Bets Are In

Commentary turned in the Roundtable Election Ballot last night and guess what? Some folks were already talking about the 2015 Mayor’s Race. Already?

H-Town CM Steve Costello, my pal Bill King, Chris Bell, Sheriff Garcia, and Paul Hobby were names that came up. No women in the mentions. I don’t know about this line-up.

Name the last player of The ATL to get voted into the MLB Hall of Fame?

Last night there were also a number of opinions and takes on to runoff or not to runoff next Tuesday.

Go check out Kuffer today on more takes on the runoff question.

Yesterday I got a Roland Chavez for At-Large 3 mailer and a Houston Turnout Project early vote piece.

Congrats to Red Sox nation. They deserve it.

If you want a piece of the Dome you can go by there today and slap down some cash for a pair of seats or Astroturf.

Phil Niekro of course was elected to Hall of Fame in 1997.

The Red Sox will visit The Yard the weekend before the All Star break next season.

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Counting Votes

Name the last San Luis player to win the season NL Dinger crown?

In 2009, 178,777 votes were cast in the H-Town city elections. In 2009, 10,152 voted by mail and 52,276 voted early in person.

According to Kyle, through Monday 12,886 had voted by mail and 29,532 in person.

Kyle also says that 72% of the vote are hard core voters – they voted in the last three city elections.

It looks to me that we are not going to reach the 2009 total. It will be interesting to see if mail ballots and early voting in person exceed next Tuesday’s turnout. Stay tuned!

Albert Pujols of course led the NL in dingers in 2010 with 42.

All action was at the courthouse again yesterday and The Yard was quiet.

That is all I have to say for now.

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Keeping it Brief

I was driving to my brother’s memorial service yesterday and I was listening to “Houston Matters” and heard the Ben Hall interview. I don’t know about that.

Finally! I am talking about the Mayor’s campaign finally trotting out a positive ad on the flat screen.

Big Papi through five Serious games is batting .733. Name the player with the highest batting average for a World Serious?

I got a TOP endorsement mailer yesterday.

Apparently there was a major glitch in the City of H-Town campaign contribution and reporting system yesterday….tsk, tsk, tsk! I still can’t find the reports online. Come on!

Commentary and my crew will go vote early today.

The former starting QB is not happy he is the backup to the new starting QB. From Pick-Six to Pick-Sit! That’s life in the NFL.

The Chron sports section these days is pretty much focused on the Rockets. I can’t blame them.

In 1990 Billy Hatcher of Cinncy batted .750 of course as Cinncy swept the A’s.

The TV contract mess playing out in the courtroom so nothing is happening at The Yard.

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Later Today

I saw a number of folks I had not seen in a while at my niece Rachel’s home yesterday. Today we will be at a memorial service for my brother Mike at 2 pm at Guadalupe Church, 1124 Beech Street in Baytown, 77520.

This past weekend my mailbox was visited by a David Robinson for At-Large 2 mailer slamming incumbent CM Andrew Burks, a Houston Turnout Project piece that made me hungry for pie, and a Controller Ron Green piece. I also got a Zeph Capo door-to-door piece.

Players from the Red Sox – San Luis 1967 World Serious have been part of the pregame
ceremonies the past few days. Name the player from the 1967 World Serious who smacked three dingers.

There is a front page Chron story today on voter turnout for subscribers or hard copy owners only. Here is part:

“Candidates are what drive turnout,” (Rice University Professor Bob) Stein said, noting big advertising spending by Mayor Annise Parker and top challenger Ben Hall, as well as the mailing and door-to-door campaigns of candidates in a handful of competitive council races.

He also credited a slew of African-American candidates with energizing those communities to vote at a higher rate than some other groups, according to Stein’s early polling.

Who is voting early?

Political analyst Kyle Johnston backed up Stein with his own analysis.

Looking at the names of every person who cast a Harris County ballot in the first five days, Johnston predicted the characteristics of who has voted so far. Johnston said his predictions, in some cases based off assumptions about surnames, usually are accurate within 5 percentage points.

African-Americans lead minority voting with 32 percent of the ballots cast so far, which Johnston said is higher than usual and could grow because black and Latino voters historically cast ballots at a higher rate during the second week of early voting when hours extend to 7 p.m.

Others have speculated the record numbers, across all demographics, could be driven by two high-profile bond measures to decide the fate of the Astrodome and a proposed city-county inmate processing center.

Stay tuned!

Kuffer has a piece on candidates running next year. Here is part:

Finally, in Harris County, we now have a Democratic candidate for the At Large HCDE Trustee position that Jim Henley vacated in June. Traci Jensen, who ran for the State Board of Education in 2012 and who had expressed interest in being appointed to fill Henley’s seat, announced on Facebook that she would run for the position. Rumor has it that former Trustee Michael Wolfe, who was ousted by Diane Trautman last year, is seeking to reclaim a spot on the Board, so having a strong and well-qualified candidate like Jensen will be important.
Way to go Traci!

