I was handily defeated in spite of spending over $600,000 to do the following:
1) Distribute two direct mail pieces to almost 500,000 Republican primary households;
2) Run a 60-second radio spot on TX State Radio Network, supplemented by key conservative talk and Christian radio stations;
3) Run ads in several targeted newspapers;
4) RoboCalls to thousands of "Independent" households;
5) Distribute election push cards, website, Facebook page, bumper stickers, letter writing;
6) Actively campaign in-person by my campaign staff and me.
Early polling showed that the typical GOP primary voter has very little info about the position of Railroad Commissioner, what we do, or who my opponent or I were. Given the choice between "Porter" and "Carrillo" -- unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover although I did all in my power to overcome this built-in bias.
I saw it last time but was able to win because the "non-Carrillo" vote was spread among three Anglo GOP primary opponents instead of just one. Also, the political dynamics have changed some since 2004.
Many of you have begun to call and/or write to express your concern over the whole situation. You are correct to be concerned over the fact that the GOP (our party) still has these tendencies to not be able to elect or retain highly qualified candidates who WANT to continue serving the public as I do. It is indeed a shame.
Nevertheless, I refuse to walk away in shame because I know that my team and I did just about all we could have done to ensure that the primary electorate knew of my qualifications, expertise, and experience. The rest was beyond my control. I also urge party leaders to not alienate the Hispanic/Latino voter in Texas, as we now comprise about 39% of the population and we remain the fastest-growing minority group in the nation.
However, none of you should be concerned about me and my family or my staff. Justin, my dedicated chief of staff and former student, gave up an excellent position to come back to help me through a most difficult time in my personal life with regard to my health and campaign. He remains a trusted friend and advisor and I will do all I can to ensure that he and his dear family are well positioned to allow his true, full potential to shine.
As for me and my family, I have learned much over the last several months of personal tragedy -- after my own brain surgery/recovery, the death of my half-brother at Thanksgiving, and the death of my Dad (my best friend) in January:
[sic] THE SPECIFIC OUTCOME OF MY PATH IN LIFE IS NOT IN MY CONTROL, BUT WHOLLY IN THE MERCIFUL HANDS OF MY LORD & SAVIOR. HE, BEING SOVEREIGN, KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR ME & HE ALONE REMAINS IN FULL CONTROL! AS FOR ME, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!
So please don't fret over my situation! God has known my path from before the beginning of time and He guides my path and I am fully confident that He will work things out for His ultimate glory! I do, however, seek your continued prayers for my wife (Joy) and my daughters (Laura, Christina, Grace), that they not overly worry about our future.
I also covet your ongoing prayers for my 86-year old mother (Alicia), who continues to grieve the loss of her firstborn son and my dad within a six-week time period.
Sincerely,
Victor Carrillo
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I know Victor through the Hispanic Issues section of the State Bar of Texas. He is very qualified and a good man, to boot. I voted for him in the primary. It's a shame that sometimes good people lose. Well, Kinky lost too. So, make that two good men. Best wishes to you in all your endeavors, Victor.
What an idiotic move by my fellow Republicans. Please, people, if you come across a race where you don't know what the office does and you don't know who is running, LEAVE IT BLANK. Ignorant voting is worse than not voting.
Message to Mr. Carrillo - why would you stay in a political party that votes out a qualified person just based on their surname?!?
If ever there was a poster child for the racist attitude that pervades the Republican party, to the point of kicking out a qualified incumbent with a hispanic surname, this is it.
Please join the Democratic party. This will not happen to you there!
OMG, why is it when someone looses they have to pull the "Race Card"? If he had won, would he have said "I won primarily due to my Hispanic Surname!"?
The immediate assumption is that everyone is prejudice, and that we are all TOO stupid to have possibly made an educated choice!
Please! I am as "gringo" as you can get, but I grew up in El Paso and Dallas, and my uncle is one of the highest ranking hispanics in the federal government. The man worked his way up from the barrio and obtained a doctorate in Nuclear Physics. The differnce between him and Mr.Carrillo? Integrity!
You where given the job by Perry and the last time you ran for office, did you perhaps think that you might of won because your name stood out from the other three?
It had nothing to do with not having adequate inspections done in North Texas, did it? Couldn't be that you lost due to any of your possible short coming over the past six years, could it?
Be a man. You ran a good campaign, and now you have to spoil it by taking the low road?
Disappointing....
I voted for Victor, I am shocked, but this surname argument does not hold water, and I am really disappointed to hear this excuse.
1.) Carrillo said that in 2004 the non-Latino vote was spread across three Anglos, which was a big difference between then and now. In the 2004 primary, if you combine all his opponents' totals, they beat him by 4,515 votes. For three people that's not a huge margin, and I can't imagine all those votes were cast by racists.
2.) In 2004, Carillo didn't run in one primary, he ran in two. In the runoff he beat Robert Butler in a landslide - 62.77% to 37.22%. Where were the racists then?
