Below are the results for the Republican 5th Congressional race.
David Hall (R)--------11,930---28%
Jeffery Hartline (R)---10,005--23%
CeCe Heil (R)---------9,767-----23%
Vijay Kumar (R)------3,157-----7%
Bob Schwartz (R)-----2,377-----5%
Lonnie Spivak (R)----1,529-----4%
Jarod Scott (R)-------1,382-----3%
Patrick Miranda (R)--1,210-----3%
Tracy Tarum (R)-----1,128-----3%
Bob Ries (R)------------561-----1%
Alvin Strauss (R)-------320-----1%
Press Release from David Hall for Congress
August 2, 2010
Nashville, TN: After the 2008 Presidential elections, many experts predicted a truly unique 2010 election cycle. Evidence is mounting for these predictions to come true here in Davidson County politics. Present in the Republican Gubernatorial Primary is endless drama with money pouring in, not to mention the Republican support of Jeff Yarbro, a truly progressive challenger to Doug Henry, justified by traditional Republicans who claim that he is unable to win against their Republican nominee. Then of course you have the Juvenile Court Clerk hopeful, David Smith, who started his campaign a solid 30 months before Election Day, but the Republicans’ Eric Crafton is forging a close battle to the finish. Finally you have the Republican 5th Congressional District Primary drawing national support from Sarah Palin’s endorsement of CeCe Heil, followed by a vaguely explained endorsement from local Democrat State Rep Ben West Jr that has Democrats outraged and Republicans confused. Below is list of poll results released by David Hall, a Candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, stratified by AHC Group, a local media consulting firm.
Republican Primary Races
333 Total Registered Voters, Who’ve Already Voted In The Republican Primary
Gubernatorial Primary
Bill Haslam - 50.15%
Ron Ramsey - 29.9%
Zach Wamp – 19.95%
A surprising fact discovered - Voter exit data shows that 1/6 of all 2010 Republican Primary Voters have voted strictly Democrat in past primaries. When questioned the most common reason given is that the Democratic Primary doesn’t offer enough competition.
5th Congressional Primary
David Hall - 29%
Jeff Hartline - 23%
CeCe Heil - 23%
Bob Schwartz - 5%
Vijay Kumar - 3%
Patrick Miranda - 3%
Lonnie Spivak - 3%
Other - 11%
Voter exit polling shows that David’s $200,000 in voter contact has put his campaign a full 6% above his closest competitors.
Democratic Primary Races
126 Total Registered Voters, Who’ve Already Voted In The Democratic Primary
5th Congressional Primary
Jim Cooper - 87%
Eric Pearson -7%
\Eric Schecter - 6%
Nothing too surprising here, Jim Cooper, the Democratic incumbent is favored to win by a landslide.
State Senate District 21
Doug Henry - 36%
Jeff Yarbro - 64%
A rather difficult race to understand but the anti-incumbent fever seems to be affecting long time Senator Doug Henry as the new blood candidate, Jeff Yarbro, is beginning to break-away.
Davidson County General Election
294 Total Registered Voters, Who’ve Already Voted In The County General
Juvenile Court Clerk
Eric Crafton - 49.65%
David Smith – 50.35%
The fact that Eric Crafton is a Republican doesn’t seem to be helping him as 1/6 of the Republican vote is made up of previously Democratic voters who tend to vote accordingly in the county general. However, this race is clearly too close to call.
Criminal Court Clerk
David Torrence - 72%
David Baxter - 28%
Criminal Court Clerk David Torrence’s positive name recognition should be enough to carry him through the county general quite comfortably.
Davidson County has been a Democratic strong hold for decades, 2010 however provides fertile ground for grass-roots Republican victories.
Wilson County Republican Primary
17th State Senate Primary
Mae Beavers- 37%
Gordon Borck- 12%
Susan Lynn - 51%
Another heated contest shows Lynn with a strong lead.
Keaton Myers - Spokesperson
David Hall for Congress
Comment:
The highlighting in the above press release is mine.
I am taking this press release with a big grain of salt. A search for "AHC Group" reveals a major consulting firm headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. In Nashville there is the American Harmonica Club and an AHC records which is a music label, and American Health Consultants. The only AHC that could be a local media consulting firm was The AHC Group which has a very sparse web page.
