Live Texas House Race Tx-23

Texas Secretary of State Web Site ^ | 12/12/2006 | self

[CharlesWayneCT]

Didn't find a live thread for the texas election results.

As of 9:07 EST, the race is as follows (mostly "early" election numbers):

----------------------------------------------- RACE NAME PARTY EARLY VOTES PERCENT TOTAL VOTES PERCENT U. S. Representative District 23

Henry Bonilla - Incumbent REP 14,013 47.81% 16,675 44.86%

Ciro D. Rodriguez DEM 15,298 52.19% 20,495 55.14% --------------- ---------------

Total Votes Cast 29,311 37,170

Precincts Reported 98 of 267 Precincts 36.70% --------------------------------------------

[Theodore R.]

I wonder if Bonilla even knew that he could lose. His advisors probably kept telling him it was a sure thing because TX is a "Republican state."

[gary_b_UK]

AP has called it for Rodriguez.

[PhiKapMom]

We just lost one of the good Congressman to another Dem -- unbelieveable! He couldn't even take time to go down and campaign for Bonilla? If I was a Republican, I wouldn't count on this President for anything right now. He seems quite happy to have the Dims in control if you ask me and I was a long time supporter.

[dogbyte12]

I am sure he would have come if asked. The president's approval ratings aren't that great right now. It might have hurt more than helped if he came down. I believe the President would have been down there lickity split if Bonilla called him and requested it.

[OldFriend]

So people feel the republican party moved too far to the left and they voted for fascists?

[CharlesWayneCT]

Bonilla still had over a million dollars left after his general election campaign, and said he didn't need more money.

I suppose if he had spent a million of it in the general election, he might have won, but it's hard to beat SIX other people, you can't just attack them because there are too many of them.

[trumandogz]

Bill Clinton was in S.A. over the weekend to campaign for Rodriguez but for some reason the President did not go to campaign for Bonilla.

I think a visit by the President to the district would have made a difference.

[Alissa]

The Bonilla campaign was extremely worried about voter turnout. Guess they were right about that.

[CharlesWayneCT]

9:19pm:

Henry Bonilla Inc REP 29,869 45.38%
Ciro D. Rodriguez DEM 35,951 54.62%

[DrewsDad]

My State Rep got blown away in a special election because the Democrats can identify their voters better and get them out to vote. Bonilla very well might have won if he just faced Rodriguez in November, but it would have been close.

[CharlesWayneCT]

9:24:

Henry Bonilla Inc REP 30,818 45.49%
Ciro D. Rodriguez DEM 36,923 54.51%


Turnout is up to the candidate. Bonilla needed to convince his people to vote for him. Nothing we could do about it, if he couldn't sell himself.

[Alissa]

You're wrong about that. I worked on his campaign one day, they were extremely worried about this one. They were worried in the General Election in Nov too. His district changed dramatically under redistricting. Before it was mostly NW Bexar country & the hill country, now it extends south to the Mexican border.

No they were extremely worried about voter turnout, with election fatigue and the holidays. This election was lost to the lack of voter turnout.

[TNCMAXQ]

Hadn't the GOP once talked about Bonilla as a potential US senator? I guess not now. :(

Kind of scary too that anywhere the Dems now think redistricting is not fair to them they can just go to the courts and whine. The courts then conceivably will overturn the will of the elected state legislature and help the Dems win. So much for fairness and decency.

[CharlesWayneCT]

9:29 CST:

Henry Bonilla ... 30,984 45.42%
Ciro D. Rodriguez 37,226 54.58%

That's with 95% of the precincts, and I'm calling it a night.

[Alissa]

Can't blame this one on Delay. The courts decided the districts after the Democrats complained. I don't know why we bother to have elections and propositions. The d@mn courts decide everything for us.

[hispanarepublicana]

I'm hearing that Bonilla has conceded. Please update headline so everyone else can get as miserably drunk and full of chocolate as I am. Thanks.

[hispanarepublicana]

But Bonilla was in great shape before redistricting even happened. They should've just left West Texas the he## alone.

[Founding Father]

So people feel the republican party moved too far to the left and they voted for fascists?

Nope, they shut their wallets and stayed at home.

[Diddle E. Squat]

This is a good example of why we should elect Giuliani as the GOP candidate in '08. There just aren't enough dedicated conservative voters to win without also drawing in independents, made worse when the oh so purist segment of conservatives sit at home at the drop of a hat. (Though I guess it is too early to know if this was the case here.)

Am waiting for the spam analysis to start of how Bonilla clearly must be a RINO and that we would have won if only a 'true conservative' had run on a platform of jailing every illegal alien, killing abortion doctors, and eliminating schools. Hence why they stayed home this year, to 'send a message' and 'teach a lesson'. Yeah, well the lesson taught was that the screaming blackmail-threatening 'purist' activists can rarely be counted on, other than perhaps driving up turnout on the other side. Every day it is a new excuse of why they can't support this candidate or that candidate or any GOP candidate.

I'm fed up with the kooks, the never-satisfied crowd, the ones who are always threatening to shoot a hole in the boat if they don't get 101% their way. Fine, let them sit at home, we'll win without them, and they seem to be increasingly comfortable with not having a voice at the table.

In this election environment it is going to take both charisma and trust to win for the incumbent party, too many uninspired voters stay at home or vote for change. In the Presidency we are the incumbent party, so it is going to take someone like Giuliani to actually inspire and win over voters beyond just the base.

[OldFriend]

And you see a difference between voting for dems and not voting at all?

Help me understand.

On second thought, don't bother.