Hall of Famed great Carl Yastrzemski of course had three dingers for the Red Sox in the 1967 World Serious that San Luis won in seven.

Saturday night finished up on an obstruction call and last night ended on a pickoff at first. That’s why I love this game.

Nothing from The Yard.

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Memorial Service for Michael Campos

From Michael’s daughter, Rachel:

I am hosting a Celebration of LIfe at my house on Sunday, October 27th. Food, drinks, singing, music, speeches, a memory tree of Mike, remembering my dad and his amazing spirit. Remembering the way he loved living his life! Please bring your favorite memories of my dad. This will be at my house.

3006 Barrons Way
Sugar Land TX 77479
(We’re in the process of getting valet service)

Rosary at 3:15PM
Celebration of Life begins at 4:00PM

Monday, October 28th there will be a Memorial Service at 2 pm at Guadalupe Church, 1124 Beech Street in Baytown, 77520.

Please pass this information to our family and Mike’s friends.

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On Turnout

Thanks for all the kind words that were sent to our family yesterday. We appreciate you all.

Folks are trying to make sense out of the Early Voting in Person and mail ballot participation. Here is from a respected political consultant:

“After day 3 AA locations are 33% above 2009 vote. Latino locations are up 44%.”

On Latino voting I can say that not much went on in 2009. The two Latino members of City Council did not have opponents and all four mayoral campaigns neglected the Latino vote. This time around we have action in Council District 1 and HCC District 3.

The Mayor has certainly been pounding Ben Hall. I’m wondering if this might be driving up African American turnout if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, Ben Hall now has ads ‘splaining stuff and the Mayor still has not run a positive ad.

In the two 2005 World Serious games played at Minute Maid how many dingers were hit?

Here is what was in the mailbox yesterday:

Anna Eastman for HISD Trustee mailer.

Kevin Hoffman for HCC District 1 mailer.

Rogene Calvert for At-Large 3 mailer.

Vote for Prop 6 (Water) mailer.

A tweet of sorts Houston Turnout Project mailer.

I’m not going to say anything about James Taylor singing “Oh beautiful can you see” last night.

Joe Crede and Geoff Blum had dingers for the White Sox and Jason Lane had one for the ‘Stros and all came in Game 3 of course.

Nothing much from The Yard today.

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Michael A. Campos (March 2, 1951 – October 23, 2013)

My brother Mike passed last night. He was only 62.

We were at his side when he left us.

It hurts. My parents are hurting. His family is hurting.

He leaves a daughter Rachel, her husband Andy, and three grandchildren: Dante, Lucas, and Ace.

Mike is survived by his parents Alicia and Tony Campos, sisters Sylvia Lafuente and Aida Garza and her husband Bobby, and me, plus many nephews and nieces who loved him dearly. Everybody loved Uncle Mike.

Mike had many great friends. Most were lifelong buddies. Many of them called him “Camp.”

Mike was a caring father and grandfather.

He taught Dante how to be a good baseball player, taught him to love the game, and he was proud of that. He was day care for Dante and Lucas and there were many times when Dante crawled around the office here while Rachel was at work. I remember when Mike would be working on a deadline for a project here and I would have to change Dante’s diaper to let Mike finish up.

He was family first. He loved Christmases and other family gatherings. He loved to reminisce about growing up in Baytown. He took pride in the accomplishments of family members.

He was passionate and opinionated about politics and current events. Mike was talking about a “vast right-wing conspiracy” six months before Hillary brought it up. He never missed casting a vote. He was a proud Democrat. He could smell out a BSer a mile away.

He was really proud when he was elected as a Gore national delegate back in 2000. He was the third in our family to get to go to the Democratic National Convention as a delegate.

Mike was also a musician. In high school he was drummer and singer in a band and he let me be one of the equipment managers. I was a roadie before I ever heard of a roadie. The band played gigs in Baytown, Anahuac, Channelview and other faraway places. In later years he played guitar in band that did weddings, parties, local clubs, and other gatherings.

Mike was a film buff and read books on movies and cinema history. His favorite actor was Marlon Brando and of course his favorite movie was “The Godfather.” He could recite just about every line from that classic.

He worked with me for a number of years behind the scenes and helped design and produce the materials to help our clients achieve their goals.

Nine years ago Mike suggested that I should start posting on our website. I was very reluctant. He convinced me that posting might increase web traffic and he was the one who suggested the name “Daily Commentary.”

Mike was born on March 2 – Texas Independence Day – so there was never any forgetting of his birthday.

I could go on and on about Mike and I will in days to come.

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Clarification

Commentary put out this yesterday:

In Harris County on the first day 8,560 mail ballots are in compared to 2,079 in 2011.

5,025 voted early in person compared to 2,557 in 2011.

28,620 ballots have been mailed compared to 15,264 total in 2011.

The Sunnyside EV location made up 4.5% of the total EV in Person in 2011, on Day 1 in 2013 it is 3.9%.

West Gray in 2011 10.4%, yesterday 10.7%.

HCC in 2011 2.2%, yesterday 2.5%.

