Indiana Presidential Primary Election Today

The Hoosier State gets a chance today to weigh in on the contentious Democratic Primary race between former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

And just as a reminder who I'm supporting in this Democratic presidential primary race and why I made that decision, it's the real Democrat, not the DINO..

But back to the post concerning this Indiana primary that kicks off in a few hours.

There are 92 delegates up for grabs on the Democratic side, and after Clinton took four out of five Northeastern states last week to pump up her already sizable delegate lead, she needs only 221 more delegates to reach the 2394 delegates necessary to clinch the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination and sing the 'It's over' aria for the Sanders campaign..

She's more than ready to pivot to the general election and get to whacking on the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, but Sanders is still trying to hang on until the June 7 California primary.

But first we have to handle our electoral business in Indiana, and the Democratic race is close Clinton leads by 4% points over Sanders, but that is within the margin of poll error in a state that not only has an open primary, but is predominately white (72%). but has a 17% Latino population and a 13% Black one.

Handle your electoral business Indiana, and we'll check out the results later tonight.

Another Split Decision In The March 8 Democratic Primary Contests

There were two primary contests Tuesday in Mississippi and Michigan that were favored to go in Sec. Hillary Clinton's direction on this International Women's Day.

Once again, the Black vote mattered as she stomped Sanders in Mississippi in another electoral blowout by an 83-17% margin.  Michigan however turned out to be a Sanders upset as the white independent and crossover Republicans vote helped Sanders as he eked out an upset victory that for now, has the Sanders peeps crowing until Saturday.   

A little reality check for sanders folks.  He's still trailing in the all important delegate count and in fact because of the Clinton blowout in Mississippi LOST ground because of the proportional allocation rules.

Clinton finished the night with 88 delegates while Sanders picked up 70,and she's now up 761 to 547 not including the superdelegates which Sanders still massively trails in.

On to the March 15 contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Split Decision In Saturday Democratic Primary Contests

It was a split decision in Saturday's contests for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. 

There were two caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska, and a primary election in Louisiana.  While Sanders won the two Democratic caucuses in once again, predominately white states, Clinton won the Louisiana primary handily fueled by once again, the African-American vote.

The end result was that Sanders lost ground to Clinton despite the two caucus wins.  Blowout win in primary state worth 51 delegates trumps (pun not intended) two caucus wins in state worth combined 55 delegates split proportionately.

Lets look at the math.  Sanders won 37 delegates in Kansas and Nebraska to Clinton's 22.  but because he lost in Louisiana, Sanders only received 12 delegates while Clinton gained 39 delegates

Sanders total delegates add up to 49, Clinton received 61 which means that she increased her lead by another 11 delegates last night.   

Drip, Drip Drip.  And while that was happening, she continued to add to that massive superdelegate lead, with more commitments coming her way in the runup to a critical week of contests starting on Tuesday.

Tuesday's contests will talk place in Michigan (130 delegates), Mississippi (36 delegates) and the Democratic caucus in Maine in which 25 delegates will be available.

And FYI,  Michigan and Mississippi have large Black populations, Maine doesn't.

This is the lead in to the five Democratic primary contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio in which 691 delegates will be up for grabs and once again, Sanders supporters, Black voters will have a major say in who wins those states.

And FYI, just another reminder that early voting is happening in Florida right now..

Clinton is inching closer to that magic number of 2.383 delegates, and we'll have a better idea how close she is to the prize that eluded her in 2008 after this weekend.

Louisiana Democratic Primary Today

After racking up big Super Tuesday wins in seven states and the American Samoa caucus, the Democratic race to the nomination and accumulating the 2,383 delegates continues for Sec. Hillary Clinton and her challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The big prize for today is Louisiana, with 51 delegates available in its primary election. There will also be two caucuses in Nebraska (25 delegates) and Kansas (33 delegates) happening before we move on to Tuesday's contests in Michigan (130 delegates), Mississippi (36 delegates) and the caucus in Maine in which 25 delegates will be available.

