Election Night Commentary: It's official. Sparks wins (updated) ...
Did Spence run for the wrong seat? We think so
There are going to be people who second-guess the decision of my former boss Charlie Spence to run for city council. I will not be one of them. He's a good man and his decision to provide competition for Jeff Sparks was good for the process. We appreciate competitive elections much more than hearing of candidates winning without campaigning. Because Spence ran, issues were talked about and the citizens of District 1 won.
Having written that we will second-guess Spence because while we feel he should have run for city council, we always liked his chances a lot better in an at-large race. Here's why.
1. Vision 20-20: Spence has always had a vision for the entire community. It was that way when he ran our business at the Reporter-Telegram and it still exists as he stays involved with groups like Vision 2020. While people in District 1 aren't without concerns for the entire community, their issues came first in this race.
2. 3 was better than 1: If Spence was going to run for a district seat, my gut was he would have been a much better fit for District 3 than 1. The voter in District 3 is a little older and probably more familiar with Spence and his work at the paper within the community. Problem is Spence lives in District 1. Running at-large would have allowed him to take advantage of that support he would have received from people in District 3.
3. Make me your second choice: If Spence ran for at-large, all he had to do was finish in the top two in what would have been a tough 3-man race with incumbents Jerry Morales and Scott Dufford. This brings us to our next reason.
4. The anti-vote: While both are formidable candidates, Scott Dufford and Jerry Morales would have allowed Spence to take advantage of something lacking in his race with Sparks -- the anti-vote. Dufford and Morales would have had detractors and Spence might have picked up votes because of that. I also think Spence's message measures up well with Dufford and Morales.
5. If you can't beat them, join them: Run for at-large and Spence might have gotten the Sparks machine behind him. We are totally speculating here but had Spence decided to run in a different race, the Sparks family might have showed a little appreciation. Had that been the case, we know Spence would have benefited. Tuesday night, we saw how effective Sparks family can be in deliverying a victory.
Had Spence run at-large, would he have won? Don't know. It's a tough battle. However, Spence is probably more competitive and the issues of an entire city are being talked about.
Republican trifecta in jeopardy
With 16 percent of the precincts still out, the conservative in NY District 23 Doug Hoffman trails Democrat Bill Owens by 3 percentage points. The channels are calling it to close to call. A win by the conservative candidate might send shockwaves through primaries across the land, including Texas. Tea partiers and right-wingers are ready to treat RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) like the GOP candidate turned traitor in NY 23 (Dierdre Scozzafava). Charlie Crist in Florida and Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas are two likely to be targeted. A comeback win by Hoffman would help their efforts dramatically. I maintain there is a big difference between the liberal Scozzafava and either Crist or Hutchison.
Update: Fox reports Owens won. I guess that makes Nancy Pelosi happy.
Why Sparks won and won big
Surprised Jeff Sparks won big Tuesday night? Shouldn't be. Here were some reasons we thought Sparks was going to be tough to beat.
1. Oil, oil, oil. The news of the past few weeks was the oil ordinance and Sparks' message that he could help bring leadership here had to be news District 1 citizens were listening to.
2. Oil, oil, oil -- Part II: If you are in the business, you know either Jeff or his father Don, and there are a lot of people in the district with ties to oil
3. A "four-midable family." Being a Sparks means something in Midland. Being a Sparks running for office in District 1 means more. There are four Sparks families living in the district -- three around Santa Rita and one in Green Tree. Chances are you have seen one of them at a local school function or church or around the neighborhood. With few issues to really distiguish one candidate from the other, this became a popularity contest and a Sparks is always going to be very popular in north Midland.
4. The Ad: If you look at the last two prominent local elections (hospital bond in May and mayoral election in 2007), the winner produced an ad showing support which was going to be tough to beat. A few Sundays ago, more than 600 citizens, including six former mayors, offered their support for Jeff Sparks. The Spence campaign could never match that ad.