The AHC Group is described as "a premier outbound data collection firm providing a full range of quality services through its modern facilities located in the heart of Nashville, TN. The AHC Group combines dynamic, experienced and professional staff with advanced data management and information technologies. This means that The AHC Group can provide clients with a strategic edge by setting industry standards in unrivaled service and customized market research data collection."
The address is not give, no list of client, and no other information. Is this the AHC referred to in the press release above?
My Predictions for the 5th.
I am going to go way out on a limb and give you my gut-feeling, unscientific prediction for the fifth:
Cece Heil 34%
Jeff Hatline 32%
Bob Schwartz 12%
David hall 9%
Lonnie Spivak 6%
The remaining five split the other 7 percent.
If David Hall wins this race and gets 29% of the vote I will be very surprised. If he is the nominee, I will work to help him get elected, but I am just not believing it.
No one should be influenced by my prediction. It is just a WAG. However, I will bet someone lunch that my predictions are closer than those listed in the David Hall press release.
What do you think?
August 2, 2010, Press Release Cece for Congress.
CeCe Heil's campaign brings in top local endorsements to add to her already impressive slate of National endorsements by Sarah Palin, CWA, FRC, and CWF just to name a few.
"I am so proud to have the local support from State Rep. Ben West Jr.,and his wife Phyllis, The 912 Project, Professor Carol M. Swain Ph.D.,Buford Tune, and Ricky Skaggs." - CeCe Heil
"We proudly support our friend CeCe Heil, who is running in the Primary for 5th District Congressional Seat.
We are of the opinion that this country has been heading in the wrong direction and that our voices have not been heard by our current representation regarding Congressional legislation. After looking at all the candidates in this race, it became abundantly clear that CeCe has the leadership skills and the moral character needed today to be a leader in this country. She is a strong Constitutional Conservative and successful business owner, a devoted wife, mother and Christian. She believes in smaller government and lower taxes to boost this failing economy, so more people can be put on the payroll, rather than on unemployment rolls. She is opposed to ObamaCare and government take over of private industry, and so are we.
CeCe's most important attribute is that she wants input from her constituents. She believes firmly in the concept of "WE THE PEOPLE" running this country. Most importantly, we believe she has the ability to debate the issues with knowledge and intelligence, bring respect back to DC and garner the support to beat the incumbent."
"I am endorsing CeCe Heil for the 5th Congressional district. CeCe has a unique skill set and a teachable spirit. She is an accomplished attorney and a strong Christian woman who is willing to take and apply the advice she is given. I believe she will attract cross-over support from Democratic voters. Let's get behind CeCe with votes & dollars
"I want to encourage you to go out and vote for CeCe Heil for congress in the 5th District. She is the candidate with the experience and courage to take on BIG government in Washington. CeCe is a woman led by her faith and convictions and has what it takes to get this country back on track. As a small business owner, attorney and constitutional scholar, she will fight tirelessly to protect our God-given freedoms. Please join me in supporting CeCe Heil for congress. Now more than ever we need CeCe to be our voice on Capitol Hill.
Early voting ended today and it is good news for Republicans in Davidson County. There were 28,400 votes cast in early voting. Republicans head into Thursday's election with a 2,100 vote margin! This is impressive in two ways. First, this is a heavy voter turnout. I don't have the numbers for previous elections but I think this is considerably greater than the number of people who normally vote in the State primary and County general election. Second, Republicans are outvoting Democrats! Again, I don't have the figures but my impression is that normally the vote is about two-to-one Democrat.
I hate to say, "I told you so" but when I was arguing with Election Commission Chairman Lynn Greer that we needed to have early voting, he said voter turnout would be low and early voting beyond the one Howard School site was not justified. If it had not been for the people who rallied to the cause and demanded early voting we would not have had it. It is especially disappointing that in a Republican year, a Republican dominated election commission did not see the wisdom of having early voting. We owe a debt of gratitude to those citizen who lobbied for it and to those council members who responded to the voters and funded it. Many good Democrats and Republicans responded to the public demand and supported early voting and they had to overcome resistance from the election commission to do so. That is a shame.
