Ames Jones misses runoff
Now what?
Texans for Lawsuit Reform invested a ton of money in Elizabeth Ames Jones, their handpicked candidate to defeat state senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio. But Ames Jones failed to make the runoff, leaving physician Donna Campbell to oppose Wentworth. Jones is well known in San Antonio, in contrast to Campbell. Now TLR must introduce their new stalking horse to the district. Campbell is best known as having come close to knocking Lloyd Doggett out of Congress in 2010. The question is, what will it take for TLR to introduce Campbell to the voters in SD-25? Unlike Ames Jones (and Wentworth), Campbell is not well known in San Antonio. Meanwhile, all those folks in SD-25 who thought the negative ads might end when Ames Jones didn’t make the runoff are going to have to suffer through another round.
Blue says:
Not tough to “introduce” a challenger when incumbent is at 36 percent. The real question is “How does Wentworth win?”
Reply »
Robert Morrow Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 5:56 am
Wentworth is in big trouble and Donna Campbell will be highly palatable to a lot of San Antonio voters who are not familiar with her as of now.
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
So, Robert, you don’t feel as if Bexar County voters would view Campbell as a net loss of voting strength for the Bexar County delegation given that she is not a resident of that particular county?
Reply »
Anonymous says:
I’m amazed at how many political pundits seem to miss the whole point of TLR’s effort in SD 25. They could care less if EAJ wins or Donna Campbell wins. The goal is to beat Jeff Wentworth, period. Doesn’t matter how it happens.
Reply »
Old Charlie says:
I agree. Jeff is toast.
Reply »
Texian Politico says:
Dr. Campbell wins this in a run-off. Wentworth is in HUGE trouble. It could be a 60-40 win for Campbell on July 31st.
Reply »
Jacob says:
Suffer through another round of “negative ads”? Was Donna Campbell taking part in negative ads? It seemed to me that everything was Jones, and then Wentworth started at the end directed at Jones?
Reply »
anon says:
Jacob is spot on. Also, at the end of the article, you meant SD-25, not CD-25. If Campbell wins the run-off its not Wentworth that’s in ‘HUGE’ trouble, its the people of SD-25…
Reply »
Brian Sweany says:
@anon: You’re right. Thanks for noticing.
Reply »
Lance says:
TLR blow lots of money last night. They bought some seats from candidates that bring a new term to RINOs (Representative In Name Only)…
TLR legislation and TLR candidates will be blackballed this next session… What a waste of money… Texas Government for sale. I guess it didn’t go to the highest bidder though.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 4th, 2012 at 8:44 am
Press reports of rough equivalence notwithstanding, TLR and Ames-Jones spent almost three times as much per vote as Wentworth.
Reply »
Tom says:
Wentworth’s crime was that he only voted right 90% of the time. So the message is, either vote in lock step with (fill in the blank) or face a primary challenger.
Yeah, that’s a great system.
Reply »
Patriotone says:
Wentworth is probably in bigger trouble than any other incumbent going into a runoff. It is going to take some game changing event for him to win. TLR isn’t happy but they are not morose either. Two messages were sent. First, cross us on any point and we will pour money in against you. Second, you can never trust us to be your friend. You are only good to us if you are on a leash. TLR inspires fear but no love or respect. When their day comes, the backlash will be hard. Ninety five percent of the members hate them as much as they fear them. Not a good place to be when the wind changes.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
So obsessed with the anti TLR rhetoric. What about Mike Jackson not making a run off and getting less than 40% in a a swath of pct he’s represented for 15-25 yrs.
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman says:
Is Wentworth now better off having Dr. Campbell as a run-off opponent rather than Mrs. Jones?
Reply »
noone Reply:
May 31st, 2012 at 10:54 am
Yes, Bexar county is no longer split.
Reply »
anon says:
No, he’s not. It is not that simple. But it doesn’t also simply come down to Dr. vs. Mrs. if that is what you were referring to.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
Question now is whether the district – and especially San Antonio – wants to be represented by a carpetbagger who doesn’t even work in the district. San Antonio would be giving up one of its four votes in the Texas Senate since Dr. Campbell doesn’t know the history and needs of – or live in – the Alamo City.
Reply »
anon says:
@noone: Just because Bexar county is no longer split, doesn’t mean those votes are going to Wentworth. The question was is Wentworth better off?
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman says:
I do believe that if Mrs. Jones not only endorses Dr. Campbell but, goes so far as to actively campaign on behalf of Dr. Campbell, then I think that Wentworth will be defeated for sure.
As its stands right now with a Wentworth versus Campbell run-off, and Mrs. Jones not playing any role at all, I just don’t know what to think. I have heard it argued both ways.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
Is SD 25 so in love with the Tea Party that they don’t care that their Senator will be commuting to Houston for her day (or is it night) job?
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman says:
According to the Quorum Report this afternoon, Dr. Campbell is turning down the assistance of TLR:
“DONNA CAMPBELL CAMPAIGN TO TLR: THANKS, BUT NO THANKS
The surprise entrant in the SD 25 GOP runoff intends to continue saying no to PAC money if TLR offers financial backing, according to spokesman”
Reply »
Indi says:
My $ is on Wentworth…the power of incumbency is strong. Also, Campbell probably has some skeletons and/or disqualifying characteristics that Wentworth will exploit. I
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 7:19 am
I don’t think you’re going to find many skeletons in Dr. Campbell’s closet. Her only weakness that I see is that she is not known well in San Antonio. If Wentworth has an advantage, that’s it.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 11:00 am
That and the fact that she just moved into the district and still doesn’t have a job there.
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 11:09 am
I can understand the residency concern, but why is it important that a candidate be employed within the boundaries of the district?
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 12:02 pm
First, you have to wonder whether she’s really committed to living in the district. Second, how much time is a Houston emergency room physician going to have to learn about and spend time in the district?
anon says:
The candidates have vowed a positive runoff campaign, I don’t see many skeletons coming out at this point. It’s already been established that Campbell is not taking TLR funds (they can still do whatever they want to help) The money question/scenario is this: do the EAJ votes in Bexar county now go to Wentworth? If so, he wins. If not, he loses. If I’m not mistaken, I believe Campbell won every other county in SD-25 besides Bexar (the big one).
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 10:17 am
Wentworth won Kendall County also.
Reply »
anon says:
A big question for this race is whether Steve Mostyn and the Trial Lawyers are going to continue to pour big money into Wentworth’s campaign. Or will the Trial Lawyers save their money to support Democrats who have races in November like Wendy Davis?
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Truly a sad day for Texas when TTLA is reduced to having to support the sixth most conservative Republican in the Texas Senate. But it’s still better to pick battles where you at least have an opportunity to win!
Reply »
Distinguished Gentleman Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 12:13 pm
How did you arrive at the conclusion that Wentworth is the “sixth” most conservative Republican in the Texas Senate?
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Off by two — he was eight out of 20: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/texas-legislature/guest-columnist-how-partisan-are-texas-state-senat/
Distinguished Gentleman says:
What must also be remembered is this:
In a run-off, it is a significantly different electorate compared with the broader electorate that votes in the regular primary.
Voter fatigue from the primary often produces only a small and very die-hard group of voters who will go back to the poles in the run-off in order to throw an incumbent out or in order to oppose an “establishment” candidate who does not presently hold the office.
If that proves to be the case in Senate District 25, then Wentworth is in deep doo-doo.
Any other theories?
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
June 1st, 2012 at 11:02 am
Will San Antonio cede one of its state senators to a new resident of New Braunfels?
Reply »