Texas Progressive Alliance Texan Of The Year: Carolyn Boyle & Parent PAC

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The Texas Progressive Alliance has named Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC its “Texan of the Year” for 2006.

The Alliance announced Boyle’s selection on Wednesday following several days of discussion and voting among writers, editors and owners of some of the state’s most prominent and often read progressive political blogs.

Boyle and Texas Parent PAC were among more than 40 individuals and organizations initially nominated for the honor by the bloggers. The race for Texan of the Year was very close due to the many influential organizations and candidates that played a role in Texas politics during 2005.

Other finalists who were neck-and-neck with Boyle and the Parent PAC included the Dallas County Democratic Party (for their transformation of the political landscape in Dallas County) and State Rep.-elect Juan Garcia (D-Corpus Christi), for the high quality campaign he waged leading to his defeat of Rep. Gene Seaman (R-Corpus Christi) in a tough district.

The selection of Boyle and Texas Parent PAC recognizes the tremendous impact both Boyle–individually– and the PAC had on Texas politics in 2006.

Texas Parent PAC was founded in 2005 by Boyle, a former public relations executive who is well-known in the Texas Capitol as an advocate for Texas public schools.

In the midst of an overly-partisan, anti-public education atmosphere that has engulfed the Texas Legislature since its takeover by Republicans in 2002, Texas Parent PAC has had in one election cycle as a great an impact as groups such as The Texas Association of Business, Texans For Lawsuit Reform, and Texans for a Republican Majority did in 2002.

“Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC proved that you don’t have to be a prominent, wealthy donor to make positive changes in the Texas political landscape,” said San Antonio’s Matt Glazer, Senior Writer for Austin-based Burnt Orange Report and founder of Just Another Blog. “Overnight, Parent PAC became the most sought-after endorsement in Texas politics,” Glazer continued.

“This election cycle, Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC showed that soccer moms and PTA dads speak as loud as the James Leininger’s and Bob Perry’s, and that the folks those guys have been helping get elected all these years aren’t doing the job when it comes top public education,” said Vince Leibowitz of Grand Saline, publisher of Capitol Annex.

Candidates echoed similar sentiments. “Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC are the Davids who slew about 5 Goliaths. It shows that the electoral process in Texas still can work,” said State Rep.-Elect Juan Garcia.

“Texas Parent PAC helped, almost single-handedly, change the debate on public education over the past year.  In my race, when a handful of fringe, Republican donors attempted to buy an election, Parent PAC stood up and would not allow it to happen.  Texas, and the upcoming legislative session, will be a better, bipartisan place because of Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC,” said State Rep.-Elect Joe Farias, who ran in a district where Texas Parent PAC made a significant difference.

During the 2006 Republican Primary, Parent PAC supported pro-education Republicans over voucher advocates and other candidates who have been on the wrong sides of many public education issues. The first jewel in Parent PAC’s crown this year came when Dianne Patrick defeated State Rep. Kent Grusendorf in House District 94. In defeating Grusendorf, Parent PAC not only defeated its top target in 15 races in which it was actively involved, it also brought down the powerful Chairman of the House Public Education Committee.

During the general election, Parent PAC branched out, and supported Democrats as well, playing key roles in House District 118 where former school board member Joe Farias defeated George Antuna, a former staffer for Kay Bailey Hutchison.

In all, Parent PAC claims 11 victories between the primary and general election, including both Republicans and Democrats. The PAC raised money from more than 500 donors from across Texas.

Parent PAC winners included:

H.D. 32: Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi (defeated Rep. Gene Seaman)
H.D. 47: Valinda Bolton, D-Austin (open seat)
H.D. 48: Representative Donna Howard, D-Austin, (special election victory against Ben Bentzin in Feb.)
H.D. 54: Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen (open seat)
H.D. 71: Susan King, R-Abilene (open seat)
H.D. 72: Drew Darby, R-San Angelo (defeated Rep. Scott Campbell in the primary)
H.D. 85: Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton (open seat of former Speaker Pete Laney)
H.D. 94: Diane Patrick, R-Arlington (defeated Grusendorf in the primary)
H.D. 101: Thomas Latham, R-Sunnyvale (defeated Rep. Elvira Reyna in the primary)
H.D. 107: Allen Vaught, D-Dallas (defeated Rep. Bill Keffer, another House Public Education Committee member)
H.D. 118: Joe Farias, D-San Antonio (open seat)
H.D. 134: Ellen Cohen, D-Houston (defeated Rep. Martha Wong)

ABOUT THE AWARD & THE ALLIANCE

The award is in its second year. In 2005, The Texas Progressive Alliance’s Texan of the Year award was given to State Rep. Carter Casteel (R-New Braunfels) for her courageous fight against school vouchers and on behalf of Texas public schools. The award gained such notoriety following its inception, Casteel’s receipt of the award was actually used against her in print advertising by her opponents in the 2006 Republican Primary.

The Texas Progressive Alliance includes more than 25 blogs and more than two dozen blog writers, editors and owners from across Texas. These blogs are: The Agonist, Annatopia, Bay Area Houston, Brains & Eggs, Burnt Orange Report, Casual Soap Box, Capitol Annex, Common Sense, District Sixer, Dos Centavos, Eye on Williamson County, Greg’s Opinion, Half Empty, In The Pink Texas, The Jeffersonian, Just Another Blog, Kuff’s World, McBlogger, Marc’s Miscellany, MindSpeak, Musings, North Texas Liberal, Off The Kuff, People’s Republic of Seabrook, Pink Dome, The Red State, South Texas Chisme, Texas KaOS, Truth Serum Blog, and Wyld Card.

The Texas Progressive Alliance promotes the Texas Progressive Alliance BlogAds Network.

Written by Vince Leibowitz

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Vince Leibowitz posted this article under Texan Of The Year on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006 at 12:00 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed. View Technorati Linkbacks.