Jim Gotto chats with a voterI worked the polls yesterday and today at the Hermitage Library from opening until 12:30PM for Eric Crafton. It is hard, hot, tiring work but I enjoyed it. I enjoyed meeting the voters and telling them why they should support Eric. I also enjoyed working with the other poll workers. I enjoyed getting to meet new people and getting to know better some people I already knew. I especially enjoyed spending time with Charles Williamson who is running for House District 51 and Jim Gotto who is running for House District 60. Neither of them have opposition in the primary, but they were taking this opportunity to meet the voters. That will help them in November.
Cece Heil and
campaign worker Darrell Chancellor
I know a lot of people do not like campaign poll workers. They say they have their mind made up before they get to the polls and they are not going to change their mind on the way to the door of the voting place. That is great and I understand that. I agree that almost no one has their mind changed by a campaign worker at the polls, however a lot of people are still undecided at that point. A lot of people are influenced by the last person who talks to them on that walk to the voting place door or by the most persuasive person. A lot of people know who they are going to vote for at the top of the ticket especially, but have not given much thought to the other offices. A lot of elections are won at the polling place by the effort of campaign poll workers. I know I talked to people today who knew who they were going to vote for Governor, but did not even know there was an election for Juvenile Court Clerk.
Hermitage Library was a heavy early voting site and a site that voted heavily Republican. Fifth district candidates Cece Heil and Lonnie Spivak each had an excellent poll worker. Howard Luartes worked for Lonnie Spivak and Darrell Chancellor worked for Cece Heil. I know that each of them got votes for their respective candidates today. If either of those candidates win by only a hand full of votes they need to thank their poll worker.
Cece and her husband Rick and their two children and some other supporters showed up today and stayed for about an hour. Cece made the rounds of all the early voting sites today. Ben and Phyllis West were among those accompanying Cece. Ben West is the retiring Democrat Representative who represents District 60, the district where Jim Gotto is running as a Republican to succeed him. I understand that yesterday afternoon Phyllis West worked the poll for Cece. Phyllis is charming and enthusiastic and well known. I am sure she has swayed a lot of votes for Cece.
Ben West, Cece Heil and Phyllis West
None of the other candidates came by this polling place while I was there and none of them had campaign poll workers. I am really surprised that Jeff Hartline had no presence at the polls. Since Jeff has lead in fund raising and has been perceived as the front runner, I would have thought he would have had the organization and volunteers to man the polls. Maybe Jeff is not as strong as some have thought.
The momentum is with us. We need to keep pushing and come out of this primary with a big lead. No matter who the nominee is, a big turnout now will improve our chances of beating Jim Cooper in November.
I especially would like to see Eric win. For the other Republicans this is their primary but this is it for Eric. This is his general election. With Eric, we have a chance to break the strangle hold the Democrats have had on this county since the founding of Davidson County. Eric's office is the first domino. If Eric can win, we can take other seats next time and Davidson County can become competitive for Republicans. If you did not vote early please vote August 5, take someone else to vote with you, and if possible volunteer to work for Eric on August 5th and work the phone banks for him Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Momentum is with us; keep it up.
WASHINGTON, D.C. FRC Action PAC, July 26, 2010, - FRC Action PAC, the political action committee connected to Family Research Council Action, endorses CeCe Heil for Congress representing Tennessee's 5th District. "CeCe Heil is a firm advocate for the family and the culture of life. We need Representatives who will have the passion and courage of Ms. Heil to defend the family against the anti-family agenda currently promoted in the House," said Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council and Chairman of FRC Action PAC. "I am convinced Ms. Heil will do just that." "As an experienced attorney, CeCe has demonstrated her commitment to protecting our constitutional liberties against the assaults of this Congress. She is a pro-family, pro-life candidate, and we are confident she will be strong on the issues that best uphold and strengthen families. "FRC Action PAC believes that CeCe Heil will work to stop the radical social agenda now before us. We are proud to support her candidacy," concluded Perkins.
The City Paper analyses the congressional races in Tennessee and in an nutshell, here is what they say about the 5th:
Cece Heil is the "biggest splash of the season" and was helped by the Sarah Palin endorsement but that endorsement will hurt her in the general election if she is the nominee.
