The head of Battleground Texas is telling supporters that despite an Election Day-shellacking, the group plans to stay put for the next round of elections in 2016. In a memo posted on the group’s website, executive director Jenn Brown says Battleground Texas is analyzing what went wrong.  “I know that the losses last week were tough, and there has been a lot of negativity in the aftermath of the election. But I want you to look forward with me. Because we have work to do,” said Brown.

Jenn Brown, executive director of Battleground Texas

Battleground Texas was the creation of Obama campaign operatives who pledged to turn red-state Texas blue by identifying, registering and turning out Democratic voters. The group said it would use techniques learned in President’s Obama’s successful campaign efforts, especially in Ohio, and apply them to Texas. There’s little evidence any of that worked. The group promised to boost turnout among Hispanics. Turnout actually dropped. The group acted as the field operation for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis and targeted women voters .  Republican Greg Abbott beat Davis among women by nine points. Davis ended up winning only 16 of the state’s 254 counties – and lost big counties like Bexar and Harris where Davis campaign allies said Battleground Texas said it had an active voter-turnout program. Davis lost to Abbott by 20 percentage points – the worst showing by a Democrat governor candidate in 16 years.

“Republicans (and even some Democrats) are calling Battleground Texas a ‘failure,’” Brown wrote. She said volunteers have been sent a survey for feedback. She said the organization will run a computer program to determine who didn’t vote and will call many of them to ask why.

“We’ll develop a plan that ensures we are as effective as possible in the years to come,” she said. “Many of you have already shared your great ideas with us. I’ve heard from people who completed just one volunteer shift, and I’ve heard from our biggest donors, and they all want this to continue.”

A top Texas Democrat says “there might be some accommodation” for Battleground Texas to assist in the 2016 presidential race, “but they will not run the grassroots program in Texas.” The group’s biggest financial donors – Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn – are founders of the Ready for Hillary super-PAC anticipating a 2016 presidential bid by Hillary Clinton. If Clinton does run and the Mostyns continue to bankroll Battleground Texas, the effort could operate alongside a program administrated by Democratic veterans who know the state.

According to another top Democratic organizer, Battleground Texas failed so completely to organize in the state’s two most populous counties – Dallas and Harris – with its volunteer corps that the Wendy Davis camp had to step in in the final weeks. One person close to Battleground Texas said it’s untrue that the Davis camp had to step in to bolster field operations in Dallas and Harris counties in the final couple of weeks.  According to Davis campaign insiders, Battleground Texas relied on unpaid volunteers rather than augmenting the effort with paid workers. The model, which worked in Ohio, didn’t work in working-class areas like South Texas and urban strongholds. Davis raised money for her campaign field operation and Battleground Texas spent it. According to campaign finance reports, nearly $400,000 went to a Chicago consulting firm, 270 Strategies, headed by Jeremy Bird, who helped create Battleground Texas. The Austin American-Statesman reported that $1 million went to consultants. In her memo, Brown said Texas Democrats, like counterparts across the country, fell victim to a GOP wave that toppled Democratic candidates in many states.

In a fiercely contested fundraising effort, Republican Greg Abbott goes into the final days of the governor’s race with $13 million in the bank. Democrat Wendy Davis reports about $1 million on hand. Both sides have spent millions on TV commercials and campaign travel — and the figures thus far suggest the collective cost of running for governor could top $90 million.

(Wayne Slater)

Wendy Davis looks to the future with $1 million on hand for the campaign's final days

New finance reports show that Davis actually raised more money than Abbott in the last four weeks, but Abbott started with the race with much more in the bank to build on. Abbott raised about $4.2 million in the last four weeks. Davis raised about $5.1 million – a combination of her governor’s account and a coordinated account with the group Battleground Texas.

Basically, the bottom-line figures reflect the pre-purchased TV time for commercials that both sides will run through the November 4 general election. That said, the spending has left Davis and Abbott with very different bottom lines.

Her own governor’s account has about $550,000, according to her campaign. Add to that another $400,000 in the joint-Victory Committee account and that leaves Davis on her own with just over $1 million.

Greg Abbott goes into final days with $13 million in the bank

In contrast, Abbott’s $13 million on hand suggests that if he’s elected governor, he would go into office with a healthy political account to build on for any future race. As Christy Hoppe reported yesterday, Abbott raised $4.2 million in the last four weeks, and has been spent heavily – spending down to $13 million a campaign treasury that was $30 million just four weeks ago.

