Not a big deal, either.
Turner was Davis’ first choice to manage her bid, said someone close to the campaign, but was initially unavailable due to timing with the legislative session. Washington Democrats had been excited about Johanson, who they saw as an experienced hand who lent credibility to the campaign.
(The AAS article Google found was behind their paywall, so here are a couple of other stories that dig a little into the "why" of the switch.)
Johanson took credit for the decision in a farewell email.
“A few weeks ago I suggested to Sen. Davis that she reach out to Rep. Chris Turner to lead the campaign to election day. Chris has managed tough Texas races and as member of the Texas House is respected across the state for his smarts and common sense,” Johanson wrote in an email to the campaign staff, which was forwarded to msnbc by the campaign. “I am proud of what we have all built in this campaign…We have raised more money, have more donors (133,600) and have more volunteers (18,222) than any candidate ever in Texas. We have raised more money than any non-incumbent candidate for Governor in the country. We are organizing voters in every region of the state.”
Though Johanson was a D.C.-based consultant who helped get Tammy Baldwin elected in Wisconsin and spent decades working Democratic politics and with EMILY’s List, Turner is a seasoned Texas consultant and Democratic state representative.
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/wendy-davis-campaign-manager-karin-johanson-replaced
The real reason she decided to leave, IMHO.
Recently the Davis campaign got into a bit of a spat with the Democratic Governors Association after Johanson criticized the organization for not listing the Texas gubernatorial race as a top targets for Democrats in the 2014 cycle.
"The uninformed opinions of a Washington, DC desk jockey who's never stepped foot in Texas couldn't be less relevant to what's actually happening on the ground," Johanson said.
In response the DGA communications director Danny Kanner said that Texas is a historically difficult state for Democrats to win statewide.
"Governor Shumlin stated the obvious fact that Texas has historically been a tough state for Democrats, but that -- because we have a strong candidate -- we are hopeful about our chances this year," Kanner said.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wendy-davis-campaign-manager-karin-johanson-chris-turner
The DGA isn't going to send millions of dollars to Texas for Wendy -- probably the opposite in fact, as has traditonally been the case -- but they do need not to be dismissive of the Davis campaign... and Johanson shouldn't have kicked them in the shins when they were.
Anyway, tempest in a teapot... seas are calming.
The poll numbers simply reveal the historical baseline for the Republican advantage here: 8 to 10 to 12 to 14 points, depending on the personalities involved. We're coming off an election just a couple of weeks ago where 1% of registered voters cast a ballot in the D primary runoff. Three times as many voted Republican, but that's still not saying much. Obviously this is what BGTX is working hard to change.
Too early for any declarative statements about the races until Texans start paying more attention.
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