Jeff Hartline is still favored but has been hurt by the controversy of paying himself a salary and some other things.
Bob Schwartz is the most effective public speakers but lacks the resource to compete.
No other candidates are mentioned.
I think that is an accurate assessment.
Update: Lonnie Spivak's and Patrick Miranda's reports are posted. Why has Vijay Kumar not filed a report?
Second quarter Campaign Financial reports for the period ending June 30 have been filed and Cece Heil raised less money than expected.
I kept hearing that she was going like gang busters and had some important people with deep pockets lining up behind her. Not that $58,000 is an insignificant amount of money, but I expected more. She does have billboards and TV advertising and mailings. She probably has enough money to get the job done and get her message out but reality did not line up with the hype. Not that the hype was generated from her camp, but there was a certain buzz that she was raising a lot of money. Maybe it was just me, but I expected her to rival Hartline in campaign contributions.
Below are how the candidates stack up:
Ben West at Hermitage event
State Rep. Ben West Jr., who has represented the Hermitage area for the past 26 years as a Democrat has been seen at a lot of Republican functions recently enthusiastically supporting Republican Cece Heil for Congress. Ben's wife Phyllis wears a Cece for Congress t-shirt at the events and is an enthusiastic supporter of Cece.
Phyllis speaks for Cece at Hermitage event
The Wests were at the Hermitage Egg and Bacon summit earlier this month for a debate between Cece Heil and Jeff Hartline. Ben spoke and was warmly received at the Republican gathering. Both Ben and Phyllis spoke endorsing Cece. After the meeting, I spoke to Ben and told him it was good to see him and he made a point of telling me, "Now, I'm still a Democrat."
I also saw Ben and Phyllis at the Apollo School debate where I again spoke to Ben and told him he ought to just go ahead and switch parties and declare himself a Republican.
Ben West is the last of a dying breed of conservative Democrats. Ben has always been fiscally responsible and conservative on social issues and has been an outspoken supporter of Second Amendment rights. I suspect that like a lot of conservative Democrats, he votes for Republicans at the national level but supports Democrats locally. The party lines have been quite blurred in Nashville. I am sure that many people who think of themselves as Republican always supported Ben West.
Ben is greatly admired and respected. Now that he is not running for reelection, I wish he would come out and also support Jim Gotto who is running as Republican for the seat West now occupies. When a conservative votes for a Democrat that advances the liberal agenda even if the individual they vote for is a conservative Democrat. In redistricting and in committee assignments in the legislature and various other ways, a conservative Democrat is still part of the liberal machine and is advancing the cause of liberalism.
I wish Ben would say, "I did not leave the Democrat Party, it left me and I can no longer be a Democrat." If he can't take that next step, he is nevertheless helping the Republican cause. A lot of Democrats will vote in the Republican primary thanks to the leadership of Ben and Phyllis West.
Below is Ben West's press release explaining his sponsorship of an event for Cece Heil.
BEN WEST JR.RESPONSE TO MEDIA
REGARDING HIS SUPPORT FOR CECE HEIL FOR CONGRESS
“Phyllis and I are proud to be co-hosts of the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social at the Historic Buchanan Log House in Donelson on Sunday, July 25, 2010, 2-6 PM in honor of our friend CeCe Heil, who is running in the Primary for 5th District Congressional Seat.
We are of the opinion that this country has been heading in the wrong direction; and that our voices have not been heard by our current representation regarding Congressional legislation. After looking at all the candidates in this race, it became abundantly clear t6hat CeCe has the leadership skills and the moral character needed today to be a leader in this country. She is a strong Constitution Conservative and successful business owner, a devoted wife and mother, and Christian. She believes in smaller government and lower taxes to boost this failing economy, so more people can be put on the payroll, rather than on unemployment rolls. She is opposed to ObamaCare and Government take over of Private industry; and so are we.
CeCe’s most important attribute is that she wants input from her constituents. She believes firmly in the concept of “WE THE PEOPLE” running this country. Most importantly, we believe she has the ability to debate the issues with knowledge and intelligence, bring respect back to DC and garner the support to beat the incumbent.