Abbott’s largest contributors in the last month include $100,000 donations from Houston anti-abortion rights activists Kathaleen Wall, Dallas corporate tax consultant Brint Ryan, Conroe pharmaceutical sales executive Richie Ray and Midland oilman Javaid Anwar. His largest out-of-state contribution was $80,000 from Florida road-construction contractor Joe Anderson.

Davis’ contributions include $210,000 from Houston investor Lillie Robertson, $150,000 from Dallas arts patron Marguerite Hoffman, $125,000 from Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn and $100,000 from the Beaumont law firm Provost Umphrey. Her out-of-state contributions include $100,000 from the SEIU labor union in Washington and $80,000 from Wendy Schmidt of Palo Alto, Calif., a philanthropist and wife of the Google executive director. She received more than $900,000 as in-kind contribution work from Battleground Texas, the Texas Organizing Project and Planned Parenthood.

Abbott has consistently led Davis in the polls. Abbott advisers are confident he will win — along with the rest of the GOP slate of candidates running for statewide office. Battleground Texas, a group formed by Obama campaign operatives with the promise of turning red-state Texas blue, has worked for more than a year to identify and motivate Democratic voters in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 1994. It’s not clear how effective the effort has been. Early voting in-person turnout in some counties Democrats need — including Harris, Dallas — is down from four years ago.

Hear the one about Wendy Davis going to hell? A Republican state representative got a big laugh Saturday from Abbott and a roomful of supporters with a joke at Davis’ expense. Abbott faces Davis, a Democratic state senator, in next month’s general election for governor. On Saturday, Abbott and GOP attorney general nominee Ken Paxton were campaigning at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Frisco.

Abbott was introduced by Frisco state Rep. Pat Fallon, who opened with a joke in which Wendy Davis visits a grade school and sees a boy reading a book about whales. Here’s the joke Fallon told:

The first grader asks Davis how many people could fit in the stomach of the whale. Davis says none, the whale’s throat is too small. But the boy asks about Jonah, wasn’t he swallowed by a whale?

When Davis repeats that nobody could be swallowed by a whale, the boy declares that when he gets to heaven, he’ll ask Jonah personally.

Fallon then quoted Davis, “Well, what if Jonah went to hell?” drawing groans from the supporters at the rally.

“Then the little boy said, ‘Well, Ms. Davis, you can ask him,’” Fallon quipped.

Abbott, who was next to Fallon, laughed and the supporters clapped and cheered.

Abbott campaign spokeswoman Amelia Chasse distanced the GOP nominee from the joke. “While clearly intended to be humorous, the comment was inappropriate and should not have been made,” she said.

Candidates on both sides in the governor’s race in Texas have handled the divisive issue of abortion gingerly. Democrat Wendy Davis and Republican Greg Abbott have staked out very different positions. She’s for abortion rights, he’s against them. But largely lost in all the talking points is an area where both candidates actually agree.

Both Davis and Abbott supports the right of a woman to get an abortion for any reason, without restriction, during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. That’s the law as passed by the Legislature. And while it might come as a surprise to some supporters, Abbott’s campaign says he’s not just defending it as attorney general, but he supports it.

The Texas law HB2, which is in court, adds restrictions on abortion clinics, requires doctors to have admitting privileges to local hospitals and outlaws most abortions 20 weeks after fertilization. But for the first five months of pregnancy, it’s legal for a woman to get an abortion to 20 weeks after fertilization.  “Greg Abbott supports HB2,” said Abbott campaign spokeswoman Amelia Chasse.

Chasse said Abbott is defending the law in court as the attorney general. As governor, if he’s elected, she said, “He will continue to support it” if it remains the law, including the ability to get an abortion for five months as consistent with the Supreme Court ruling in the case.

No doubt Davis is the more robust supporter of abortion rights. She was catapulted to national attention by her filibuster the bill, whose opponents warn will force the closure of abortion clinics. The issue is a good one to energize her political base – but it’s also one that can alienate some moderate voters she needs. As for Republican Abbott, he’s cultivated abortion opponents who see him as a hardline abortion opponent. But he’s not always been clear about precisely what he supports and what he opposes.

Abbott’s opposition to abortion has evolved over the years. In his first race for attorney general in 2002, his campaign said during the GOP primary he opposed abortion without exceptions such as in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the woman. That summer, in the general election, he amended his position to allow an exception to protect a woman’s life.

Earlier in this year’s governor’s race, in an interview with Christy Hoppe, Abbott refused to be pinned down too precisely. ”My personal belief is one of pro-life. And you work with that within the parameters of what the Supreme Court has allowed, and then you do things like what was achieved this (just completed) legislative session,” he said in the interview.

