't consider it an insult at all

If Robert is qualified and he's doing the job of making sure women are elected - it's a good thing. His record speaks for itself.

What I think is really strange is that I think you are a male who is masquerading as a woman on DU. I noticed that you didn't put up a profile. :shrug:


Sonia

[Gulftrout]

19. Dedicated Robert

There's no doubt that Robert Jones is qualified for his job. He's very dedicated, to the point of neglecting his own health.

[johncoby2]

8. you dont have the facts straight.

FYI. I worked on Matula's campaign in HD129. Contributed many many many hours of work and walking in the hot sun along side of the volunteers. I was her volunteer coordinator.

In HD 129 all indications was that it was a very winnable seat. The incumbent spent $400,000 and won. We spent $375,000. Annies list was INCREDIBLE when they endorsed the challenger.

No one, and I mean NO ONE dumps $375,000 into a state race unless there was a strong indication that it was a winnable seat. NO ONE. And there were very strong indications that it was a winnable seat.

That is why Karl Rove came in to raise money for the incumbent. That is why the incumbent was actually block walking, something he didnt do for 10 years! That is why he sent out 6 mailers. And had to put up signs, something he hasnt done in 10 years. Why did we lose? Very good question. We believe it was the anti Obama vote.


Sorry, but I trust Annies list and Robert Jones. These guys are good. Did they make a mistake with our race. No, not based upon the data they had.

It is unfortunate, but it takes money to win. When you go to Austin and change that, tell us.

Harper Brown is a winnable race. If Annies List endorses someone, I am on board. I have that much confidence in them.

[Gulftrout]

9. You're missing the point. Kim Limberg deserves a fair hearing among voters!

Well you can only hope that A/L's candidate gets out of the Primary in HD 105. Kim has been very involved in the Democratic Party and her community, as well as professional associations as a Civil Engineer. Who died and made A/L God to decide that Kim's race wasn't credible? In my opinion this is a perfect example of how this organization is losing credibility and meddling in Primary races to the detriment of the Democratic Party.

And as far as HD 129, the results speak for themselves. Yes, there was alot of anti-Obama vote in the district, because the district IS 66% REPUBLICAN! I guess hindsight isn't even 20 20 for some people, and because of your role in the campaign you can't look at it objectively.

I would still not want to give my money to an organization that didn't have an objective process for screening candidates. That's why I give my money directly to candidates.

[Gulftrout]

10. The Hot Sun

You spent way too many hours in the hot sun johncoby2. You're defending your wastage of time. You were hustled by Sherrie as was Annie's list. The facts are this: Sherrie flukishly outperformed her DPI in 2006. John Davis got negative publicity on a local tv station just prior to the election. The ethics allegations against Davis artificially fluffed Sherrie's numbers. Had the powers that be been paying attention they would've noticed that. A DPI of 34 is horrible. Maybe y'all were charmed by an old school marm. Did anyone ever listen to her give a speech? Like fingernails on a chalkboard.
So are you and Annie's list planning a frontal assault on a Republican stronghold like 129 anytime soon? The result will still be the the same. Annie's list has wised up and is targeting District 138, a winnable District that is trending Democratic. Are you gonna wise up johncoby2?

[johncoby2]

11. what ever

another know it all shooting their green mouth off.
enjoy.

Come back when you have worked a campaign

[Gulftrout]

12. Truth hurts

Looks like Sherry's campaign worked you.
So who's lining up to run in '10 in district 129?

[johncoby2]

13. Tell us what you have worked on before

Gulftrout. What campaigns have you worked on? What did you do? fundraise? block walk? phone bank?

[Gulftrout]

14. I've done it all

I only speak from experience. This next time around don't drink Sherry's koolaid. Stuff messed you up.

[johncoby2]

15. yeah right.

you talk a great game. Nothing else.

You probably blocked walked for Obama in Vidor and considered that a success.

[Gulftrout]

16. Misplaced energy

Had y'all block walked for Joel Redmond he might have won. Had Bob Romano gotten even a fraction of Sherry's cash he coulda won. You cost us a shot at a majority in the house. Sherry was like a ball hog in basketball, she cost us the game. 43% in 2006, 41% in 2008 (Sherry #s went backwards) You can twist perception , reality won't budge.

[johncoby2]

21. And if grasshoppers carried 45's

Birds wouldn't fuck with them.


Big talk from the keyboard brigade.

[Gulftrout]

22. Big talk

Big talk from you. No results.
43% in '06. 41% in '08. #'s don't lie.
So when are y'all gonna crank up Sherrie's
campaign again? You gonna be the only fool
out there in the hot sun, in affluent, rich,
lilly white neighborhoods with a DPI of 34.
Go ahead on. The only funny joke is you.

[PDittie]

23. Now THAT's probably worth a tombstone

Course I'm not a mod. Seems to me that "personal attack on another member" or something, I'm thinking, is mentioned in the TOS.

You came in with a vendetta of sorts against Whitmarsh (who, whatever his faults, is a hard-working Democrat). Now you're slinging your ... what is it, exactly? Bitterness? Anger? Jealousy?... at JC, the hardest-working Democrat I know.

This place is a big fun sandbox, and as a newbie you really ought to stop throwing sand in other kids' eyes.

[Gulftrout]

24. Who made you Governor?

I ain't said anything that wasn't true. Check some election results. As for opinions, I'm entitled to mine. They're all based on personal observation. You'd think this was a Republican website with the amount of intolerance for divergent views here. Carl Whitmarsh? I personally saw him at a Senate District meeting. He was dressed in a ratty t-shirt with 1970's style shorts. Picked a fight with a precinct chair. Real class. Tombstone the truth, y'all sad.

[PDittie]

20. ROFLMAO