We would like for as many people as possible in the Davidson, Wilson and Cheatham Counties to come out, enjoy the fellowship and have the opportunity to meet CeCe and speak with her face to face.” – Ben West, Jr.
Congratulation Lonnie Spivak.
The results are in for the straw poll and the pop quiz from last Thursday's Apollo School 5th District candidates debate.
STRAW POLL RESULTS:
CeCe Heil 31 – 32.9%Pop quiz on the enumerated powers listed in the constitution:
Last night, seven of the 10 active candidates for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District engaged in a debate at Apollo Middle School in Antioch. The debate was co-sponsored by Conservatives on the Move, The Tennessee ConserVOLiance, Tennessee Tax Revolt, the 9-12 Project Tennessee, the National Fiscal Conservative PAC, and the Davidson County Republican Party. Ken Marrero who blogs at Blue Collar Muse and is a conservative leader in Tennessee was the debate moderator. About 175 people attended the event.
Patrick Miranda and Tracy Tarum who had both missed the Davidson County Picnic were participants in this debate. Absent without an explanation was David Hall, who is running a campaign that must have as its campaign strategy avoiding places where active Republicans will hear your message. Hall missed this event and he also missed the picnic on Saturday. Also absent were Jarod Scott and Vijay Kumar.
The program moderator announced that Vijay had been in an auto accident and was in recovery and could not attend. Following my blog post on Saturday that mentioned Vijay’s absence from the July 10th DCRP picnic, Vijay called me and explained the same thing to me as his reason for missing that event. He said he had been rear-ended in an auto accident about two weeks before and had been in traction and would be out of commission for maybe two more weeks. Surprisingly, I saw Vijay at a meeting Monday night July 12 where there was presentation by a group called Americans for Peace & Tolerance. The meeting concerned the threat of radical Islam and was at the Hampton Inn on Crestmore Dr. I arrived late and left as soon as the event was over, and did not get a chance to speak to Vijay at that meeting. I am going to give Vijay the benefit of the doubt and assume he was too ill to attend the DCRP picnic, but recovered enough to attend the Monday event, but then had a relapse and was too ill to participate in the debate. I wish him a speedy recovery.
The debate was fast paced and enjoyable. A twist to this debate was that each candidate had a certain number of red flags they could throw to have the right of rebuttal of another speaker. Another twist was a Jeopardy-inspired use of white boards where all candidates answered the same question, writing their answer on the board and then revealing the answers at the same time. Ken did a great job moderating the debate.
Despite the enjoyable format and fast pace of the debate, it is still difficult to know who said what when seven people are debating. I recorded the event and took good notes, and may go back and quote some of the debate highlights. From memory however, here are debate highlights and observations.
Bob Ries spoke very loud into the microphone and was deafening. Bob also has a hearing impairment that kept him from adequately hearing the other contestants or the moderator.
Cece Heil and others, said they did not think it was an appropriate government function for FEMA to provide assistance during the recent Nashville flood. Bob Schwartz thought that was appropriate citing the Welfare clause of the constitution. Cece said Bob did not understand the welfare clause.
Bob Schwartz hammered Jeff Hartline on Jeff’s advocacy of an energy tax. Jeff explained that he was not advocating any additional amount of tax but that any additional tax revenue realized from any new additional sources of energy production be taxed at the same rate as current energy production and the revenue be used to reduce the deficit.
Lonnie Spivac advocated a procedural rule change in how congress conducts its business so that earmarks could not be tacked on to unrelated legislation. He credited Bob Ries for also advancing this idea.
Cece Heil said she opposed the Patriot Act but did support the use of harsh interrogation techniques.
Tracy Tarum was selected as the favorite of the candidates when asked who they would like to see win if they did not win the nomination.
Diane di Stacio leads The Star Spangled Banner
Everyone else an "also ran."
Over 500 people attended the Davidson County Republican Party Picnic today in the pavilion at Centennial Park. It was a great event with blaring patriotic music, barbecue, speeches, one-on-one interaction with the candidates, and a straw poll. All of the candidates for governor were there and they mingled and worked the crowd.
