Last week, the Williamson County Republicans demanded that Diana Maldonado, candidate for the Texas House, give back the money she recieved from Annie's List, a PAC that gets contributions from Fred Baron. Baron is the former John Edwards finance chair who admitted to paying hush money to keep the Edwards affair from going public.

The spectre of Fred Baron's now being brought into the US Senate race between Senator John Cornyn and challenger Rick Noriega. The Cornyn campaign wants Noriega to give the Baron money back, too. Here's the explanation:

Noriega unveiled his healthcare plan yesterday. The healthcare plan did not include anything about medical malpractice reform, and Cornyn's campaign says it knows why. Fred Baron. And other trial lawyers who opposed tort reform.

Baron, a Dallas based asbestos lawyer, and his wife Lisa Blue have given thousands to Noriega's cash-strapped campaign. They also held a fundraiser on June 16th at their Dallas mansion for Noriega so fellow trial lawyers could put additional dollars into Rick's campaign coffers.

Baron, trial lawyers and left-wing national bloggers are among the few who have shown any interest in Noriega's fledgling campaign. In exchange, Noriega apparently has agreed to turn a blind eye to medical malpractice liability reform.

"Baron and his trial lawyer buddies have bought and paid for" the Texas Democratic Party, according to Cornyn's spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin.

TDP Spokesman Hector Nieto responded to the charges, here's what he said, in part:

"Instead of resurrecting a non-issue like Fred Baron, why doesn't John Cornyn explain to the people of Texas why he voted six times against bipartisan legislation to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program? Every time a child goes to the emergency room because a parent couldn't afford quality healthcare, that parent can thank John Cornyn."

Categories: 2008 U.S. Senate Race | Campaign Finance | Healthcare |
Posted by Elise Hu at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's the 2nd quarter fundraising reporting deadline! Senator John Cornyn walloped his challenger, Rick Noriega in 2nd quarter fundraising. As for cash-on-hand, Cornyn's stash is ten times the size of Noriega's, which is going to come in really handy as people start paying attention to this race after Labor Day. A look at the top lines:

CORNYN
2nd quarter fundraising: $1.7 million
Cash-on-hand: $9.4 million

NORIEGA
2nd quarter fundraising: $930,000
Cash-on-hand: $915,506

Thoughts?

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Campaign Finance |
Posted by Elise Hu at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A lot of press is focused today on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's opting out on public campaign financing. He becomes the first presidential candidate to forgo public money. And it's a reversal of his earlier position.

His campaign is explaining it by saying the public system has been so gamed by special interests that it wasn't something he wanted to be part of anymore. The practical reality for the Obama campaign is that it won't have limits on its spending anymore.

Time's political guru Mark Halperin often does "his take" on political events in bullet form, and in his take on this -- he mentioned a potential impact for Texas:

"Obama will now be able to, say, spend $10 million on Texas television ads, giving McCain some tough choices to make."

Texas is an expensive state in which to run ads, with its twenty media markets, including two in the top ten (Dallas-FW and Houston-Galveston). But "say, $10 million" could go a long way for Democrats downballot, and as Halperin notes, force McCain into different spending scenarios for a state he should easily win.

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Campaign Finance |
Posted by Elise Hu at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's some top lines, we'll take a look inside the numbers next:

Rosemary Lehmberg
Raised: $140,825
Spent: $ 90,612
Cash on hand: $ 86,692

Mindy Montford
Raised: $194,007
Spent: $225,684
Loan: $25,000
Cash on hand: $7,500

Categories: Campaign Finance | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Congressional candidate Larry Joe Doherty is getting out his 4th quarter fundraising totals ahead of the FEC website. His campaign says he reported $151,115 in the 4th quarter. The average donation size was $490.63.

His cash-on-hand is $267,475.

US senate candidate Rick Noriega joked about borrowing money from sitting Senator John Cornyn. Perhaps LJD has a few thousand to spare?

Categories: Campaign Finance | US Congress |
Posted by Elise Hu at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In one of my favorite scenes from Austinite Mike Judge's cult hit, Office Space, the two consultants named Bob come in and try and identify the "fat" to cut out of the office. In one confrontation with the Bob's, a middleman type guy freaks out:

Bob Slydell: What would you say ya do here?
Tom Smykowski: Well look, I already told you! I deal with the [expletive] customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

My KVUE predecessor, Lee McGuire, (who is now a roving reporter at our Belo sister station, KHOU-TV in Houston) asked Bob's question about the Texas Ethics Commission. McGuire's story features a longtime Houston activist who doesn't think too highly of the state agency.

“I think the Ethics Commission is incompetent, completely incompetent,” activist John Cobarruvias said. “There is no other word to describe what they’re doing right now.”

Watch the story here.

Categories: Campaign Finance |
Posted by Elise Hu at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)