In the September gubernatorial debate in Edinburg, Abbott addressed the issue of allowing abortions for 20 weeks. “Texas is ensuring that we protect more life and do a better job of protecting the health care of women by providing that women still have five months to make a very difficult decision. But after that time, the state has an interest in protecting innocent life,” Abbott said.

Asked to clarify whether Abbott was saying he was defending the law in court as attorney general but personally opposes the provision allowing abortion for 20 weeks or whether he supports the law. His campaign said he supports it.

While some Democrats have avoided President Obama, Democrat Wendy Davis says “I’ve never backed away” from him and would be “thrilled” if he came to Texas to campaign for her gubernatorial bid. Asked today whether she has asked Obama to campaign with her, Davis said no. “I imagine he’s busy doing other things,” she told reporters.

(Wayne Slater)

Wendy Davis tells campaign volunteers in Austin early-voting figures look good for Democrats

The issue flared earlier in the campaign when Obama, who is not popular in Texas, came to the state but Davis was campaigning elsewhere. They did meet once in Austin during a 50^th anniversary symposium on the Civil Rights Act. But the meeting was private and the media weren’t invited to photograph them together.

In several states, Republican candidates in senate and governor races have sought to link their Democratic opponents to Obama and his policies. Democrats have pushed back, in some cases declining to say even whether they’d voted for him for president. Republican Greg Abbott is running an ad with their pictures side-by-side. Asked about the president, Davis denied she’s tried to avoid him.

“I would be thrilled if he or the Clintons would want to come and help,” she told reporters Wednesday at a campaign event in Austin. “I was pleased that Michelle Obama was willing to record a radio ad for me. And I’m very honored to have their support and the support of so many prominent Democrats across this country.”

Abbott was pressing the message Wednesday that Davis was an Obama acolyte. At a campaign rally in San Antonio with actor Chuck Norris, Abbott told GOP supporters a vote for Davis a vote for Obama policies.

At the Austin event, Davis criticized Abbott for refusing to say whether he would have opposed interracial marriage had he been attorney general years ago when some states banned it. Abbott has said his job as attorney general is to defend the law on the books, not pick and choose what he wanted to defended. Abbott is in court fighting a challenge to the state’s ban on gay marriage. Asked last week if he would have defended the interracial marriage ban in the same away when it was on the books, Abbott refused to answer, saying the question was hypothetical.

Davis: “I was just shocked that in the year 2014, Greg Abbott refused to answer the question of whether he would defend a ban on interracial marriage. We’ve moved decades beyond that. It was a simple question, with a simple answer. And the fact that he won’t answer it raises concerns.”

The city of Houston sparked a firestorm when it subpoenaed the sermons of five pastors who led opposition to the city’s equal rights ordinance. Christian conservative groups and politicians, including Attorney General Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, denounced the action as an attack on religious liberty. Faced with the criticism, the city amended its subpoenas to remove any mention of “sermons.” But it still seeks “all speeches or presentations related to” the ordinance and a petition drive aimed at repealing it.

Opponents had mounted the petition drive but the city ruled there weren’t enough valid signatures to put the repeal issue on the ballot. Opponents filed suit. The case is set for trial in January.

The ordinance bans discrimination by businesses that serve the public and in housing and city employment. Religious institutions are exempt. Critics complain the ordinance grants transgender people access to the restroom of their choice in public buildings and businesses, excluding churches.

Mayor Annise Parker says the city wasn’t trying to intrude on matters of faith. She says it just wants to know what pastors advised folks about the petition process. But critics are deeply suspicious the Houston subpoena could set up a test case aimed at revoking the tax exemption of religious organizations that advocate political activity the government doesn’t like.

What to make of the balancing act between the city’s effort to defend its equal rights ordinance and pastors who encouraged people to oppose it in speeches and correspondence?

What are the limits, if any, of religious leaders to speak out as a matter of religious faith without facing a government subpoena?

We asked our Texas Faith panel of religious leaders, theologians, academics and faith-based activists what they thought of the clash between faith and politics in Houston. Their responses: diverse and provocative.

“I celebrate the courage of preachers who, like the ancient prophets, become critics of the political system,” said one Texas Faith panelist.

But another said: “Foolish paranoid irrationality aside, the city of Houston does not restrict preachers’ ability to pontificate on why some people should be given human rights, but others should not.”

And there was this: What if they had been mosques? Would Ted Cruz and champions of religious liberty been so quick to ride to the rescue?

If you think there’s consensus – even among those in the faith community – you’re wrong.

