CD22 Update: The "Secret" Meeting
So I went through another round of surgery a while back and haven't been up and blogging much. During this time it was determined that Tom DeLay wouldn't be allowed to be declared ineligible, appeals were rejected, and so on. Luckily for all of us, both Greg and Chris have been covering the issue very thoroughly.
As a precinct chair, I did attend the so-called "secret meeting" (that everyone, their dog, and the press knew about) conducted by Tina Benkiser.. She specifically asked for people to not "transcript" the meeting, so I won't...but I will briefly recap. Mr. DeLay was there for a short time, discussing his decisions and the entire process in his own words. Paul Bettencourt gave us a brief tutorial about the numbers game of the process. Each individual wanting to be considered for the write-in choice spoke, and there was a vote.
Unfortunately, however, most of the evening was a rah rah and pressure fest with one testimonial after another about how important it is for all Republicans to back one candidate and one alone. The irony is that nobody can yet determine whether a write-in candidate will be listed with that almighty R after their name anyway. All bets are that write-in candidates are by law, independents, and will just be listed by name.
When what could've been about 40 minutes worth ended about 2 1/2 hours later, culminating in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs being given the backing by a "majority" of precinct chairs to be the lone write-in candidate. The oddest thing about the vote, however, is that for the first time since I've been involved with any of these party ballot placement deals, there was no definitive number tally announced. See, usually, when there is any type of vote, they will announce that "X got X number of votes" and so on...and yet not this time.
Ms. Benkiser looked at the sheet and announced that there were some votes for Mr. Turner, some for "the Libertarian candidate" and that Dr. Sekula-Gibbs got the most votes. She then deferred to someone else to explain whether that number (the number we weren't told) was a majority, then told us it was. That was it. More hubub occurred, then we were gone. Frankly, I walked away non-plussed.
As a precinct chair, I did attend the so-called "secret meeting" (that everyone, their dog, and the press knew about) conducted by Tina Benkiser.. She specifically asked for people to not "transcript" the meeting, so I won't...but I will briefly recap. Mr. DeLay was there for a short time, discussing his decisions and the entire process in his own words. Paul Bettencourt gave us a brief tutorial about the numbers game of the process. Each individual wanting to be considered for the write-in choice spoke, and there was a vote.
Unfortunately, however, most of the evening was a rah rah and pressure fest with one testimonial after another about how important it is for all Republicans to back one candidate and one alone. The irony is that nobody can yet determine whether a write-in candidate will be listed with that almighty R after their name anyway. All bets are that write-in candidates are by law, independents, and will just be listed by name.
When what could've been about 40 minutes worth ended about 2 1/2 hours later, culminating in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs being given the backing by a "majority" of precinct chairs to be the lone write-in candidate. The oddest thing about the vote, however, is that for the first time since I've been involved with any of these party ballot placement deals, there was no definitive number tally announced. See, usually, when there is any type of vote, they will announce that "X got X number of votes" and so on...and yet not this time.
Ms. Benkiser looked at the sheet and announced that there were some votes for Mr. Turner, some for "the Libertarian candidate" and that Dr. Sekula-Gibbs got the most votes. She then deferred to someone else to explain whether that number (the number we weren't told) was a majority, then told us it was. That was it. More hubub occurred, then we were gone. Frankly, I walked away non-plussed.
posted by J at 1:28 PM
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