If you look at the Houston, Texas eGovernment page showing the campaign finance reports for the May 12, special election to fill Shelley Sekula-Gibbs’ abandoned city council seat, you will see that of the eleven candidates seeking this office, only four have actually filed reports. These four being from the campaigns of Melissa Noriega, Ton Nixon, Andy Neill and Kendall Baker.Matt Stiles, on his Chron blog, reports that two additional reports have been filed by the campaigns of Roy Morales and Tom Molinson. In addition, two other candidates, the kid and Sara Owen-Gemoets do not intend to raise more than $500, so that a campaign finance report is not required of them. That leaves three who have not filed, or have mailed the report by the deadline but they have not yet been received. Who knows?
One wonders, though, about the vast gulf between Melissa Noriega’s fundraising prowess at $105,121.23 with a $53,032.58 balance on hand and that of her nearest competitor, Roy Morales, with an even $24,000 cash infusion, and $2,363 on hand. This appears to be about Roy’s limit. When he ran for the Position 1 seat in 2005, his total campaign contributions were $32,129.32. That’s a total for all three reporting periods.
Melissa Noriega is a serious contender who can attract serious campaign contributions. Did I mention that Melissa Noriega has been endorsed by the Houston Police Officer’s Union? I did, didn't I? I provided the link. I guess I should also mention that they backed up their endorsement with a twenty-five hundred dollar check.
Roy Morales’ campaign slogan “Building a safer Houston” seems to have fallen on the deaf ears of those who, on a daily basis, keep Houston safe.
3 comments:
By the way, in all fairness there was one anonymous comment to this posting. It came from a conflicted individual who decried Melissa's (that is the correct spelling of her name by the way, anon) supporters. I don't provide a forum for Melissa's detractors. That's why the blog comment section is moderated.
Want to find an outlet for your misogynistic commentary? Don't come here. Spend your own campaign dollars - limited as they are.
While Melissa has definitely outraised all the other candidates, I was surprised to see that Noel Freeman actually beat Roy Morales in Fundraising. Pretty impressive for a newcomer to beat someone who has done this before. I think a lot of us were quick to underestimate Freeman, so I think it would be interesting if Freeman makes the runoff instead of Morales.
Doubtful.
First, Melissa got the GLBT endorsement, not Noel.
Noel appears to have positioned himself more toward the center relative to Morales, but still shows Republican leanings. Morales appeals to the right wing base. Freeman is, shall we say, questionably conservative.
No, while Freeman has gotten some financial support, Roy enjoys the, albeit,unenthusiastic support of Republicans who can still be swayed by the politics of fear and taxation.
Mark me, Noel seems to be a good guy, but I would not bet on him beating out a neo-conservative like Morales in this race. The Republican base will flock to him.
At the end, everyone else will see the sanity of a Melissa Noriega in the seat.
Frankly, Noel should give his support to Melissa. She can win. A Roy Morales in the city council will be a disaster.
Post a Comment