5. Money, money, money: There were a lot of people willing to put their money behind Sparks and the new generation of leadership he promised. It takes money to get a message out, and many people were willing to back Jeff. He had decided finance advantage over Spence and that never hurts.
Sparks dominates
Scoring more than 65 percent of the vote, Jeff Sparks defeated former Reporter-Telegram publisher Charlie Spence to become the newest member of the Midland City Council.
We expected a Sparks victory, but the margin of victory was surprising as was the overall turnout. The nearly 3,100 votes was more than many, including me, expected.
Sparks 2,015 votes
Spence 1,077 votes
It's so bad Keith Olbermann went home
You know it's a bad night for Democrats because Keith Olbermann is having nothing to do with his 9 p.m. Countdown program, leaving the live coverage for an understudy. Maybe he has to go home to get some rest for Wednesday's Yankee game. To me it says something he would rather offer segments (like the World Series' smartest plays) than talk about his liberal party's failings. To use a sports metaphor, it's a blowout in the third quarter or sixth inning and Keith is going home.
Do you Tweet?
Kudos to the guys at the office who are doing a great job bringing MyWestTexas.com readers all the latest headlines on our Twitter page -- mwtnews.
TV: Christie to win in New Jersey
Say what you want about the high profile elections in Virginia and New York-23 (which right now the conservative is losing), this was the biggest score for the GOP on Election night. Was Christie's win over Corzine anti-Obama? Maybe. Was it anti-establishment? Probably. Was it proof Dems need a huge change in the landscape to prevent a mid-term disaster? Oh yeah.
Voting against Prop 4
That is what happened in Midland County, which to me is hard to explain. There are plenty of things wrong in education at all levels in the state of Texas. Taking that frustration out on research universities was not the right way to show it. Makes you wonder how bad a local bond would have been shot down.
Consistent Midland County voters
MyWestTexas.com is reporting with 24 of 39 precincts reporting, Jeff Sparks is still leading 68-32 percent. There are exceptions, but generally how Midland County votes during early voting is how it votes on Election Day.
McDonnell not only winning, but winning big ... real big
The headline of the Virginia gubernatorial race will not be "McDonnell wins race." His win was expected. The fact it appears the Republican will win by 20 percent is the real headline. Obama won the state one year ago by 6 points. That represents a turnaround of 26 points. For Democrats, there's nothing to sugarcoat there.
Election Night is Friday Night Football to me. To my daughter that probably will never be the case
For political geeks like me, Election Night is the closest thing we have to Friday night football. The anticipation, the results trickling in, the suspense in announcing a winner, the arm-chair quarterbacking sure to follow. Typically, I have my remote, going from station to station ready to pick up the latest analysis.
My 3-year-old, though, has other plans right now. Winnie the Pooh has replaced MsNBC and Fox News, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Barring a miracle, this one is over
Leading 68 percent to 32, you can bet the farm Jeff Sparks will defeat former Reporter-Telegram publisher Charlie Spence to become District 1's new representative.
Our knee-jerk reaction to what we are seeing is, well, we kind of expected it. We will go into the reasons why a little later. Sparks, we thought, was virtually unbeatable, and Spence, we still believe, was better than the candidate who will garner a voting percentage in the low 30s. He just had his hat in the wrong race (something we will also address later).
But should the 2-to-1 spread hold true, this will go down as a very impressive victory for the man, who represents the next generation of leadership.
There are going to be people who second-guess the decision of my former boss Charlie Spence to run for city council. I will not be one of them. He's a good man and his decision to provide competition for Jeff Sparks was good for the process. We appreciate competitive elections much more than hearing of candidates winning without campaigning. Because Spence ran, issues were talked about and the citizens of District 1 won.
Having written that we will second-guess Spence because while we feel he should have run for city council, we always liked his chances a lot better in an at-large race. Here's why.
1. Vision 20-20: Spence has always had a vision for the entire community. It was that way when he ran our business at the Reporter-Telegram and it still exists as he stays involved with groups like Vision 2020. While people in District 1 aren't without concerns for the entire community, their issues came first in this race.
