Huzzah! Vo wins!

HOUSTON — David has taken down a political Goliath.

Political newcomer and Democrat Hubert Vo defeated longtime Republican Rep. Talmadge Heflin, Harris County election officials announced late Monday, a week after the election and following a protracted ballot count and review.

The count showed that Vo, a Houston businessman, defeated Heflin, one of the most powerful lawmakers in the Texas House, by 31 votes.

Review of absentee and provisional ballots, which concluded just before midnight Monday in the race for House District 149, gave Vo the edge with a total of 20,693 votes, compared with 20,662 for Heflin.

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/gen/ap/TX_Still_Counting.html

It appears that Republicans are not good winners (on a national level), they are also not good losers.

From this morning's Houston Chronicle:

"Heflin still can request a recount of electronic votes. He also could contest the election, which would throw the jurisdiction to the state House to make a ruling. If it comes to that, Heflin would appear to have an advantage, with the House consisting of 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats."

But, here's the all-time what-a-freekin'-hypocrite quote:

"There's no confidence in these results at this point," said Andy Taylor, a Republican legal troubleshooter with expertise in election law, who was on hand to represent Heflin. "The outcome can't be trusted because the process was flawed."

If they try that, I can assure you that those of us in Travis will show up in force.

What we should do in the meantime - Write to the newspapers AAS and Houston Chronicle and demand that the republicans respect the will of the people. Get on talk radio if you can and support Vo. Talk with your local and state parties and make sure they know we are ready to fight this one hard. Someone ask Vo's campaign what they need from us, probably money.

Heres the media contact info for the Houston area, from our Campaign Underground.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/cu/cu.php?az=media&state=TX#Houston

No retreat, no surrender. Vo won fair and square.

Congratulations to Hubert Vo!

:dem:

Sonia

Heflin considers asking for recount in quest to hold District 149 post
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2893660
Vo was ahead by 38 votes before mail-in and provisional ballots, cast

(snip)
A recount, however, is not a necessary prerequisite to contest the election. Heflin has until Dec. 8 to do that. The election would then be thrown to the House of Representatives, which could either seat Vo or overturn the election and require a new vote.

There have been several contested elections in the Texas House in recent years, but none has reversed the outcome. Most were withdrawn.

Buck Wood, one of several lawyers observing the Harris County vote canvass on Vo's behalf, said Heflin's case posed a potential public relations "nightmare" for Republicans.

With an 87-62 Republican majority (excluding the contested seat) in the House, partisanship could become a factor.

If Heflin were to contest the election, Vo would still be seated when the Legislature convenes on Jan. 11. He could vote in the speaker's election and on other House business but couldn't participate in any decisions involving the contested election.
(/snip)
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Bastards! They better not even dare.

Sonia

that they expect to make a decision either today or tomorrow to possibly throw out the results entirely and force another vote.

I don't think they can force a re-vote at least not until they make a decision at the Texas Legislature. So that's the point where they will try to steal it since they have the numbers there to simply seat Heflin. I certainly hope that the State Party is ready to rumble on this one. I sure am.

Sonia

Call me old fashioned but isn't the way this is supposed to work is:
1. People vote
2. The votes are counted
3. Candidate with the most votes wins
4. THE END

Yep. that's the rumbling I'm hearing...To the Capitol!

I'll bring my pitchfork!

Houston Chronicle Opinion (via Clean Up Texas Politics)
By RICK CASEY
http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/node/view/297
If I'm Talmadge Heflin, I'm wondering what this country is coming to.

If you can't buy an election with the lobby's money, you ought to be able to steal it with the help of courthouse friends.

That's one of the problems with being a Republican.

They haven't learned how to steal elections — at least not west of Florida.
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So this one is another race that Bob Perry pitched in to buy. What a creep. Good riddance to Heflin.

Sonia