This is the political appetizer before next weekend's cluster of five Democratic primary contests in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio in which 691 delegates will be up for grabs.

And in bad news for Sanders supporters, need to remind y'all that Florida, Louisiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have large percentages of African-American voters with early voting happening in Florida right now as you peruse this post.. 

Here's the rest of the Democratic primary and caucus schedule. 

Sec. Clinton is building momentum, superdelegates are endorsing her and it's looking more and more like she is going to be the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on whoever comes out of the GOP KKKlown Car., which at the moment appears to be Donald Trump.

You can try to keep hope alive as a former Democratic nomination candidate once said, but the obese opera singer is warming up her lungs to sing that 'It's Over' aria.

We'll see how that plays out starting tonight.
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It's Super Tuesday!

In a few hours the polls are opening across eleven states for people to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary battle between Sec Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

After posting her own blowout win in South Carolina, Sec. Clinton is seeking to keep that momentum going in the Super Tuesday states and collect the lion's share of the 1017 delegates up for grabs with the help of the Black vote.

Voters in America Samoa, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and my home state of Texas will be headed to polling places and caucuses.

We'll see when the polls start closing at 7 PM ET which way the Democratic contest goes after voters in the 12 primarily Southern states have their say in who should be the person who gets our party's nomination in not only the presidential contests, but a long list of state and local races and judicial seats.

If early voting was available in your Super Tuesday state and you didn't get the opportunity to participate in it, hope you take the time to do so today.

In Texas. polls will be open from 7 AM-7 PM and I hope you exercise your right to vote.

2016 South Carolina Democratic Primary Today

In a few hours the Democratic voters of South Carolina will start heading to the polls to determine who will win their state's presidential primary and how they will apportion the states 59 available delegates to this summer's convention in Philadelphia.

It's looking good for Hillary Clinton right now as she seeks to build on the momentum of her win a few days ago in Nevada and keep it going into the critical March 1 Super Tuesday contests.

Sec. Clinton is maintaining her huge double digit polling lead overall and her big lead with African-American voters in this state despite attempts by Sen. Bernie Sanders to reach out to this critical Democratic voting bloc.  African-American voters will comprise up to 50% of the people casting ballots in this primary contest.

But as any political observer will tell you, the only poll that matters is the one being conducted at the ballot box, and we'll see who wins when the polls close later tonight at 7 PM EST.  

Hillary Wins In Nevada!

Today's Nevada Democratic Caucus had much riding on them for both sides in this 2016 Democratic presidential nomination race.  While Sen. Bernie Sanders was coming off a huge double digit win in New Hampshire and had some momentum going in, he still hadn't proved yet that he can get non-white Democrats to #FeelTheBern.

Nevada would offer him and his supporters their first chance to prove that he could win in a state that wasn't overwhelmingly white.  Nevada has a 27% Latinx and 13% African-American population largely concentrated in Las Vegas and Reno.

Meanwhile Secretary Clinton was looking to rebound from the New Hampshire thumping.

After spending several months organizing in Nevada, she and her campaign team were cautiously optimistic they could pull out a much needed win in the Silver State.

But the Sanders campaign spent heavily to match her organization here and air commercials in local media.   They also trumpeted media polls they were running even with Clinton in the runup to today's caucus.

But when the dust settled, it was Clinton's support with non-white voters and her ground game that carried the day.  Clinton got 52.6% of the caucus attendees to say #ImWithHer with just 47.3% going to Sanders.   It was a critical win to calm the nerves of her supporters going into Saturday's South Carolina Democratic Primary and with Super Tuesday looming on March 1.





What is more ominous for Sanders supporters is that African-American voters, who only make up about 13% of the Nevada electorate are feeling Hillary.  They broke 76%-22% for Clinton and she rolled to wins in six of the state's majority Black precincts.  Nevada's Latinx voters also broke for Clinton.