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Wendy Davis’ political blueprint depends in large part on an getting new voters registered, motivated and to the polls in the November governor’s race. Davis and allies at Battleground Texas promise an unprecedented voter-turnout program. Battleground Texas - which acts as Davis’ field operation - is the product of former Obama campaign operatives who are pledging to turn red-state Texas blue. My colleague Gromer Jeffers Jr. had a story Sunday about how both sides preparing for extensive voter outreach.

Getting new voters begins with registering new people. When the secretary of state last week announced a record-high 14 million Texans are registered to vote, Battleground Texas trumpeted that number as evidence their efforts are working. Not so much, it turns out, according to the actual numbers.

For example, voter-registration in the top five Democratic-rich South Texas counties where Davis expects to do well is up 5.8 percent from the last time there was a governor’s race – slightly better than the average statewide. But voter registration in five top GOP-rich suburban counties is up a whopping 13.8 percent.

The Davis camp hopes for a good showing in Dallas County and Harris County, especially among Democratic-leaning black and Hispanic voters. Dallas County voter registration is up about 5 percent from four years ago. Harris County is up over 6 percent. And voter registration in Travis County where Battleground Texas has a strong presence is up 8.4 percent.

But the real voter-registration increases this election are in suburban GOP strongholds like Fort Bend County (17.5 percent), Collin County (14.3 percent), Rockwall County (12.9 percent), Denton County (11.6 percent) and Williamson County (14.2 percent).

Does that mean Battleground Texas has failed to deliver on its much-ballyhooed promise to register new voters? Not necessarily. In the big South Texas counties they say they’ve targeted, the increase in registered voters is a lot better this year than four years earlier. For example, in Hidalgo County, voter registration is up 7.5 percent from 2010. Four years earlier, when Democrat Bill White was on the ballot, voter registration grew 5.9 percent in from 2006 to 2010. The same thing for Cameron County, where voter registration this time has grown twice as much as it did between 2006 and 2010, the last governor’s race.

Also, registration is only part of the picture. There are lots of voters who are registered but don’t vote — particularly Hispanic voters that Davis needs to win. The Davis political team promises to turn out a record number of those voters – in effect, to change the historic election patterns in Texas. Whether that happens, we’ll know on Election Day. In the meantime, word among some Davis allies is that Battleground Texas might be preparing to defend itself by suggesting they did their work, she was just a bad candidate.

Wendy Davis served notice Wednesday she is not backing down from a hard-hitting TV ad accusing GOP gubernatorial opponent Greg Abbott of getting a big disability award and then working to close the courts to others. “I saw the ad. I stand by the ad,” Davis told reporters.

Davis has been attacked by Abbott allies who say the spot is insensitive because the attorney general is in a wheelchair. And she has been questioned by some Democratic supporters who say the 30-second spot will turn off voters, even if it’s accurate. Abbott is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He was struck by a tree while jogging in 1984, sued the homeowner and a tree company and received a multimillion dollar settlement. Abbott has been a leader in efforts to curb access to the courts by injured people suing business. Abbott says despite considerable changes in civil law in Texas over the last decade, a person injured together could receive the same settlement he did. Davis disputes that.

“He has shown that he is actively seeking the deny them the same justice he received. And the ad calls into stark contrast the issue in a way voters deserve to know,” Davis said while campaigning at a restaurant in Austin.

Abbott’s campaign has condemned the ad as “disgusting.” Spokeswoman Amelia Chasse says the spot is the sign of “a desperate politician” who trails in the polls and in campaign money: “Sen. Davis is showing that if she is going to fail, she will do it in spectacular fashion. Her reprehensible rhetoric has reached a level of demagoguery that is as desperate as it is disappointing.”

Davis said any of her allies who worry the commercial will backfire among voters are wrong. “What we know from testing this ad with the votrers is it’s an incredibly effective ad,” she said. She disputed Abbott’s contention that an injured person today would get the same settlement under state law. She noted that Abbott’s own lawyer in the case has said that changes in Texas tort law would make it virtually impossible for someone today to win the kind of settlement that Abbott received.

She cited a case before the Texas Supreme Court when Abbott served as a justice. “Greg Abbott ruled against a woman who was the victim of a brutal rape by a vacuum cleaner salesman when a company could have done a background check … and would have discovered that he had a sexual criminal history. Greg Abbott ruled that company owned her no obligation. Put that in strong contradiction to his belief that a homeowner and a tree-company owned him an obligation. He rightfully received justice, she deserved to rightfully receive justice.”

Gov. Rick Perry’s approval ratings appear to be unchanged in the wake of his indictment by a grand jury on charges of abusing his authority. Perry is charged with using his office to threaten the Travis County district attorney with the loss of state money if she didn’t resign. The DA had been convicted of druken driving and Perry said he’d lost confidence in her. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg refused to resign and Perry vetoed funding for her office.