2. 3 was better than 1: If Spence was going to run for a district seat, my gut was he would have been a much better fit for District 3 than 1. The voter in District 3 is a little older and probably more familiar with Spence and his work at the paper within the community. Problem is Spence lives in District 1. Running at-large would have allowed him to take advantage of that support he would have received from people in District 3.
3. Make me your second choice: If Spence ran for at-large, all he had to do was finish in the top two in what would have been a tough 3-man race with incumbents Jerry Morales and Scott Dufford. This brings us to our next reason.
4. The anti-vote: While both are formidable candidates, Scott Dufford and Jerry Morales would have allowed Spence to take advantage of something lacking in his race with Sparks -- the anti-vote. Dufford and Morales would have had detractors and Spence might have picked up votes because of that. I also think Spence's message measures up well with Dufford and Morales.
5. If you can't beat them, join them: Run for at-large and Spence might have gotten the Sparks machine behind him. We are totally speculating here but had Spence decided to run in a different race, the Sparks family might have showed a little appreciation. Had that been the case, we know Spence would have benefited. Tuesday night, we saw how effective Sparks family can be in deliverying a victory.
Had Spence run at-large, would he have won? Don't know. It's a tough battle. However, Spence is probably more competitive and the issues of an entire city are being talked about.
Republican trifecta in jeopardy
With 16 percent of the precincts still out, the conservative in NY District 23 Doug Hoffman trails Democrat Bill Owens by 3 percentage points. The channels are calling it to close to call. A win by the conservative candidate might send shockwaves through primaries across the land, including Texas. Tea partiers and right-wingers are ready to treat RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) like the GOP candidate turned traitor in NY 23 (Dierdre Scozzafava). Charlie Crist in Florida and Kay Bailey Hutchison in Texas are two likely to be targeted. A comeback win by Hoffman would help their efforts dramatically. I maintain there is a big difference between the liberal Scozzafava and either Crist or Hutchison.
Update: Fox reports Owens won. I guess that makes Nancy Pelosi happy.
Why Sparks won and won big
Surprised Jeff Sparks won big Tuesday night? Shouldn't be. Here were some reasons we thought Sparks was going to be tough to beat.
1. Oil, oil, oil. The news of the past few weeks was the oil ordinance and Sparks' message that he could help bring leadership here had to be news District 1 citizens were listening to.
2. Oil, oil, oil -- Part II: If you are in the business, you know either Jeff or his father Don, and there are a lot of people in the district with ties to oil
3. A "four-midable family." Being a Sparks means something in Midland. Being a Sparks running for office in District 1 means more. There are four Sparks families living in the district -- three around Santa Rita and one in Green Tree. Chances are you have seen one of them at a local school function or church or around the neighborhood. With few issues to really distiguish one candidate from the other, this became a popularity contest and a Sparks is always going to be very popular in north Midland.
4. The Ad: If you look at the last two prominent local elections (hospital bond in May and mayoral election in 2007), the winner produced an ad showing support which was going to be tough to beat. A few Sundays ago, more than 600 citizens, including six former mayors, offered their support for Jeff Sparks. The Spence campaign could never match that ad.
5. Money, money, money: There were a lot of people willing to put their money behind Sparks and the new generation of leadership he promised. It takes money to get a message out, and many people were willing to back Jeff. He had decided finance advantage over Spence and that never hurts.
Sparks dominates
Scoring more than 65 percent of the vote, Jeff Sparks defeated former Reporter-Telegram publisher Charlie Spence to become the newest member of the Midland City Council.
We expected a Sparks victory, but the margin of victory was surprising as was the overall turnout. The nearly 3,100 votes was more than many, including me, expected.
