Call it political speed dating. Last night the various assembled Travis County Democratic clubs gathered for their mass combined candidate forum. It was a meet-and-greet with 36 candidates in 13 races at the Millennium Youth Complex, to schmooze and work out endorsements and, in some cases, hear candidates’ names for the first time. So who won who over?

The headline numbers first: Bad news for Farouk Shami, who traveled all the way up to Austin with bumper stickers and free t-shirts galore, then got blown out by former Houston Mayor Bill White‘s clean sweep (Shami’s sometimes off-the-wall answers to some questions bode ill for his performance at his Feb. 8 debate with White.) In the lite guv race, former Travis County DA Ronnie Earle took the endorsement edge over union favorite Linda Chavez Thompson, while an absentee Kinky Friedman was annihilated by Hank Gilbert in the ag commissioner race.

Downballot, Rebecca Bell-Metereau becomes the front runner for State Board of Education place 5, while John Lipscombe locked out Olga Selig in County Court at Law #3. The four-way fight in the 299th district court seemed to thin out a little bit with Karen Sage coming out ahead and Mindy Montford still in contention. The big upset may be in the precinct 4 county commissioner race, where incumbent Margaret Gomez trailed behind her challenger ex-council member Raul Alvarez.

Of course, these endorsements can often weigh as much as a feather in the grand scheme of primary races. The one thing they can indicate is who is capable of getting the part activists on their side. The kind of people who turn up to such events are the kind of people that block-walk and phone-bank in November.

Full results courtesy of the good folks at Burnt Orange Report, who were brave and bold enough to stick around to the bitter (and very late) end.

Governor

Bill White: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Lt. Governor

Ronnie Earle: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, TED (dual)

Linda Chavez-Thompson: CCYD, NETCO, TED (dual)

Ag Commissioner

Hank Gilbert: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Land Commissioner

Hector Uribe: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

State Board of Education, District 5

Rebecca Bell-Metereau: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

147th District Court

Cliff Brown: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

201st District Court

Amy Clark Meachum: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

299th District Court

Mindy Montford: CAAAD, TED (dual)

Karen Sage: ATD, BAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED (dual)

331st District Court

David Crain: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

County Court at Law #3

John Lipscombe: BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Travis County Commissioner, Pct 4

Margaret Gomez: BAD

Raul Alvarez: ATD, CAAAD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Justice of the Peace, Pct 1

Yvonne Williams: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, NETCO, TED

Daniel Bradford: CCYD

Justice of the Peace, Pct 2

Karin Crump: ATD, BAD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Justice of the Peace, Pct 5

Herb Evans: ATD, CAAAD, CAPD, CCYD, NETCO, TED

Key: ATD Austin Tejano Democrats; BAD Black Austin Democrats; CAAAD Capital Area Asian American Democrats; CAPD Capital Area Progressive Democrats; CCAD Circle C Area Democrats; CCYD Capital City Young Democrats; NETCO Northeast Travis County Democrats; TED Texas Environmental Democrats (Austin)

This article appears in January 29 • 2010.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.