Eric Gay//AP

According to a new Texas Lyceum poll, Perry’s positive approval rating remains at 57 percent among registered voters. That’s basically remains unchanged from this time last year. However, Texans are unsure about whether the governor broke the law.

For those Texans who had heard something about the indictment, 43 percent said it is “too soon to tell” whether or not Perry was innocent or guilty, while 28 percent believe the Governor is innocent, and 22 percent believe he is guilty. Nearly three-quarters of Texans said they believe the charges against the Governor are mostly political. Perry has asserted his innocence and assembled a legal team, accusing Democrats in Travis County of trying to damage him for political reasons. The Travis County district attorney is not prosecuting Perry. A Republican state judge appointed a special prosecutor from San Antonio with GOP credentials to oversee the prosecution.

President Obama’s job approval among adult Texans is almost evenly split, with 48 percent approving and 50 percent registering disapproval (among registered voters 44 percent approve, 53 percent disapprove). Not surprising, Republicans continue to rank President Obama’s performance as poor (89 percent), while Democrats give him a good rating at 83 percent.

With just five weeks left in the Texas governor’s race, a new poll of likely voters shows Greg Abbott has a solid, single-digit lead over Democrat Wendy Davis. The poll indicates Davis does well among Hispanic and black voters. But the GOP nominee does better among white voters who are expected to turn out in the largest numbers in the November general election.

Although Davis has made a strong pitch to women voters, she apparently has not attracted big numbers to her side. Abbott holds a statistical lead among women 46 percent to 44 percent, according the survey. That’s within the margin of error, which means it is a statistical tie. The Davis camp’s blueprint to win requires a strong turnout among Hispanic voters and a majority of women, especially moderate suburban women who were key to Ann Richards’ gubernatorial win in 1990.

(Andy Jacobson/The Dallas Morning News)

Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis met Tuesday in their final debate in Dallas

The poll by the Texas Lyceum was conducted between Sept. 11-25, before news reports of a damning independent audit of the job-creating Texas Enterprise Fund that gave away millions of taxpayer dollars with lax oversight. According to the state auditor, the fund distributed $222 million to entities that never filed a formal application or promised specific job targets. Abbott was responsible in state law for checking state funds and retrieving misspent money. The attorney general has received $1.4 million in campaign contributions from beneficiaries of the enterprise fund.

In their final debate Tuesday in Dallas, Davis targeted Abbott’s role in the enterprise fund scandal. She accused him of covering up problems bedeviling the fund. As attorney general, he ruled to keep company applications from public view – even in cases where there were no applications.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Republican State Senator Dan Patrick of Houston leads likely voters over Democratic State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio by 14 points – 47 percent to 33 percent – with a stronghold among Republicans – 85 percent to 2 percent - and Anglos – 59 percent to 22 percent.

The Lyceum governor’s race results mirror a Rasmussen poll in August that had Abbott ahead by eight points, 48-40. As the race approaches election day, there are indications the margin between them is narrowing. In March, a Rasmussen poll put Abbott ahead 53-14.

According to the Lyceum poll, Davis holds a clear lead among Democrats (86 percent to 6 percent), Hispanics (62 percent to 26 percent), and African Americans (83 percent to 3 percent). Abbott holds strong leads among Republicans (85 percent to 5 percent) and Anglos (62 percent to 27 percent), and also slight leads with both Independents (38 percent to 32 percent) and with women (4

“Davis is running slightly ahead of other Democrats on the ballot and over-performs compared to Democrats from recent statewide races,” said poll director Daron Shaw of the University of Texas. “But the number of candidates who have made up this kind of deficit in the last month, in a state where party ID favors the other side so consistently, is near zero.”

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minutes 3.8 percentage points, which means results could vary by that much in either direction. The Texas Lyceum is an independent, non-partisan organization that encourages leadership development in Texas.

The poll also found Gov. Rick Perry’s approval ratings don’t appear to have changed in the wake of his indictment. The Republican governor is charged with abusing his authority by using state money to force the Travis County district from office. She refused to leave office and Perry cut funds to her office.

The survey says positive approval rating of 57 percent among registered voters basically remains unchanged from this time last year. However, Texans are unsure about the governor’s innocence after a grand jury under the authority of an independent prosecutor indicted him.  For those Texans who had heard something about the indictment, 43 percent said it is “too soon to tell” whether or not Perry was innocent or guilty, while 28 percent believe the governor is innocent, and 22 percent believe he is guilty. Nearly three quarters of registered voters in Texas say they believe the charges against the governor are mostly political.