The straw poll revealed what has widely been the perception of informed observers in the 5th Congressional district race and that is that the two front runners are Cece Heil and Jeff Hartline and Bob Schwartz is in third place but trailing. In the straw poll a total of 405 people cast ballots, however not everyone voted in all races.
In the straw poll for the 5th Congressional District Cece Heil came in first with 122 votes, Jeff Hartline came in second with 118 and Bob Schwartz came in, in third place with 72 votes. Below is the total breakdown:
David Hall- 12
Jeffery Alan Hartline- 118
Cece Heil- 122
Vijay Kumar- 10
Patrick Miranda- 5
Bob Ries- 10
Bob Schwartz- 72
Jarod D. Scott- 7
Lonnie Speak- 10
Alvin M. Strauss- 0
Tracy C. Tarun-3
I am not very surprised by these poll results. Many people, I think, thought David Hall would pull more votes but I never thought he would do much better than he did. I am surprised that Patrick Miranda did not do better, however. Patrick is a very likable guy and in the early days of the campaign he campaigned hard and was everywhere. I thought he would be a tea party favorite. I did not think he was a front-runner but thought that he would do better than next to last.
Several of the candidates had a big presence at the picnic with signs lining the approaches to the event, decorated booths with their literature, and campaign workers wearing campaign shirts and handing out literature. Each of the candidates present made a three minute speech to the crowd but the candidates worked the crowd shaking hands and meeting people one-on-one and asking them for their vote.
Five of the candidates however were absent. Alvin M. Strauss is not a surprise. No one has ever met him. He is just a name on the ballot and has never had an active campaign. He was not expected. The absence of the other candidates however is puzzling. The other no-shows were Patrick Maranda, V. J. Kumar, Tracy Tarum and David Hall.
Patrick Maranda is said to have an illness in is family that has kept him off the campaign trail and V. J. Kumar is said to have a job conflict that interferes with his campaign schedule. I have no idea where was Tracy Tarum.
Most puzzling is David Hall. He had had a very active campaign with big signs, radio and TV ads, robo calls, mailings, a large RV professionally painted like a tour bus and has had a major presence at other events. He has spend a lot of money in his campaign. However, some weeks ago David Hall stopped attending the Egg and Bacon summits that have been occurring across the county. Where was David Hall?
The DCRP picnic was the place to be to meet Republicans who make campaign contributions, who volunteer, who influence others and who always vote. Maybe the no-shows have a good reason why they could not be present at this event. Maybe they have a strategy for winning the Republican primary that involves by-passing Republicans, but I think they missed the boat. If there was one event a candidate should have attended it is this one. I think it is reasonable to ask if the no-shows are suspending their campaign.
This morning about fifty people gathered at Ryan's Steakhouse in Hermitage to hear a debate between the two presumed front runners in the Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District race, Cece Heil and Jeff Hartline.
Unfortunately, Cece Heil showed up but was unable to speak. She had suffered a complete loss of her voice and could not speak beyond the faintest of a whisper. The debate went on however.
Debate moderator Ben Cunningham gave each of the candidates the questions prior to the start of the debate and Cece quickly hand wrote answers to questions which were then read by Diane di Stacio. For the rebuttal and Q&A, Cece whispered answers into the ear of Diane and Diane repeated. Despite the handicap, Cece held her own. With an incredible disadvantage, Cece performed admirably. She can write fast and whisper well.
The debate was substantive. There were distinctions drawn between the candidates. More on this debate to follow; it is time to be off to the Republican Party picnic.
Ever since the start of the campaign for the Republican nomination for the 5th congressional seat, the eleven candidates have been having a love-fest. There have been few policy differences.
Bob Schwartz has now taken off the gloves and has gone after the presumed front-runner Jeff Hartline on three points:
Energy Policy: Schwartz says Jeff Hartline supports increased energy taxes Immigration: According to Schwartz, Hartline favors amnesty. Medicare: Schwartz says Hartline favors dismantling Medicare.
The issue of immigration has so far gotten the most attention. Hartline has either flip-flopped or clarified his position which has been misrepresented, depending on which candidate you believe. In any event Hartline has taken a more hard line on immigration as a result of Bob’s criticism.
