Kingwood College Republicans November Newsletter

Greetings Everyone,

After a long and hard fought campaign, Republicans around the Country got their reward on Tuesday as we took back control of the U.S. House of Representatives (and narrowed the partisan split in the Senate). I want to thank everyone who took the time to help make a difference. Whether you did campaign work or simply voted, you helped to make election night victorious. Republicans across the country sent out the message that big, social government is not what this Country is looking for (or needs for that matter). But, just because the election is over does not mean that the job is done: far from it. First and foremost, we must continue to work towards maintaining this victory in the 2012 elections. Additionally, we need now to focus our attention on the legislative agendas and help support our elected leaders. Over the next couple of months the Club will begin working toward these goals. Our November regular business meeting will be on November 11th, at 12:30pm, in CLA 210. We will be working on ways to increase our presence in legislative arena, and how we can keep the Conservative momentum going in our community. I hope to see everyone there.

Brent

National Races The big news on the National front is the Republican success in the U.S. House of Representatives. Seeing the biggest gain in seats since 1938, the party will now have a 239 to 185 seat lead in the House. And, while the party was not able to secure control in the Senate (only 1/3 of those seats were up for election), several key wins did narrow the partisan gap to 46 Republicans and 52 Democrats, with the remainder as Independent. In Harris County, U.S. Representative District 2 was won by incumbent , District 10 Michael McCaul, and District 22 by . In Montgomery County kept his seat in U.S. House District 8. Unfortunately Republican candidates were not able to unseat current incumbents in House Districts 9 and 18 (Green & Lee).

State Races In the State of , the Republican Party was able to maintain its position as the dominant force in State government. While he was not quite able to carry Harris County (not a big surprise), remains in the Governors seat for an unprecedented 3rd , four-year term. In addition, Gov. Perry also has the distinction of being Texas’s longest serving governor. Along with Gov. Perry, several incumbents retain their positions in the State’s Executive branch. They include David Dewhurst, Lt. Governor; , Attorney General; and Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts. In the Texas House, Republicans picked up 23 seats to widen their majority to a 99 to 51 split. In Harris County, several State Representative positions were won by Republican contenders, including Dan Huberty who was able to beat his opponent with 75% of the votes to win the 127th State Representative District. And in Montgomery, every open seat for the State House was won by a Republican candidate. In addition to the House, the remains under the control of Republicans. In Senate District 3 (Montgomery Co.), Robert Nichols trumped his opponent with 92% of the vote. Meanwhile, in District 7 (Harris Co.), kept his seat with 86% percent of the vote. Lastly, there were numerous other positions (judges, county commissioners, etc...) won by Republican candidates.

Operation Red November This project of the Texas College Republicans (TCR) has been a success. For the most part the Great State of Texas remained a very “Red” voting state, with some counties, like Montgomery voting very heavily for the Republican party (85% straight party vote). Even others, like Harris County contributed to the large Party victory in the State, as well as the Nation. The big news from the project are the results from the 17th and 23rd Congressional Districts. Both and Quico Canseco were able to unseat their respective Democratic, incumbent opponents. The TCR will now also be turning its attention to the State’s legislative agenda. The upcoming session is going to have several key issues. Among them will be re-districting based on the 2010 Census numbers and overcoming a potential State budget shortfall. There will be more information in the coming months as to how Kingwood College Republicans can be involved.