The Final Election (analysis of our mistakes in the Houston mayor's race)

Human Events ^ | 1/5/04 | John Gizzi

[GOPcapitalist]

The last major electoral contest of 2003 was one of the most disappointing for conservatives. Two years ago, in a race that inspired articles in such national publications as the New York Times and the Washington Post, conservative Republican Orlando Sanchez came within 11,000 votes out of more than 319,000 cast of becoming mayor of Houston, Texas. Had Sanchez overtaken incumbent Democrat Lee Brown that year, Houston would have become the largest city in the nation with a Latino mayor—and Sanchez would have been a national Republican star.

On December 6, former City Councilman Sanchez was again running for mayor. This time, with Brown termed out, Sanchez lost by a margin of 3 to 2 to Bill White, former Democratic state chairman and Clinton Administration official. The victory of White was coupled with that of leftist Democrat City Councilwoman Annise Parker as city controller. In rolling up 62% of the vote against fellow Council member Bruce Tatro—known as "Councilman No" for his consistent anti-spending votes—Parker becomes the first avowed lesbian to win citywide office in a major U.S. metropolis.

What happened in two years? Going from the near-triumph of the conservative Sanchez in '01 to a liberal sweep of the municipal elections in '03 requires some explanation, to say the least. Sanchez himself, local conservatives generally agree, made a critical error in not retaining his '01 political consultant, Dennis Calabrese. Calabrese, whose clients have been exclusively conservative Republicans since 1984, had sculpted a hard-hitting, issue-oriented campaign two years ago that brought Sanchez within a few points of deposing incumbent Brown. In this campaign, however, the GOP hopeful retained Ned Holmes and Dave Walden—both of whom had been campaign commanders for Brown himself . Their campaign for Sanchez strongly downplayed his conservatism on issues such as cutting taxes, ending affirmative action, and rolling back the size of city government. As one Houston Republican activist noted, "They castrated him. The conservative base, which turned out in full force last time, had nothing to motivate it in this race."

There was also considerable criticism on the right of the Harris County GOP organization. Two years ago, the county party was vigorously engaged in recruiting volunteers and hammering hard at the liberal positions of Sanchez opponent Brown. This time, the party did not go on the attack against White's liberal position and there was significantly diminished evidence of large volunteer activity on their part for Sanchez.

To be sure, high-powered plaintiff's attorney White did spend more than $8 million—a record for any political contest in Houston. Moreover, he had strong connections in the Houston business community and many pillars of that community who are considered Republicans weighed in strongly for Clinton Democrat White. Rich and Nancy Kinder, for example, are long-standing "Rangers" (high-dollar contributors and fund-raisers) for George W. Bush and were active supporters of White for mayor. The four living former mayors of Houston also strongly endorsed White—among them former Mayor (1964-74) Louie Welch, a strong conservative who made national headlines when he suggested that the solution to the spread of AIDS was to "shoot the queers."

Summarizing the last major election of '03, former Harris County (Houston) Republican Chairman and Sanchez booster Gary Polland concluded: "Dec. 6, 2003, is a date that will be remembered as a disastrous day for Houston."

[GOPcapitalist]

Here's another good take of what went wrong on the Orlando Sanchez campaign. It's from this week's Human Events, so it should be taken as constructive criticism from the right.

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[mlbford2]

I live in Houston and White had alot of Repub donators. Huge ones. I know from personal experience with this. He might turn out to be a good mayor. Hard to be worse than Brown. Sanchez came across as cold oatmeal (voted for him anyway, though).

[farmfriend]

Sounds like CA.

[Flyer]

The Final Election (analysis of our mistakes in the Houston mayor's race)

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As always, a FReep mail will get you on or off this Houston topics ping list.

BTW. . . All y'all are invited to celebrate the Houston Chapter's 2nd birthday on January 24th. Visit our local forum for more info.

[farmfriend]

Sounds like CA.

[No Dems 2004]

Well, I think that the Houston mayoral race also proved that Republicans are skating on thin ice when they decide to run a minority candidate, especially in the South. Bobby Jindal, in my opinion an excellent candidate, was shot down in the end, arguably because he wasn't white.

I have no problem with the GOP reaching out to racial minorities, but running non-white candidates in regions where the white vote is still crucial has more often than not proved a mistake.

[weegee]

Minorities also fit in that equation of voting for someone who looks like them. Then again there were hispanic "leaders" in Houston who were saying that Orlando Sanchez wasn't really hispanic (read Mexican friendly) because he was from Cuba.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[laotzu]

"..when they decide to run a minority candidate, especially in the South."

Why especially in the South?

[Humidston]

Thanks for the ping, GOP. And this article confirms exactly what you said:

It was a totally lackluster campaign.

[Redbob]

"...The conservative base, which turned out in full force last time, had nothing to motivate it in this race."

Dubya, are you listening?