According to Schwartz, “Jeff Hartline dropped language on his web-site last night that called for amnesty for illegal workers who ‘speak English.’ Good! I’d rather have him change his position than keep a bad one.”
Hartline says of his revised or clarrified policy statement on immigrations, “I cannot keep others from misrepresenting me, but I can, and have now, clearly articulated a plan for dealing with this situation.”
Tomorrow morning, July 10th at the Hermitage Egg and Bacon Summit, Jeff Hartline will face Cece Heil in a one-on-one debate. Cece and Jeff are viewed by many observers as two of, if not the two, front runners. Bob Swartz is seen as gaining ground.
Although the deadline for filing second quarter financial reports is not until July 12, Hartline is thought to be winning the fundraising battle. Cece has received several endorsements of people of national stature including an endorsement from Sarah Palin.
Previous joint appearance of the candidates has either included so many candidates that it was hard to remember who said what or the format was not a debate. This one-on-one match up of two of the front runners should give the public a chance to see who can think on their feet and should reveal any policy differences.
Although all of the details are not finalized, Jeff Hartline and Bob Schwartz may be in a one-on-one debate next Saturday, July 17 at the Priest Lake Egg and Bacon Summit. If it occurs, this should prove interesting. The campaign is swinging into high gear.
Governor Palin and CeCe Heil
Nashville, TN, CeCe Heil for Congress, July 7, 2010
CeCe Heil’s congressional campaign merits A-team list of leaders. Cynthia Dunbar, Law Professor & elected member of the Texas State Board of Education, heads up the team of heavy-hitters.
CeCe Heil’s Finance Chair, Tommy Bainbridge, oversees the Financial Committee of Vicki Bartholomew, Steve Lynn, Stephen Mansfield, Jean Ann McNally, Mike McNally and William Morgan.
CeCe’s Advisory Board also boasts an impressive slate including: former Reagan cabinet member Gary Bauer, Campaign For Working Families; Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of America Center for Law and Justice; Mat Staver, Chief Counsel of Liberty Counsel; Dr. Mark Houston MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University; and David Barton, Founder and President of Wallbuilders.
CeCe is honored and humbled by the overwhelming support she has and continues to receive. CeCe is grateful for the expertise, time and commitment her leadership team, staff, volunteers, and supporters bring to her campaign.
Entertainment attorney CeCe Heil kicks off what promises to be an aggressive media campaign in her race for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional district seat by launching her first TV ad. The ad entitled, "We Are the Government" focuses on the public's distrust of tax-and-spend, career politicians in Washington and the need to return to core American values that promote freedom, innovation and opportunity.
"I was very pleased with the commercial," said Heil. "It touches on the frustrations ‘we the people’ have with Washington, but more importantly highlights the fact that there are real solutions out there. We must never forget that ‘we the people’ are the government and together we can turn things around.”
The commercial began its run Tuesday morning, June 29th on the Comcast cable system, hitting such networks as FOX News, CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Other media outreach efforts will be launched in the coming weeks.
To see the commercial click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/CeCeForCongress
I don't know. However, I suspect that Jeff Hartline and Cece Heil are the two front runners. Just from talking to other informed observers, these are the two names I hear most often mentioned as the two most serious candidates. From listening and observing them, I think they are two of the most qualified. Many feel the primary will boil down to these two. There are two other attractive candidates, however, that I won't name but that I think still have a good shot at running a competitive campaign. Everyone else is a very long shot.
Talk show host Steve Gill conducted an on line poll which produced 2,516 votes and produced the following results:
Hartline 31%
Heil 20%
Hall 19%
Schwartz 8%
Miranda 8%
Spivak 7%
Kumar 6%
Reis 1%
There are two other candidates with active campaigns, Tracy C Tarum and Jarod D. Scott, that are not listed in the Gill poll. I don't know if they were not included in the Steve Gill poll originally or if they garnered no votes. If they were not in the original poll then they should have been.
I would not assume that this Steve Gill poll is necessarily reflective of the candidates standing among Republican voters. Steve Gill has had Jeff Hartline on his program and has not had the other candidates, so regular listeners to the Steve Gill show have had exposure to Jeff Hartline and may not have had the same exposure to the others.
Today is the last day of the 2nd quarter financial reporting period. After today we should know who has the financial support necessary to compete.
