11/07/2008
The election has come and gone, and on Jan. 20, 2009, a new president will take office. And in our home state, change will come to the Texas House and Senate, too. A new senator and a number of new House members will take office on Jan. 13.
The leadership in the House is currently under review, but one thing remains the same: the problems and issues that plague small business are the same and care not what party you might be from. NFIB/Texas will be front and center to make sure state government doesn't make it harder to grow and operate your small business.
Nov. 4 was an historic election. Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States of America. Numbers in the US Senate and US House are still uncertain at the time of this printing, but change will come in both of those chambers.
The NFIB/Texas SAFE Trust scored some major victories on election night and the small business candidates were successful in a majority of races in which we endorsed and supported candidates.
NFIB/Texas' biggest winner in our state House races is the Texas Leadership Council member and our favorite political rising star Ken Legler, who won a hard-fought victory against a tough opponent. Many Austin political pundits had predicted that state Rep.-elect Legler would not survive against the money and name ID of Joel Redmond. Ken overcame being financial barriers and his opponent's favorable name ID to win by a slim margin. Out of a total of 39,000 votes cast in the race for House district 144, Ken snagged 19,954 votes to best Redmond by 908 votes. That gives Ken a 51.16 percent to 48.83 percent margin of victory.
Congratulations to state Rep.-elect Ken Legler and his family on a great victory! We will be calling on you in the very near future, and we know you will be a friend of small business.
Judge Joan Huffman, the small business-endorsed candidate, bested five other candidates in a free-for-all election to fill the unexpired term in Texas senate district 17 to make the run-off against former congressman and perennial candidate Chris Bell. We will need to pull together some more resources and manpower to fight to ensure that Judge Huffman wins this hotly contested battleground. The governor is expected to call the run-off date for sometime next month. Details to follow as we closely watch the situation.
Another key victory for the NFIB/Texas SAFE Trust is found in state house district 55 in the Temple/Killeen/Fort Hood area. It was there that small business owner and NFIB member Ralph Sheffield won by a 54 percent to 45 percent margin. Congratulations to state Rep.-elect Ralph Sheffield and his wife Debbie on their victory!
In other races, NFIB/Texas SAFE Trust won 68 out of 78 candidates including the three incumbent Texas Supreme Court justices -- this gives us an 86 percent success rate in a turbulent election cycle. We were successful in six out of eight "open races" where there was no incumbent on the ballot.
The Texas House of Representatives is looking at a potential 75-75 even split between the Republicans and the Democrats after this election. The Texas Senate lost one of its leading "R" senators, giving the Senate 19 Republicans to 12 Democrats. Both situations are equally significant because there is much turmoil in the House over its leadership -- namely, who will emerge as the next speaker of the House.
In the Senate, rules of operation state that no bill can come to the floor for a vote without a two-thirds vote responding in the affirmative. This means 11 state senators can vote as a bloc to prevent a vote. The change of just one senator changes the dynamic in the Senate significantly.
More details and a spreadsheet detailing the vote count will be forthcoming. We will also prepare an analysis of the election in the coming days and will continue to update you on the speaker's race and how the newly elected Legislature will impact the small business community.
