The Rest of the Races

The Democrats Speak

Here's the endorsement roundup from last week's numerous Democratic club forums, with many of the groups reporting large membership turnouts and in some cases record attendance. Not all clubs endorsed in every race.

PRESIDENT

Howard Dean: Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus, Capitol City Young Democrats, Stonewall Democrats

John Kerry: North by Northwest Democrats of Austin

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 25

Lloyd Doggett: ALGPC, CCYD, Central Austin Democrats, NXNW, SD, Travis County Democratic Women, University Democrats, West Austin Democrats

200th DISTRICT COURT

Gisela Triana: ALGPC, CAD, CCYD, NXNW, SD, UD, WAD

Jan Soifer: TCDW

345th DISTRICT COURT

Stephen Yelenosky: ALGPC, CCYD, CAD, NXNW, SD, TCDW, UD, WAD

COUNTY COURT-AT-LAW No. 5

Nancy Hohengarten: ALGPC, CCYD, CAD, NXNW, SD, TCDW, UD, WAD

TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFF

Greg Hamilton: ALGPC, CAD, NXNW, SD, TCDW, WAD

Todd Radford: CCYD, UD

TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PRECINCT 1

Ron Davis: TCDW, WAD

Celia Israel: ALGPC, CCYD, NXNW, SD, UD

CONSTABLE, PRECINCT 1

Luke Mercer: CCYD, CAD, NXNW, TCDW, UD

CONSTABLE, PRECINCT 4

Maria Canchola: ALGPC, CAD, CCYD, NXNW, SD, TCDW, UD

Meanwhile, the Capital Area Democratic Women will hold an informal forum featuring the Democratic candidates in the 200th District Judge and County Court-at-Law No. 5 races today (Thursday) at 11:30am at Nuevo Leon Restaurant, 1501 E. Sixth. Call 342-7137 or e-mail cadwaustin@hotmail.com for more info.

The Other Side of the Ballot Box: Travis Co. needs election workers for the upcoming primaries. Call 854-4996 or e-mail election@co.travis.tx.us. Also, the Travis Co. Democratic Party is seeking election judges: Call 477-7500 or e-mail dd@traviscountydemocrats.org.

LCV BACKS DOGGETT: The League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Lloyd Doggett in his primary battle against state District Judge Leticia Hinojosa (see p.28). The LCV, which annually releases a scorecard rating members of Congress on their environmental voting record, said in a statement: "Since his election to the U.S. House in 1994, Doggett has fought for clean air and has been a champion on environmental justice issues. In 1998, he led a legislative battle to prevent a nuclear waste facility from being built in a low-income Hispanic community in Texas. Doggett has consistently received high marks from LCV, scoring a stellar lifetime score of 98% [pro-environment votes]." – Lee Nichols

WHY IS SAGER SAFE? Political scene-watchers may have noticed that, after a rah-rah press conference announcing his intent to challenge Alan Sager for the chairmanship of the Travis Co. Republican Party, Kirk Overbey never actually filed for the race last month. "After campaigning for a while, I got a serious, hard look at what would be involved and what the situation would be when I got elected – if I got elected – and I decided it was a lot more than I wanted to take on," Overbey told Naked City last week. "There was just not that much fire in my belly. ... I was running under the assumption that because the current chair is so exclusionary, a lot of people would be anxious to get involved, but I don't think I noticed that. It certainly didn't jell around me, anyway." – L.N.

HAPPENINGS: Competing fundraisers for County Court-at-Law No. 5 candidates will be held tonight (Thursday): A "Gay Community Fundraiser" for Nancy Hohengarten is 5:30-7:30pm at 3900 Avenue C. Tickets $35, sponsorships available. For info, call 474-9004 or e-mail nancyforjudge@sbcglobal.net. At the very same moment, a fundraiser for Efrain De La Fuente will be held at Speakeasy, 412 Congress (entrance in the alley). Tickets $25, sponsorships $100. For info, call 542-9744 or e-mail susan@susanharry.com.