Dallas voters kick out all repuke candidates (who blame chimp)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/elections/2006/stories/110806dnmetdarace.16b9fc57.html


Voters swept aside years of Republican domination in Dallas County on Tuesday, electing the county's first black district attorney, dumping the favored Republican county judge and giving dozens of GOP judgeships to Democrats.

Republican Toby Shook, who supervises felony prosecutors for the district attorney's office, gets a hug from his mother, Norma Shook, after falling behind Democrat Craig Watkins at the election watch party at the Radisson hotel in Dallas. "I'm not surprised," said Craig Watkins, the underfunded and often written-off Democrat who rode a rising Democratic tide to edge out his better-funded Republican rival, Toby Shook, with 50.9 percent of the vote.

Dallas County GOP leaders placed the blame squarely on President Bush, and analysts said voters were fed up with national politics and the Republican Party. What was expected to be a gradual shift to the Democrats that began two years ago with the election of Democratic Sheriff Lupe Valdez instead turned into an overnight sea change.

The upheaval was probably a surprise for many Republicans, including Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, who lost a squeaker to Democrat Jim Foster, a fire alarm company owner who has never held public office.

[jilln]

1. I am proud of this county

And in case you didn't know, sheriff Lupe Valdez is a woman, a Hispanic, and a lesbian. Pretty amazing.

[seabeyond]

2. i think next two years we dems need to start taking back texas

if ok, ark and kansas can elect some dems, surely we can. i dont even know if the panhandle have dem party and saw no bell signs at voting areas yesterday. dean needs to spend some time in this state

[Bouncy Ball]

9. We've already started in many parts of the state.

Give it maybe two more election cycles.

[seabeyond]

11. ya well there are a lot of good people in the panhandle that need

the encouragement back to blue. they use to be blue. it is the macho male, religious belt attitude that tugged them to repug, but really that is not who many of the people here in the panhandle are

[Bouncy Ball]

14. Don't worry hon, it'll happen.

Of that, I am sure. And yes, there are good people all over my great state!

[reality based]

3. The rumblings of change in Texas.

I hope I live to see all the Texas metropolitan areas turn blue. But it's especially sweet to see this come to Dallas County.

[The Cleaner]

4. Good start, but I lost my cookies when I heard Perry and Kay bailey Hutchison won!

n/t

[rainbow4321]

6. Just keep thinking..

KBH is now in the MINORITY party..her and Sam Johnson can't do shit now. Well, they can shit, but not without the Dems' permission.
We'll see how popular they stay now that all that they have to give to their constituents/lobbyists are empty promises.

[Bouncy Ball]

10. Those were not surprising at all.

[tex-wyo-dem]

5. DEMS beat REPS in straight party ticket in Dallas County...

by a pretty sizable margin:

Straight Party

(WITH 744 OF 744 PRECINCTS COUNTED)
Republican Party (REP) . . . . . . 107,924 46.15
Democratic Party (DEM) . . . . . . 123,999 53.03
Libertarian Party (LIB). . . . . . 1,908 .82

http://www.dalcoelections.org/november72006/Update_9.HTM

[Bouncy Ball]

8. WHOA.

WAY TO GO DALLAS COUNTY DEMOCRATS!!!

[Bouncy Ball]

7. WHAT?????

Ok, I haven't even been WATCHING Dallas County. I was listening to a bit of the early returns on the radio last night, then switched over to national stuff on TV and never went back to paying much attention to state or county stuff (except my own county).

WOW. Toby Shook was like a shoo-in. Just....wow. In 2004, Dallas County elected a lot of Dem judges and now more???

You know what? Six years ago, you could hardly FIND Democratic judge candidates on the ballot in Dallas County. I'm serious. That alone is huge progress. And now this?

Wow. I'm just gobsmacked. This is fantastic.

[moc]

12. Wow! That's great! Can you send some of that blue wave up to Collin County?

Damn, but I'm sick of the redness around here.

So, tell me, but how are we going to kick Cornyn to the curb in two years? God, but I hate that bastard!

[Bouncy Ball]

15. OMG I hate him too.

I hatey-hate-hate him. He's such a worthless asshole. I'm sorry he's your rep.

Don't worry, this starts in the urban counties and works its way outward to the burbs. It'll happen. Collin County will take a little while longer, but it'll happen.

Democrats took 41 of 42 contested judgeships in Dallas County. I cannot fucking believe it.

[Bouncy Ball]

13. Fucking A, read this!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-dems_08tex.ART.State.Edition2.3e326fb.html

Just look at those headlines:

Dallas County Judges Lose Seats in Democratic Deluge

Victories Represent General Shift As GOP Loses Grip On Area

Republicans lost 41 of 42 contested seats.

THEY LOST 41 OUT OF 42. OHMYGAW.

Ok it's finally sunk in. I have goose bumps. This is fucking amazing.

[Big Sky Boy]

16. Turnout was amazing...

I normally vote late in my precinct (around 7:00).

They scan paper ballots here so you can see which number you are. In the primaries my number has been as low as 55 or 56. In an off year election it rarely tops 100.

Yesterday I was number 264. I actually had to wait a few minutes for a booth to fill out my ballot and there were about 20 other people behind me.

I think a big contributor to the shift was the number of Hispanic voters. We had one of those cast of thousands immigration demonstrations in Dallas -- and I don't think Bush's signing the 700 mile fence bill sat very well with a lot of people here.

Too bad it wasn't enough to get rid of Pete Sessions.