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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Noriega visits Waco today
Rick Noriega, the Texas Democratic Party nominee running to oust U.S. John Cornyn, will visit Waco today to get out his message as he continues to work to raise his name ID.
Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston, won 29 percent of the vote in McLennan County during the March 4 primary, but lost to perennial candidate Gene Kelly, whose name many voters confuse with the late legendary dancer from musicals of yesteryear. Kelly, who did virtually no campaigning, won 40 percent of the vote in McLennan County, showing that Noriega suffers from name ID problems in the Waco area.
Here are the particulars on Noriega’s visit today:
WHAT: Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard, will speak at the Texas Democratic Women of Central Texas’ meeting, “bringing his positive vision for solving the nation’s most pressing problems to Waco.”
WHEN: March 11, 2008 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: McLennan County Democratic Headquarters, 3400 Bosque Blvd.
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Obama appears to win McLennan County caucuses
Sen. Barack Obama appeared to be the winner of McLennan County’s Democratic precinct conventions, according to incomplete caucus results released Monday with only three precincts remaining to be reported.
In unofficial results, Obama has claimed 536 precinct-level delegates compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 411, said John Cullar, McLennan County Democratic Party chairman. One delegate was classified as uncommitted, he said.
The delegate counts are important because Obama and Clinton are trying to gain an advantage they can tout when it comes time to decide who the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee should be. Neither candidate is expected to claim the 2,024 needed to lockup the nomination before the national convention in August.
But party officials across the state and in McLennan County are still going through copies of minutes, delegate lists and other documents from the precinct conventions to determine the final results.
And not all of the numbers are adding up correctly, Cullar said. At least three precincts reported too many delegates (one reported 4 too many) and a couple underreported the delegates they were allocated, he said.
“There is still a lot to sort out, with the ‘final’ results a ways off,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Also delaying the final results are the three precincts that have not yet reported in. Two precincts did not hold caucuses on March 4 at all, Cullar said.
At the state convention in June, three delegates chosen through caucus meetings from Texas Senate District 22, which includes McLennan County, will be selected to attend the national convention in August.
Out of the 90 McLennan County precincts that held Democratic caucuses on election night, 948 delegates have been designated. But that total includes the extra delegates that a few of the precincts gave to themselves, Cullar said.
Problems with the extra delegates and determining who actually was elected a delegate at the precincts will be addressed at the county convention on March 29. The number of delegates from McLennan County that advance to the state convention in June will be narrowed to 81 at the county convention.
In Texas, 67 delegates from across the state are selected through caucus meetings. The majority —126— are determined through primary election results. According to results posted on the Texas Secretary of State’s Web site, Clinton leads Obama in primary determined delegates 65 to 61.
According to results posted on the Texas Secretary of State’s Web site, Clinton picked up 65 delegates determined by the popular vote while Obama won 61. Although Clinton won the statewide popular election with 101,029 votes, Obama could win more delegates in Texas through those he picks up in the caucuses.
In McLennan County, Precinct 55, located in the Hewitt area, and Precinct 89, in East Waco, did not hold precinct conventions, Cullar said. Together the precincts had five delegates apportioned to them, he said.
The remaining precincts that have yet to report are Precinct 90 (5 delegates), which voted at the Downsville Fire Station, Precinct 39 (7 delegates), which voted at North Waco Elementary, and Precinct 5 (11 delegates), which voted at University High School.
Despite several days passing since the election, Cullar said this primary season is the fastest he has ever received delegate results back from precinct chairmen. Precinct chairmen are encouraged to report their results before the county convention, but the party does not require them to do so, he said.
The state Democratic Party estimates caucus turnout at more than a million people, but the county Democratic Party doesn’t have a full count on participation locally. However, Cullar said it is by far the highest turnout he has seen.
In previous elections, as much as a third of the precincts did not have people show up to participate in the caucuses, he said.
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