Acres Homes in 2011 3%, yesterday 3.2%.

Tracy Gee in 2011 4.1%, yesterday 3.6%%.

Stay tuned!

Some folks interpreted this to mean that Sunnyside EV turnout was down. That’s not what I was saying and I should have explained it better. Some areas of Harris County outside of the City of Houston are up from 2011 like Baytown, Pasadena, and Cy-Fair because of their own local elections and perhaps interest in the Dome or water initiatives.

Let me give you an example: After Day 2 in 2011, 94 folks had voted in Champions Forest. After Day 2 yesterday, 298 had voted. In Baytown 58 folks had voted after Day 2 in 2011, after yesterday it was 136. You get the picture.

This increase over 2011 has kind of made the Harris County pie larger causing a shrinkage of sorts of the slice of a location like Sunnyside. It has nothing to do with what is going on in the City of H-Town. I apologize for not fully explaining.

Everybody likes to talk about the 1975 World Serious that included the Carlton Fisk dinger in Game 6 and Cinncy winning in seven. Name the 1975 Serious MVP?

Let’s get back to EV turnout. Here is what a respected local political consultant sent me last night:

“Through 2 days at seven AA voting locations, vote is up 27% over 2009.”

If you look at yesterday’s turnouts, Palm Center, Sunnyside, and Northeast got some good bumps.

If you look at what is going on by Council district, District C and D are leading the pack. Once again stay tuned!

Pete Rose of course hit .370 and won the 1975 World Serious MVP.

Here is from the ‘Stros website:

The Astros finalized their field staff for the 2014 season on Tuesday, announcing the additions of Brent Strom as pitching coach, Pat Listach as first-base coach, Craig Bjornson as bullpen coach and Ralph Dickenson as assistant hitting coach. The team also announced that Dave Trembley, who was third-base coach last season, will take over as bench coach, which was a position held by Eduardo Perez last season. Perez will make the move to third-base coach.

Astros hitting coach John Mallee is returning in the same capacity as the 2013 season, which was the first year for manager Bo Porter.

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Day 1 Early Voting

In Harris County on the first day 8,560 mail ballots are in compared to 2,079 in 2011.

5,025 voted early in person compared to 2,557 in 2011.

28,620 ballots have been mailed compared to 15,264 total in 2011.

The Sunnyside EV location made up 4.5% of the total EV in Person in 2011, on Day 1 in 2013 it is 3.9%.

West Gray in 2011 10.4%, yesterday 10.7%.

HCC in 2011 2.2%, yesterday 2.5%.

Acres Homes in 2011 3%, yesterday 3.2%.

Tracy Gee in 2011 4.1%, yesterday 3.6%%.

Stay tuned!

Who was the starting pitcher for the ‘Stros in the first MLB playoff game ever played in H-Town?

Commentary received a David Robinson for At-Large 2 mailer yesterday and a Vote Early mailer from the Houston Turnout Project.

I’m not going to say much about my client Adriana Tamez for HCC District 3 getting her Early Vote signs stolen on the first day. Her opponent Herlinda Garcia must be desperate, after all she did take $1,000 from Dave Wilson.

Commentary has been mentioning the Mayor’s negative ads. Today the Chron’s Mike Morris has a piece about the negative ads the Mayor has been running. It is an interesting read. You have to get a hard copy to read it though.

Joe Niekro of course started Game 3 of the NLCS against the Phillies back October 10, 1980.

Nothing from The Yard!

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Vote Early Now!

Early Voting in Person begins today!

This is still kind of an odd Mayoral contest. The Mayor has been running those non-stop ads pounding on Ben Hall. The Mayor has not run any positive TV ads. The Houston Turnout Project has sent a couple of mailers attacking Hall. The Mayor hasn’t sent me any mail. Hall leads in the bandit sign category. I saw a campaign worker for the Mayor going door-to-door on my street Saturday and he didn’t even stop at my door and I’m probably the most frequent voter in my ‘hood.

Ben Hall isn’t running any ads and I haven’t seen any of his mail. Some folks say he has thrown in the towel. I’m thinking maybe Hall is using the rope-a-dope strategy. He’s going to absorb all of the Mayor’s punches and hope there is a runoff and come out swinging then. Stay tuned and vote!

The Red Sox and San Luis are in the World Serious just like in 2004 when the Sox swept in four. Name the team with home field advantage back in the 2004 Serious?

Commentary received the GLBT mailer this past Saturday. I also got a Ron Green for Controller mailer.

Hugo Mojica for HISD Trustee District 1 sent out a post card without the union bug. He also has a door hanger without the bug.

I also received a Zeph Capo for HISD Trustee District 1 mailer.

Commentary told bettors to take the Texans and the six points. Way to go, me!

There is nothing really to be said about the Texans. I will let others discuss what went wrong in 2013.

The Red Sox had home field advantage in the 2004 World Serious of course because that was the first year of the new rule that says the league that wins the All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the Serious.

There is nothing to report from The Yard.

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