Sparks 2,015 votes
Spence 1,077 votes
It's so bad Keith Olbermann went home
You know it's a bad night for Democrats because Keith Olbermann is having nothing to do with his 9 p.m. Countdown program, leaving the live coverage for an understudy. Maybe he has to go home to get some rest for Wednesday's Yankee game. To me it says something he would rather offer segments (like the World Series' smartest plays) than talk about his liberal party's failings. To use a sports metaphor, it's a blowout in the third quarter or sixth inning and Keith is going home.
Do you Tweet?
Kudos to the guys at the office who are doing a great job bringing MyWestTexas.com readers all the latest headlines on our Twitter page -- mwtnews.
TV: Christie to win in New Jersey
Say what you want about the high profile elections in Virginia and New York-23 (which right now the conservative is losing), this was the biggest score for the GOP on Election night. Was Christie's win over Corzine anti-Obama? Maybe. Was it anti-establishment? Probably. Was it proof Dems need a huge change in the landscape to prevent a mid-term disaster? Oh yeah.
Voting against Prop 4
That is what happened in Midland County, which to me is hard to explain. There are plenty of things wrong in education at all levels in the state of Texas. Taking that frustration out on research universities was not the right way to show it. Makes you wonder how bad a local bond would have been shot down.
Consistent Midland County voters
MyWestTexas.com is reporting with 24 of 39 precincts reporting, Jeff Sparks is still leading 68-32 percent. There are exceptions, but generally how Midland County votes during early voting is how it votes on Election Day.
McDonnell not only winning, but winning big ... real big
The headline of the Virginia gubernatorial race will not be "McDonnell wins race." His win was expected. The fact it appears the Republican will win by 20 percent is the real headline. Obama won the state one year ago by 6 points. That represents a turnaround of 26 points. For Democrats, there's nothing to sugarcoat there.
Election Night is Friday Night Football to me. To my daughter that probably will never be the case
For political geeks like me, Election Night is the closest thing we have to Friday night football. The anticipation, the results trickling in, the suspense in announcing a winner, the arm-chair quarterbacking sure to follow. Typically, I have my remote, going from station to station ready to pick up the latest analysis.
My 3-year-old, though, has other plans right now. Winnie the Pooh has replaced MsNBC and Fox News, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Barring a miracle, this one is over
Leading 68 percent to 32, you can bet the farm Jeff Sparks will defeat former Reporter-Telegram publisher Charlie Spence to become District 1's new representative.
Our knee-jerk reaction to what we are seeing is, well, we kind of expected it. We will go into the reasons why a little later. Sparks, we thought, was virtually unbeatable, and Spence, we still believe, was better than the candidate who will garner a voting percentage in the low 30s. He just had his hat in the wrong race (something we will also address later).
But should the 2-to-1 spread hold true, this will go down as a very impressive victory for the man, who represents the next generation of leadership.
Comment
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Comment by Newsroom Stew on November 4, 2009 at 10:10pm -
Edward, good to hear from you.
You are right it is time for the new leadership to step up. One name I would like to throw out for public consumption is Jack Harper. He applied for the MDC years ago, but wasn't selected. A missed opportunity for Midland. Don't know if he would ever run for anything, but if he does, we might have the second coming of Don Evans.
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Comment by John Boyd - Administrator on November 4, 2009 at 5:51pm -
I'm not so sure losses in Virginia and New Jersey hurt the Democrats as badly as the right-wing rhetoricians portend. The Dems lose nothing in the House or Senate, and if it's a matter of a "changing tide in America," I think it's a moot point: The only thing that's going to matter in 2010 and especially in 2012 is whether or not the Dems have revived the economy and managed the wars well. If they have, they won't have too much to worry about. If they haven't, they'll be out.
Republicans need to stop tap-dancing this morning and ask themselves what's their better option for the American people. If 2012 rolls around and the GOP still doesn't have anybody who can seriously challenge Obama as a campaigner and moneyraiser, it'll be a tough road to victory regardless of the president's record.
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Comment by Buddy Kniffen on November 4, 2009 at 4:23pm -
At least he is not a hypocrite... Good picture of the beer served at his house on front page of MRT..