At the end of the first quarter reporting period which ended on March 31st, Brendan Finucane was the leading fundraiser and reporting having raised $62,575. Finucane has since dropped out of the race however and has endorsed Jeff Hartline. Jeff was the candidate in third place in the money raising competition at the end of the 1st quarter having raised $45,155. Second place in the money competition was David Hall reporting $47,189. David's money however came from his own funds which shows the candidate.s commitment but does not show public support. Jarod Scott reported $16,689. Patrick Mirnad had raised $5405. None of the other Republican candidates reported any funds. By way of comparison, Congressman Jim Cooper reported a $407,611 war chest.
The 1st quarter report should not taken as an indication of what we can expect in the 2nd quarter report. We know that Cece has been raising lots of money. The second quarter report will tell us who are the serious candidates. Now is the time for the candidates to do some serious soul searching and think about whether or not they should continue their campaign. If a candidate does not report having raised some serious money by now, it may be time for that candidate to look at the field of candidates and withdraw and throw his support behind the competitive candidate who most represents his views. It is time to narrow the field to serious candidates.
We need a candidate to come out of this primary with a lot of support. Candidates need to ask themselves if at this point they are simply stoking their own ego and just taking up space or if their continued campaign is contributing to the defeat of Jim Cooper.
Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has endorsed Cece Heil in the Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District race. ACLJ is a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law, primarily arguing religious liberty cases. Mr. Sekulow has argued several important cases before the Supreme Court.
Mr. Sekulow was in Nashville this past Friday night at the fundraiser at the home of Dr. Mark and Laurie Houston. He was there to give the inside story on how important this coming election is going to be for our Nation's future and to say that with CeCe in Congress he would never have to worry about her vote. Jay praised Cece's competence and understanding of federal law and her passion for justice.
Cynthia Dunbar
Last night I had the opportunity to hear Cynthia Dunbar, a member of the Texas School Board speak at a campaign rally for Cece Heil. I discovered that Cynthia Dunbar and Cece Heil are sisters. Ms Dunbar spoke for almost an hour. She was eloquent and scholarly. She was not scary at all and she did not have horns and a tail.
Among informed liberals, Dunbar is one of the most hated women in America, somewhere in the ranks of Sarah Palin and Phyllis Schlafly. She has been accused of wanting to keep American school children dumb and has been called a Christian Taliban. There have been death threats on her life. She is controversial because she has led the fight in Texas to insure that history books used in the Texas school system accurately present the Judeo-Christian heritage of America and present a proper understanding of the founding principles of our county and for her advocacy of what should be included in the text of history books. Since Texas is one of the largest purchasers of school text books, the textbooks written to satisfy Texas are often used in the rest of the nation.
Face it; no social studies or history text is free of bias. I just prefer my text books with a little pro-American bias. Not all historical documents can be studied and not all historical figures can be included in a text book. What to include and what to exclude is a value judgment. Whether Cesar Chavez is more important than Newt Gingrich or Jerry Falwell is a matter of opinion. Whether to call America a “Democratic Society” or a “Constitutional Republic” is a matter of values. When should the term “expansion” be used and when should a text use the term “conquest?” When should a text refer to people as “global citizens” instead of “American people?” Someone has to decide. Should our economic system be called “capitalist” or “free enterprise?” Does it matter?
Far from dumbing-down school children, the conservatives on the Texas school board advocated a more challenging curriculum. Some of what you have heard about the Texas text book controversy, Ms Dunbar said is simply not true. Thomas Jefferson is not deleted from the history books, slavery as a cause of the civil war is not glossed over and Senator Joe McCarthy is not praised. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is not included, however, because the liberal faction on the school board opposed it. The motivation for opposing the inclusion of this act is surmised to be because it was a Republican piece of legislation and liberals wish to maintain the fiction that all civil rights advances occurred because of Democrats.
I myself am in fact a pretty secular guy and a fairly liberal Christian, but I have absolutely no fear that Ms Dunbar wishes to turn America into a theocracy. I was very impressed by her speech. I am pleased that Ms Dunbar is able to influence what is in American text books. I would rather have her on the text book committee rather than any liberal I know.
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