And South Carolina comes up fast this Saturday along with the Super Tuesday primaries on March 1 in which many of the Southern states involved, including Texas which is in early voting now, have large percentages of non-white voters.

We will see what transpires in South Carolina, especially in light of the fact that more superdelegates and party leaders are declaring for Clinton including Rep. James Clyburn. (D-SC) and Clinton picked up more endorsements here in Texas, where 222 delegates are at stake.  

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Houston Stonewall Young Democrats 2016 Primary Endorsement Meeting

Early voting for the March 1 Texas primary elections start next Tuesday, February 16 and runs until February 26, so organizations are rushing to get their endorsements done before the first ballots get cast for that primary election

Got the opportunity last night to be in the Little Bigs house in Montrose in reporter mode as the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats conducted their candidate endorsement meeting last night to a room packed full of candidates, campaign staffers and their supporters seeking the HSYD electoral stamp of approval

The Houston Stonewall Young Dems efficiently got through their relatively smooth and rancor free endorsement meeting in a little over an hour and thirty minutes, and it was fascinating as a political junkie to see it happen.

These are the people who received the 2016 HSYD primary endorsements:

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Brandon Dudley
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg
State Representative District 126 Joy Dawson 
State Representative District 131 Hon. Alma Allen
State Representative District 134 Ben Rose
State Representative District 137 Hon. Gene Wu
State Representative District 139 Randy Bates
State Representative District 144 Hon. Cody Ray Wheeler
State Representative District 148 Hon. Jessica Farrar

Harris County Sheriff Hon. Ed Gonzalez

Constable, Precinct No. 1 Hon. Alan Rosen
Constable, Precinct No. 3 Ken Melancon
Constable, Precinct No. 4 Jeff McGowen
Constable, Precinct No. 6 Hon. Heliodoro Martinez Jr.
Constable, Precinct No. 7 Hon. May Walker
District Judge, 11th Judicial District Rabeea Collier
District Judge, 61st Judicial District Julie Countiss
District Judge, 129th Judicial District Hon. Michael Gomez
District Judge, 151st Judicial District Hon. Mike Engelhart
District Judge, 164th Judicial District Hon. Alexandra Smoots-Hogan
District Judge, 165th Judicial District Hon. Josefina Rendon
District Judge, 174th Judicial District Raul Rodriguez
District Judge, 176th Judicial District Shawna Reagin
District Judge, 179th Judicial District Hon. Randy Roll
District Judge, 177th Judicial District David Singer
District Judge, 215th Judicial District Joshua Verde
District Judge, 333rd Judicial District Daryl Moore
District Judge, 334th Judicial District Hon. Steve Kirkland
District Judge, 337th Judicial District Herb Ritchie
District Judge, 351st Judicial District Greg Glass

Judge, County Civil Court at Law No. 1 George Barnstone
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1 Tanya Makany-Rivera
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Place 1 Joe Stephens
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 5, Place 1 William McLeod
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 6, Place 1 Hon. Richard Vara
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 7, Place 1 Cheryl Elliott Thornton
Justice, 14th Court of Appeals District, Place 2 Hon. Jim Sharp

County School Trustee Position 2, Precinct 4 Marilyn Burgess
State Board of Education, District 6 Dakota Carter

Congratulation to all the candidates receive the HSYD endorsements, and best of luck in the primary.

And The 2016 Iowa Caucus Winner Is...

Nobody yet.   It's still a razor thin race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders with several precincts outstanding..

The first event of the 2016 presidential primary season happened last night in the Iowa Caucuses. In the 99 counties across the state, both Democratic and Republican voters headed to 1061 locations all over the state to support their respective candidate choices for their party's presidential nominations.


They started at 7 PM CST, and while the GOP one was over early with the junior senator from Alberta in Ted Cruz upsetting Donald Trump for the win.

As of this writing the Democratic contest between Clinton and Sanders is razor thin and has yet to be called.

One of the other results from tonight is that former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley suspended his campaign after his poor showing in the Democratic caucus, and Mike Suckabee Huckabee finally exited the GOP race after his poor showing in the GOP one.

