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2010 was a challenging year for Annie's List, and while a tidal wave of Tea Party support and a hostile national climate didn't give us the results we'd hoped for, we are proud of all our candidates and the amazing work they've done standing up for Texas women and their families.
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Please read the full MEMORANDUM from Robert E. Jones, our Political Director, for an in-depth review of Election 2010.  

 

Challengers 

Endorsed Candidate: Loretta Haldenwang
District: HD 105

Update: General Election loss

We are proud to announce our endorsement of Loretta Haldenwang for State House District 105 in Irving. Loretta Haldenwang is a successful business consultant who made her mark helping small mom and pop businesses and  multi-million dollar enterprises alike during her time as a  senior executive for the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Loretta has spent countless hours working in  her community to promote small business successes, better  schools and scholarship opportunities, access to affordable, common sense transportation solutions and more.

She is also no stranger to the proceedings of the Texas House of Representatives after working for two legislative sessions for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) as a District Director and Legislative Analyst.

House District 105 sits in the Northwest corner of Dallas County and includes almost all of the City of Irving. It is currently represented by an eight-year incumbent Republican named Linda Harper Brown.

Like many urban-suburban districts that we have won in the last 4 years, House District 105 has a rapidly evolving demographic composure. Now a majority-minority seat, Democrats have performed better on the ballot every election cycle. However, in a low-turnout mid-term election, we will need a well-funded, professionally run campaign with a candidate who can relate to all Irving residents.

We have no doubt Loretta is that candidate. And as the daughter of a neurologist and a microbiologist, she is no stranger to setting ambitious personal goals and working hard to make them a reality. She is an impressive and articulate woman who possesses the skill set, savvy and stamina to be our endorsed candidate in House District 105.

Visit Loretta's Website at http://voteloretta.com/ and contribute online to support Loretta today!

Send Contributions to:

Loretta Haldenwang Campaign

Endorsed Candidate: Kendra Yarbrough Camarena
District: HD 138

Update: General Election loss

Annie's List is proud to announce our endorsement of Kendra Yarbrough Camarena for State House District 138, in Houston.  Kendra is a life-long resident of the district that includes Spring Branch, Garden Oaks and the Oak Forest areas of Northwest Houston outside of Loop 610.

She is also a mother of two beautiful children, a highly regarded middle school teacher, a volunteer little league coach for her son’s team (Go Cardinals!), a life member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, a former member of the SDEC and certainly no stranger to the rough and tumble world of politics. Her father, Ken Yarbrough, held this seat in the 90’s, and while earning her degree at the University of Texas, she worked in the Capitol for an East Texas Democrat.

In recent elections, Democratic candidates have won increased support in HD-138 and Sheriff Adrian Garcia carried the district last year with 52.8% of the vote. And, hometown Democrats like Senator John Whitmire and J.P. David Patronella typically run well ahead of the Democratic ticket in the middle class swing precincts. It is also worth mentioning that Democrats actually perform better in non-presidential elections here where Republican straight ticket voting advantage is nullified.

Additionally, tremendous demographic changes are occurring in this portion of Houston (now a combined minority Voting Age Population over 50%), and mobile young professionals and GLBT families (getting priced out of the Heights and Montrose) are revitalizing older neighborhoods just outside Loop 610. All of that combined with the fact that the Republican incumbent, Dwayne Bohac, has never been forced to defend his extremist record against a well funded, hometown Democratic challenger, and it is pretty clear this race can be won.

That is why we are starting early to help Kendra build a professional campaign team and the resources it is going to take to be successful on Election Day! But we can’t do it without your help as well. 

Visit Kendra's Website at http://kendrafor138.com/ and contribute online to support Kendra today! 

Send Contributions to:
Kendra Yarbrough Camarena Campaign
3401 Louisiana, Suite 250
Houston, Texas 77002

Sandra Rodriguez came up a 1,000 votes short in her bid to represent Texas House District 36 against Kino Flores in 2008 after being outspent handily. However, Kino's suspicious big spending habits didn't go unnoticed by the Texas Public Integrity unit and a Grand Jury of his peers. After being indicted on six felony charges earlier this year (16 counts of tampering with a governmental record and three counts of perjury) he has decided not to pursue re-election. Now an open seat, Sandra Rodriguez is the clear frontrunner in 2010.

