HD 48- Donna Howard Hasn't Won A Thing

There is a lot of celebrating going on in Austin right now, and deservedly so. However, everyone needs to remember one crucial point, Donna Howard hasn't won a thing yet. It should be the motto in everyones head. Last night was impressive, but it wasn't victory.

BOR has the night in full details, but the short story is Kathy Rider is out of the March primary and Donna Howard is in the run off against Ben Bentzin.

Howard is the clear frontrunner with the Democrats securing a total of 60% of the vote and winning 20 out of 26 precincts. It is impressive to be less than a 100 votes away from a straight out win in a 4 person race, but Howard didn't win.

If Margot Clark’s municipal campaign shows us anything, Dems can get complacent if they think they have already won. Yes, Rider and Howard combined pulled 7,121 total votes to Bentzin’s lack luster 5,124, but with such dominance in the polls will Democrats stay home?

I promise you, Bentzin and the Republicans are not going down without a fight.

Winning in the special election would seriously affect the Perry/Craddick/Dewherst plans for the special session, and it would make it infinitely easier to win the big show in November. But we go back to the original question, will the Democrats show up?

Chris Elliot and the Travis County Democratic Party (TCDP) did a stellar job focusing on the cycle and have to do it again. PACs and Organizations did a decent job spreading the word and Rider, Howard, and Andy Brown should all be applauded for identifying and mobilizing so many D’s. And they have to do it again. Democrats likely have one more month to campaign, and with a renewed focus that HD 48 is not securely in hand yet.

Winning outright in February will allow more resources to move to Mark Strama’s tight race in HD 50 and Terry Keels open seat in HD 47. So help make this happen! Howard hasn’t one a thing yet, and Democrats MUST VOTE AGAIN next month.