With 97% of the precincts reporting, Clinton is up by a razor thin 49.8% (22 delegates) to Sanders 46.6% (21 delegates) with O'Malley capturing just 0.6% of the vote percentages.  

The 2016 race to the White House is now in the vote casting stage and the next battle in which actual ballots will be cast will be next Tuesday, February 9 in the first in the nation primary in New Hampshire.   There will be a crucial Democratic debate moderated by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Thursday which should be fun to watch.

We'll know who won this on the Democratic side in a few hours.

TransGriot Update: The winner is Hillary Clinton.  But doing so, she made history by becoming the first woman to win the Iowa caucus.   Hopefully she'll be making more history as this continues.

2012 DNC Convention Starts Tonight

Now that lying season and that illusion of inclusion better known as the Republican National Convention is mercifully over, it's time for America to see what inclusion and diversity really looks like. 

The 2012 Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight in Charlotte with First Lady Michelle Obama being one of the keynote speakers this evening at the Time Warner Cable Arena along with San Antonio mayor Julian Castro.

Yes people, there are Texas Democrats, and you're about to find out we live up to that long, distinguished history of liberal-progressive Texas leadership. 

I miss Ann Richards and Barbara Jordan (sniff, sniff)

I'm happy to note this convention is making trans history on many levels.   We have the first African-American trans man delegate in TPOCC Executive Director Kylar Broadus, who is part of the most diverse trans delegate contingent to ever attend a DNC event.  Dr Marisa Richmond is also in Charlotte for her second consecutive DNC convention as a delegate representing Tennessee. 

So yes, Black transpeople are here owning our power and we couldn't have two better people representing our community.   But they are two of the 13 total transfolks representing our community.   Also wanted to note that Diego Sanchez is part of this diverse trans contingent and representing the Latino community.

Will be interested to hear over the next few days from the various trans participants as they discuss their experiences interacting with the various groups, and participating in the activities and caucuses they'll attend from September 4-6.  

But definitely looking forward to seeing the First Lady tonight and President Obama's acceptance speech on Thursday.

The 2012 DNC Trans Delegates

When I say in my posts that the Democratic Party has an inclusive big blue tent, I'm not kidding   One of the things I'm most proud of about my party is that trans delegates since 2000 have been part of the proceedings and that will also be the case when the Democratic National Convention kicks off September 4-6 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

When the Democratic Party gathered for their 2000 convention in Los Angeles, Minnesota's Jane Fee became the first ever trans delegate to take part in a DNC.   Four years later at the DNC 2004 convention in Boston, the delegations from Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas had trans people as members of them. 

At the historic 2008 DNC in Denver, not only was 'gender identity' included in the language of the Democratic Party platform for the first time, we had transpeople as part of the delegations from the states of Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.

History was also made in 2008 as the first ever African-American trans delegate, Dr. Marisa Richmond, was elected as part of Tennessee's DNC contingent.   

When the 2012 DNC convention is gaveled into session in Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena tomorrow, there will be 12 trans Democrats in attendance as delegates when it starts.  They are from blue states such as Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon and Wisconsin and red states such as Arizona, North Carolina, Missouri and Texas. 

They also range from superdelegates to committee members, so we as a trans community will be well represented during this event by the time President Obama makes his acceptance speech at Bank of America Stadium on September 6. 

I'm most proud to note that for African-American transpeople, it will be a historic occasion for the second time.  In addition to Dr. Marisa Richmond returning for her second consecutive DNC convention as a Tennessee delegate,  Kylar Broadus makes history again this year by becoming the first ever African-American trans masculine delegate to attend a DNC convention.  

I'm also happy that a trans Texan will be part of that DNC trans contingent for the third consecutive convention.   Meghan Stabler will be part of a record sized LGBT Lone Star contingent headed to the Tarheel State.