Neither good nor bad Just Honest on his part.( Unless we start hearing denials.) Tough Job for anyone
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Comment by Edward Weldon on November 4, 2009 at 1:58pm
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Interesting play-by-play you guys. I agree totally that the "job" of councilman, compared to it perception is dramatically different. I wish Jeff the best.
His victory, by such a margin, must be considered an upset. But I agree that either candidate would have been a victory - and Charlie shouldn't be discouraged.
Could it be? The next generation of Midland's leadership is beginning to emerge? If so, it is about time!
Charlie's generation has built Midland to the place it is today. Jeff's generation will inherit strengths and weaknesses. Now it's time to see what Jeff's peers can do to improve on what Charlie and his peers added to what their predecessors created. Thanks for stepping up Jeff!
But, don't count Charlie's generation out yet. They are certainly not ready to spend their days at the Golf Course. They - and Charlie - still have plenty to contribute and I'll bet we can count on one of Jeff's strongest supporters to be Charlie Spence!
Well done Gentlemen!
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Comment by Buddy Kniffen on November 4, 2009 at 1:57pm
- Face it, the Right Wing turned out, the average citizen didnt..We deserve what we get....I Hope he does a good job for ALL CITIZENS OF MIDLAND
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Comment by Newsroom Stew on November 4, 2009 at 1:45am
- Interesting on Sparks. He will not be the first or last candidate to preach lower taxes and not deliver. My belief is talk of low taxes takes a back seat to being competitive with other cities. Do that, and make sure the trash is picked up, the water works and the police and fire are properly staffed. That will become the new expectation. Between the city, county, school district, hospital and junior college, substantial property tax cuts are unrealistic.
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Comment by Ospurt on November 4, 2009 at 1:28am - I'll second your analysis on Spence...at-large would have been a much better fit for a good run. I like Charles, but I don't think he has the chops to run for that other at-large City position, Mayor. Sparks will serve District 1 well, like I said, we really couldn't make a bad choice.
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Comment by Ospurt on November 4, 2009 at 1:16am
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I will tell you right now that 1) the attempt to keep taxes low and 2) provide quality public services are not generally compatible. For some programs you might raise fees, but in reality, they are a kind of tax increase on those users of public services...however, as the City's managed competition committee has found, outside of Utilities, nothing really pays for itself without a some general fund taxpayer juice.
By the time Sparks takes office, 3) leadership on drilling issues, will be a non-issue. The City of Midland really didn't want to get into a legal battle with producers in the middle of Oil County. I predict the final ordinance will essentially contain provisions from other municipalities which have passed the test of time or litigation. I've seen this sausage being made on other issues, and outside of some preferences within previously established limits that is all you are going to get if you aren't willing to put up a big court/political fight. The City staff probably wasted a lot of citizens time on the ordinance committee if they weren't willing to fight for the non-tested requirements. Sparks just got lucky on that one.
Once Sparks reads his first City Budget, CAFR report and gets a staff breifing, he will realize that he's going to have to place a lot of trust in the City Manager and the City Staff. He will learn his job as a Councilman isn't so much bringing engineering to City Government, but providing vision for his District and the Community as a whole, AND being an effective communicator between the residents of his District and the City Staff....he's going to be a two-way educator on many issues.
He'll do fine, but look at Trost and Haley tell me they didn't experience some change six months into office.
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Comment by Newsroom Stew on November 4, 2009 at 12:35am
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Good comments Ospurt. I will have some Spence commentary coming up although here is a teaser ... He ran for the wrong seat.
As far as Sparks goes, I think his campaigning later was what we should expect. 1. attempt to keep taxes low, 2. provide quality public services, 3. provide leadership when drilling issues come up. It was safe and what people in District 1 expect.
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Comment by Ospurt on November 4, 2009 at 12:06am
- In case it isn't clear, Angelo is a Professional Engineer....and there have been many on the council over the years.
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