That is the conundrum. People don't want to run if they know they are going to lose. But if you don't run, you'll never win. And with many races, losing the first time out of the box is the price you pay for winning the next time. For the Democrats this is a vicious cycle. A paucity of candidates hurts fundraising. Without money, it is difficult to run candidates. And so on and so on. But some are seeing the trends and acting upon them. J.R. Molina, a Fort Worth criminal lawyer, is running for the State Court of Criminal Appeals. He sees the strength of this election being the top of the ticket, particularly Sanchez. "Tony Sanchez is going to bring out the vote in places like El Paso, and my name is going to be on that ballot. Having a Hispanic name is going to help me in those places," Molina said. "If those candidates are winning at the top of the ticket, then I will be winning in the middle. Eventually, they will win at the bottom as well. "The Democratic vote in Tarrant County will be up this time around," Molina said. "I think the local leadership is being cautious right now, because the resources are not there. The tide is shifting with a minority majority in this state. It will eventually get to Tarrant County."
A few years ago, my then-10-year-old daughter asked me what the Republicans believed in. "Republicans are rich, mean, old men who don't want to pay your teachers enough money to live on; they think your school should serve cold oatmeal for lunch, and if you steal a candy bar from the 7-11, they'll put you in jail for 100 years," I told her. "I guess I'm a Democrat," she said. "What do the Democrats believe?" "Democrats like to give money to lazy people who don't work, they like to kill babies through abortion, and they like to let killers and child molesters out of jail so they can molest children again and kill more people." "God, Dad, I don't like them either." "Life is complicated that way," I told her. My torturous parenting techniques aside, the age-old question of the differences between the two parties is difficult to answer, especially in local elections. Some years ago, the difference was explained to me this way: In the summertime, Republicans drink gin and tonic, and Democrats drink beer. In the wintertime, Republicans drink scotch and water, and Democrats drink beer. So much for my version of a civics lesson. But local elections are less about ideology and more about candidates. There is not, for example, a Democratic or Republican view on sewer construction or police protection. In general, there is little difference in the two parties when it comes to road building, flood control, putting up stop signs, or filling potholes. A good local political organization has more to do with local elections than purely trotting out issues. Some might say I am jaded, but local elections are more about personality than candidates' views on the evils of big government or their stances on civil rights. But that being said, there are differences in some big-picture issues. Arlington has debated for years whether to invest money in public transportation. The city is now weighing whether it will use money for public transit or for a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys. It is not hard to see where the parties would split on that issue. Many citizens in Tarrant County are concerned about development issues, about whether commercial real estate interests should be able to pave over the area without any discussion on the merits of traffic and congestion. And while judges can be conservative or liberal within their own parties, having a countywide judicial system without any Democrats is disturbing in some quarters, especially among minorities who find themselves involved with the criminal justice system in proportionately higher numbers than whites. It's all about checks and balances and good representation. Without a strong opposition party, the Republicans have been able to run anyone they want. They also get the upper hand on redistricting, which helps to keep their seats and further pushes the Democrats to the fringes. Under this system you can get good candidates and good representation, but you can also get a sheriff like David Williams. What is also apparent is that virtual one-party rule causes low turnout in local elections. In the early 1980s, voter turnout during primary elections hovered around 20 percent. By 1986, when Republicans began to challenge Democrats in Tarrant County, turnout hit 40 percent. There has been a fairly steady decline since, with turnout down to 10 percent in 1996 and 6.4 percent in 1998, an election year that is similar to this election cycle. Of course, no one thinks that the Democratic Party should be propped up to increase voter participation. Voters go to the polls when they are engaged in meaningful elections with good candidates. But in the past ten years, with the Republicans dominating, meaningful elections have been few and far between on the Democrats' side.
Art Brender is the Tarrant County Democratic chairman. The 56-year-old attorney specializes in civil rights cases and is by all accounts a good man. He has had the unenviable job of leading the party since 1996, during a very tough period. And part of his job is being chief spinmeister for the party, so in his eyes, everything looks great this year. "We are thrilled at what we have going this year," he said. "In all of the county races where policy is made, we have people running. Terri Moore is a strong candidate for district attorney. We have good candidates in the commissioners' races. And the other county races have strong candidates. Everyone wants to look at the judges' races, but the issues aren't really there for us." He says the lack of Democratic candidates for the bench is nothing new. "Rarely were those judges' races contested even when they were held by Democrats. Most of them aren't even challenged by their own party. Those races are very expensive to run, and without overwhelming issues it is hard to unseat the incumbents." Brender has come under criticism on a number of fronts. He has openly endorsed Tony Sanchez for governor and Ron Kirk for U.S. Senate, while many locals think the county chairman should stay out of these races until after the primary. "Art is always talking about what limited resources the Democrats have, and here he is putting those resources behind Sanchez and Kirk, when the party should be neutral," said a local Democrat working for Dan Morales, who asked that his name not be used. The county chairman also gets criticized for failing to recruit candidates and a lack of interest in the minority communities. Sal Espino, a lawyer who practices in Dallas but lives in Fort Worth, has been toying with running for Jim Lane's Fort Worth council seat for years. The North Side district is about 70 percent Hispanic, but no Hispanic has run for the council there since 1990. "Art is a good guy, very well-intentioned," said Espino. "But I believe the local party really needs to do more. They focus too much on the current few officeholders they have and not enough on bringing new blood into the party. If you run for office and are new to the Democratic Party, you're pretty much on your own." "Hispanics will vote if you do outreach and run candidates," Espino continued. "We are no different than any other community. I don't see the Democrats being well-organized or having any kind of long-term plan. It would be great if we could convene a group of Hispanic leaders within the Democratic Party and come up with a clear plan to energize the Hispanic vote and find some good candidates to run at the bottom level." Brender acknowledges that new candidates in lower-level races will more than likely not get funding from the party. "We don't have the money to give away to candidates, but we can show you how to raise money. We can help with getting candidates databases of likely voters. But those campaigns have to be grassroots campaigns; they have to be door-to-door efforts." Lico Reyes, a serial candidate who has run for Arlington mayor three times and Arlington City Council seven times without a win (he did get 23 percent a few years ago in the mayor's race), says the local Democratic leadership doesn't provide any "gatekeeper" function -- that is, steering candidates to races where they are needed. |
Subway sandwiched between past and progress.
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