The 12 transpeople making up the DNC's trans contingent is not only a record, it is also the most diverse group of trans people to represent our community at a Democratic National convention.   You also have to consider how far we've come since 2000 and the time it took for us to get to this point.

Makes me proud to be a Democrat and wonder how many trans delegates we'll have at the 2016 DNC.  I also wonder whether those delegate ranks in 2016 will include trans political office holders for the first time in addition to the mix of convention vets and party members.. 

TPOCC Chair On 2012 Dem Party Platform Committee

The 2012 Democratic Party Convention will be happening in Charlotte, NC this September, and in advance of it the Democratic National Committee and Obama for America announced how the 2012 Platform process would be conducted. 

The July 20th deadline has already passed to send written testimony in, but Democrats from around the country will continue to come together and draft a Platform that outlines Democratic priorities and highlights the President's vision for the middle class and his efforts to create an economy that's built to last.

I can say with complete confidence that there's not a chance in Hades that the Democratic Platform will resemble the putrid 2012 Texas GOP one that seeks to repeal the 1965 Voting Rights Act and oppose critical thinking skills being taught in public schools among other jaw dropping planks. 

Back to the post.   One of the Platform Committee members who will have input on that Democratic platform is none other than trans advocate, NBJC Board Member and Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC) founder Kylar Broadus.

If you want to know why I stay a Democrat, the inclusion of trans voices in my party's policy discussion is a major reason why. 

Congrats again Kylar for making history again on behalf of our community, representing us at that particular policy making decision table and ensuring that our voices as trans Democrats are heard and reflected in this year's platform..

2012 Texas DNC Delegation Will Have Record TBLG Contingent

When the Democratic National Convention kicks off later this summer, the Texas delegation to it will have a record number of rainbow community folks in the convention hall from September 3-6.

There will be 32 TBLG people representing Lone Star State Democrats either as delegates or serving on committees in Charlotte, which is an all time record.  

In addition for the third straight DNC event a transperson will be part of the Texas delegation. In 2004 and 2008 it was Vanessa Edwards Foster from Houston, and in 2012 it will be Meghan Stabler, who will be representing Senate District 5.  It's a large state senate district that covers Brazos, Burleson, Freestone, Grimes, Houston, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Trinity, Walker and Williamson Counties..

And yeah, trigger alert because the TransGriot is about to engage in some Lone Star bragging.. 

During the just concluded Democratic Party state convention in Houston, my home state of Texas became the twentieth state to add a marriage equality plank to their state Democratic Party platform.  

They also voted affirmatively to add "gender identity" to the statement of principles of the Texas Democratic Rules and on platform resolutions that recognizes and allows birth certificate amendment for children of same-sex parents and the adoption of children by parents without regard to he parents gender identity or sexual orientation.

What was that I-5, I-495 and I-95 peeps about we need to 'just leave' our red states? 

Damn, y'all make me proud to be a Texas Democrat.  Now if we could just start channeling the late Barbara Jordan, the late Billie Carr and (sniff sniff) the late Governor Ann Richards and start taking our state back from those blasted Republicans and bring it back to its liberal progressive roots, things would be a lot better for everybody in the Lone Star State..

Hopefully we started that process in Houston.   Congratulations to all the Texas rainbow community folks who will be representing our beloved state at the DNC convention this summer.

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Rep John Lewis Calls Out Rep. Paul Broun

The GOP effort to suppress the vote is well underway, and Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) tried to offer an amendment Wednesday night that would strip the funding from the Department of Justice allocated for it to enforce Section V of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

What Broun didn't count on when he tried to pull this stunt was civil rights warrior and American hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) being in the room.  Rep Lewis then proceeded to call his azz out about it to the point where Broun's bigoted behind withdrew the amendment. 

Take notes liberal-progressives and Democrats.  This is how you confront a conservafool.



transcript courtesy of Think Progress.

It is hard, and difficult, and almost unbelievable that any Member — but especially a Member from the state of Georgia — would come and offer such amendment. There’s a long history in our country, especially in the 11 states that are old Confederacy — from Virginia to Texas — of discrimination based on race, on color. Maybe some of us need to study a little contemporary history dealing with the question of voting rights.

