SD 11’s Joe Jaworski: Fund Raising, The District, And More

[Ed. Note: This is Part III in this series. Part I may be found here; Part II is here.]

In Post I, we told you that SD 11 (comprised of parts of Brazoria, Harris, and Galveston Counties) is winnable by a Democrat. Here is why:

Harris County makes up 45 percent of the district; Galveston County makes up 32 percent of the district, and Brazoria County comprises 24 percent of the district.

The district is 10 percent African-American and 20 percent Hispanic—two populations who have been under-represented in recent elections and provide significant votes for Democrats.

Of the likely 260,00 voters who will vote in the SD 11 election in 2008, Joe Jaworski needs about 135,000 for a ’safe’ win. As Joe’s home county of Galveston has trended steadily Democratic in recent years, that is a plus.

In addition, there are an estimated 25,000 registered voters in the district who could vote but aren’t considered “likely voters. ” A major GOTV effort to target these voters can help put them in Joe’s column.
Given that the district is winnable, but will take a good-sized warchest, we asked Joe about fund raising:

CAPITOL ANNEX: Tell us a little about your fund-raising strategy, and how the internet and the Texas Netroots play into that.

Joe Jaworski: Our strategy is to raise somewhere between a million and two million dollars. And, instead of just worrying about it, we’re going out and doing it. There is no shortage of people you can call to help: family, friends, colleagues, strangers–soon-to-be friends, people around the state.

There is no excuse for not raising the money, but it helps if potential contributors understand this is a winnable race. That changes some $500 contributions to $5,000 contributions. Money begets money.

We must explain to people that this is the most likely senate district to flip in 2008. My guess is, after we were all sweating it out over Mario Gallegos being outside the chamber in a hospital bead during the voter ID nightmare, people realize we need more than 11 senators to block. I’m the 12th man.

What if Mario Gallegos had rejected his liver right then and there? Where would we be today? What if someone else got sick, which happened. People do get sick, and it’s a reality of politics that sometimes you won’t have all 11 on certain issues. We’ve got to have a wider margin in the Senate to account for that.

As far as the internet, I can’t tell you how much I love my website. And, we’re really going to be stepping up our web push over the next 30 days. We see the full potential of the netroots and we want to get going in that direction to take advantage of that.

It’s dawned on me and a lot of people over the last year, that you guys [the netroots] have been out there winning the battles and fighting the battles for a long time. It’s communication and fund-raising potential that levels the playing field between corporate ownership of candidates and people-powered politics.

The Netroots has begun to restore what years and years redistricting and mountains of PAC cash have eroded.
Net begins to restore what years of red and mojnt of pac cash nave eroded.

In the next 30 days, we’ll be fully linked in with Act Blue. But, already, in the last days of the campaign, we raised $37,000 through the internet, off our own website.

CAPITOL ANNEX: What about public education and education funding. What are your thoughts on those areas?

JOE JAWORSKI: Everyone is probably impacted by their local school district in some way. To give you an idea of some of the insanity, let’s take a look at my local school district, Galveston.

I have to say, I’m not a big fan of Robin Hood. I don’t know if what they did in the last special session is enough, and Galveston is a perfect example of that.

We are losing population, yet the island is being built up at a skyrocketing rate. People come down here and build condos and second homes, and our appraisal rolls have skyrocketed. Now, we’re over the ‘magic number’ and have become a ‘rich’ district over night. Yet, 50 percent of the kids are on free or subsidized lunch. To think that a school such is this, with aging infrastructure and low-income students has to send millions of dollars to the state every year is absurd.

Of course, a lot of that is based upon the presence of corporate largess. Those refineries are worth a lot of money. But, how much do they impact the school? The school tax base is often times dependent upon how well business in the district does.

The Legislature must do something–stare down this issue with determination–and show that education is a priority and that the next generation is a priority to us.

Of course, this costs money, but there have to be more broad-based ways to pay for it than property taxes. There are lots of ways we tax people and business in this state.

Until we get off the mantra of lowering taxes at all costs–which sounds great to some people–and look at the whole enchilada, we’re not going to be able to do it effectively.

We need to demand excellence from our government.

CAPITOL ANNEX: Talk a little more about that.

JOE JAWORSKI: It’s a daring word, excellence. But, when was the last time we demanded excellence from our government? We say ‘give the bare minimum, please, and don’t shame us,’ because we’re so used to getting shamed. When it comes to services in life, say you go out to eat, and your meal is nasty, you send it back. When it comes to our government, the greatest thing we have going for us, we take whatever is thrown at us.

CAPITOL ANNEX: You recently put up a post over at Burnt Orange Report about the community college insurance situation. Can you expound on that a little?

JOE JAWORSKI: People think that because Governor Perry vetoed it, there is nothing that can be done on it. That’s not the case. The Legislative Budget Board can be demanded to do the right thing. And, any legislator who isn’t demanding they do the right thing out to explain not only to the trustees of these community colleges, but to the students and, frankly, the taxpayers, why they are not demanding the LBB take action. Otherwise, the costs will be passed right on to the students.

CAPITOL ANNEX: You mentioned passing costs on to students. That brings up higher education. What should we do there.

JOE JAWORSKI: We need to roll back deregulation of tuition, just as we need to restore the health insurance of these community college employees. We don’t need to be attacking these colleges, it’s other-worldly. What fraud is the governor talking about? If he’s got evidence of fraud, bring it on. And, why would he fund half the biennium and not the other? I can’t imagine what kind of reasoning he went through.

CAPITOL ANNEX: The subject of higher ed brings up something else, issues like stem cell research. What’s your position on that?

JOE JAWORSKI: First off, I’m a big believer in exploring the boundaries of science. How else do we cure illnesses? I do not understand the fascination that politicians have with playing politics with science. I’m a believer in exploring and using stem cells for the greater public good. It’s not some selfish place I’m speaking from, either. It’s for the betterment of all people who are ill and could be well. We’re talking about stem cells that would be discarded anyway.

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