 

In stark contrast to the failed and corrupt tenure of Flores, Sandra Rodriguez has earned the deep respect of her community during more than two decades of professional activism. While earning a criminal justice degree in college, she worked for the domestic abuse hotline in Hays County. Later, as a probation officer in McAllen, she dedicated herself to reducing recidivism among teen offenders. When a ten-year old pregnant girl was added to her probation caseload, Sandra's life changed forever, emboldening her to become an agent of change earlier in the process. As a member of the local school board, she developed the district's first teen pregnancy program, which still exists today. Later, she earned a Masters in Education, became a classroom teacher and started the criminal justice education program at Valley View High School to help teens stay out of trouble with the law.

 

While raising her four children Sandra remained active in the community and local politics. She is well known for her efforts each election to increase voter turnout and for helping to elect good Democrats to key positions in Hidalgo County. Although Kino is gone, Sandra will face a tough challenge from his hand-picked successor, Sergio Monoz Jr. Sandra must, once again, work past politics that benefit the few and communicate her plans to elevate the needs and concerns of her community to the top of the legislative agenda in Austin. Please join us and support Sandra Rodriguez in her fight to bring honesty and integrity back to Texas House District 36.

 

Endorsed Candidate:  Dr. Diane Trautman
District: Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector

Update: General Election loss

Annie's List supported Diane Trautman in the 2008 election, but she was edged out by longtime incumbent, Paul Bettencourt. Within weeks of the election, Bettencourt resigned under a cloud of suspicion and scandal. Since then, the Republican majority on the county commissioners' court appointed another partisan hack, Leo Vasquez, to the job and yet another major voter fraud scandal has been uncovered.

 

Trautman returns to the fight in 2010 with a decided advantage, after having been on a countwide ballot and receiving over half a million votes. This critical office is responsible for tax collection AND all over registration and voter lists in the county. For years Republicans have been unfairly rejecting registration applications, mostly from minorities, and suspiciously purging voters as well.

 

A Harris County that includes, rather than excludes, all eligible voters is a Democratic county. And a blue Harris County leads to a blue Texas. With 23 years of hands-on experience as a school teacher and public education administrator, Dr. Diane Trautman is a remarkable woman who knows how to keep an organization with hundreds of employees up and running smoothly. Diane has dedicated her life to empowering individuals and to bringing people together for a common cause. Her passion for, and experience in, unifying a community are the critical skills needed to build a successful, fair, voter registration effort. Dr. Diane Trautman can accomplish this goal, and Annie's List supports her.

 

Endorsed Candidate: Ann Bennett
District: Harris County Clerk

Update: General Election loss 

 

Annie's List is excited to announce our endorsement of Ann Bennett, candidate for Harris County Clerk. The County Clerk's office is in charge of administering a wide array of tasks that affect the day-to-day lives of the residents of Houston. Most importantly to us, the County Clerk is responsible for conducting elections for the City of Houston and Harris County, and the office has long been under a cloud of suspicion.

Ann is a 5th generation Texan and was born in Timpson. At a young age her father, a longshoreman, moved the family to Corpus Christi where she attended local schools. In 1972 she moved to Houston and attended Texas Southern University at night and on weekends while working at KTRK-TV. She is also the proud mother of Ealy Bennett II.

Today, Ann has over 27 years experience as a paralegal and Court Coordinator in the Harris County District Court system. It is her extensive experience in the District Courts, which are run by the Clerk's office, that first inspired her to run for the office. In addition to running the elections process in an a fair and open way, she has a clear vision of how to improve the administrative responsibilities of the office as well.

 

It was an eye opening and transformational experience that inspired her to stand and up get involved. Today, she is taking it to the next level and putting her own name on the ballot in order to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself in 2011. We believe this act of leadership will be rewarded in November as HD-113 is sorely lacking representation in the Texas Capitol.

Like many of the suburban districts we have won in recent years, District 113’s demographics are evolving rapidly and the incumbent’s declining vote share proves it. The time for change is now.

Read  our endorsement here: http://annieslist.com/jamiedorrisendorsement.aspx
Visit Jamie's website: http://www.jamiedorris.com/ 

Send contributions to: 
Jamie Dorris Campaign

5250 Hwy 78, Suite 750, #322

Sachse, TX 75048