Just think, before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it was almost impossible for many people in the state of Georgia, in the state of Alabama, in Virginia, in Texas, to register to vote, to participate in the democratic process. The state of Mississippi, for example, had a black voting age population of more than 450,000, and only about 16,000 were registered to vote. One county in Alabama, the county was more than 80 percent [black], and not a single registered African-American voter. People had to pass a so-called literacy test. . . . one man was asked to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap. Another man was asked to count the number of jelly beans in a jar.

It’s shameful that you would come here tonight and say to the Department of Justice that you must not use one penny, one cent, one dime, one dollar, to carry out the mandate of Section Five of the Voting Rights Act.

. . . People died for the right to vote. Friends of mine. Colleagues of mine. I speak out against this amendment. It doesn’t have a place.

***

Note to conservafools and Tea Klux Klan, some of those tax dollars you rail about come from the hard work of African-Americans.   We damned sure want the DOJ properly funded to enforce Section V against your white supremacist and ALEC inspired thuggish vote suppression tactics. 

Thanks Rep. Lewis for reminding the nation and the Republifools why the Voting Rights Act is still necessary.

Happy Birthday Gabby!

While watching the various news programs on MSNBC discovered today was the 41st birthday of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords  (D-AZ).  Considering what she went through just a few short months ago it's a miracle that she's still here to celebrate it.

She's rehabbing here in H-Town and according to the doctors charged with her care is making fantastic progress, but she still has a long hard road of rehab to go

Happy birthday Gabby!   May you have many more!

Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz To Head DNC

I've always loved 44 year old Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL).  She's a kick azz liberal progressive who is a passionate advocate for issues of importance to us.   She's a frequent telegenic presence on the talk show and TV pundit circuit and isn't 'scurred' to call the conservafools out on their BS.

President Obama tapped her yesterday to become the head of the Democratic National Committee in the wake of Tim Kaine's decision to run for the US Senate seat of retiring Democratic senator James Webb of Virginia next year.

Rep Wasserman-Schultz will hold on to her Florida 20th Congressional District seat while tackling her new role as the DNC chair.

"As we look toward 2012 in particular, I'm going to be working hard every day to guarantee that President Obama and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot are in the best position to win their races," Wasserman-Schultz said in a statement released Tuesday. "That was my promise to the President and that will be my promise to every single Democrat across the country."

Alright!  the only news that would have made me happier is if he'd put Alan Grayson in that DNC chair.   

A Congressman Beat Watson-Guess What Party He Belongs To?

IBM has designed a Jeopardy! playing supercomputer named Watson who so far has easily taken out all time Jeopardy Hall of Fame champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter..

Had to chuckle when I discovered that a slightly slower version of Watson was rolled out for another exhibition match featuring it versus humans.

This time Watson went down $8,600 to $6,200 to a human who happens to be a US congressmember.   Can you guess what party he belongs to?


What is the Democratic Party?

Hee hee hee.   Kiss our elitist behinds, GOP!

As to the identity of this congressmember, I'll reveal who it is in the form of a Jeopardy question.


This five time Jeopardy champion and rocket scientist represents a district in New Jersey.  Name him.

Who is Rep. Rush Holt?

We're proud to have people in our party with brains.   That's more than I can say for the GOP, with is proud of its Ignorance.is Strength image.

But Rep Holt played the Jeopardy exhibition match with Watson to underscore the importance of doing basic research and development, especially in technology.

"The purpose of the exhibition game was “to highlight the importance of technology… science and math education and research and development are vital to our nation so we can out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,.” said Rep Holt. 

He's right.  If we are going to stay competitive as a nation in a 21st Century world in which China and India are coming for us and ratcheting up their education efforts, we can't compete with them by cutting investments in education as GOP governors around the country are doing to give tax breaks to the superrich and corporations..