3.) In the 2004 general, Carillo won easily over a guy named Scarborough and a guy named Garcia. Way to go, racists.
I figured this out with one google search, maybe the lazy DMN can include a lot more in the story tomorrow.
I thought he was Italian......
That's right RP, we bought and paid for the black and hispanic vote it's ours and we own them....the votes that is
Come join the Democrat plantation, we'll promise you everything, deliver nothing and your suppose to vote for us regardless.
"Laziness grows on people. It begins as cobwebs and ends in iron chains." ~ Sir Thomas Buxton
Of course, race had nothing to do with the loss. That's why all the Anglo sounding incumbents lost as well. Oh, wait, they didn't.
BTW, in the 2004 runoff, state leaders worked hard to prevent this type of thing from happening. This year, they didn't think Carrillo was in danger.
Boy, at this rate we'll NEVER be able to have a Black President that has a muslim name, or a female secretary of state, and especially not a black female as the secretary of state!
You have got to be kidding me, you know that there can't possibly ever be a hispanic voted into the position to lead the Railroad Commission of Texas!
Wait, am I mistaken? Or is this 2010 and all of these positions are currently held by or been held by... whom?
I'm an Anglo who voted for Mr. Carrillo because he has done a good job on the Commission. I am very diasppointed that he feels and says that racism accounted for his loss. It is, however, very strange that he spent 20 times as much as his opponent and still lost by a very considerable margin. Maybe his lament is worth listening to and examining more closely.
I am as shocked as everyone else that he lost. I too am anglo and I voted for Mr. Carrillo. I DO think the hispanic surname cost him votes and the elections, but not for the 'conventional wisdom' reason. I don't think it's rascism at all. I think it is a political bias that sees certain ethnic groups as being politically 'liberal.' I think many republican primary voters, especially in this year, assumed a hispanic name equates to a more liberal (statist) agenda.
How is that any worse than what I do? I will vote for a minority republican candidate over an anglo, all other things being relatively equal. I think it takes great courage to run as a republican as a minority and I want to reward that courage.
" Please join the Democratic party. This will not happen to you there!"
:^D :^D :^D :^D :^D :^D
Yeah, let a black guy or a white guy with the last name of Jones
--- run against an Hispanic surname in an Hispanic area and see what happens!
That doesn't justify what happened to Victor
--- but it is also the truth!
I find it funny that he is blaming his loss on his Hispanic surname. I am a white anglo from South Texas, and people never vote for a person down here based on their surname ;). Oh, never mind, that happens down here all the time, but it is different because you have to be Hispanic to win an election!
I guess it is only racist when happening to a Hispanic, but never when we have qualified white candidates (both parties) getting beat because they don't have a Hispanic name.
Hey, Ridiculous: Your comment is ridiculous. The Valley and the rest of the state are different worlds.
In the Valley, an Hispanic surname helps. It just does, which is why the repubs put up an Hispanic surname against Lloyd Doggett when he got redistricted into a mainly South Texas area a few years ago. But it didn't work, and South Texas voted for Doggett the dem instead of the repub with the Hispanic surname.
In the rest of the state, outside of South Texas, the simple fact is that Anglo repubs simply won't (or damn near never will) vote for a Hispanic surname. They just won't. And if that isn't inherent racism, then nothing is.
race had nothing to do with it. there are a LOT of folks who just didn't feel good about voting for a guy who just had brain surgery. right or wrong, THAT is the element that voters had on their minds.
Gee, was'nt his name Carrillo when he won in the first place? He wants to pull out the race card? Sore Loser.
Given the supposed anti-incumbent stirrings among conservatives, I was surprised almost all incumbents won in the GOP yesterday. From the Sec. of State website, I found about six or so losing incumbents and two had Spanish surnames, including Carillo. I'm sure a handful of people had a legitimate beef with him, but I suspected the same thing on his name. I voted for Carillo after reading both men's responses to the DMN and being quite unimpressed with Porter's abilities to explain his positions.
Now, I too wish for more Hispanic respresentation among GOP leaders, largely because (1) they are a growing segment of the population and (2) knowing their enterprenuerial spirit and strong familial values, I think they are a good fit.
On a different note, I think it's too bad that primary voters didn't put more weight to age for SC judges, given that such a position can be a stepping stone to a lifetime federal appointment should the GOP win the presidency in the near future.
Sour grapes. I knew the candidates qualifications and Mr. Carrillo, many felt you were unfit for office regardless of your opponents resume.
We need someone who looks after the people...not somebody in bed with the oil and gas industry. You're supposed to be a watchdog, not a lapdog.
Way to play the race card, you sore loser.
Carrillo's Hispanic background had nothing to do with my decision to vote Porter. I voted for plenty of other Hispanics, even several who ran against white candidates. The bottom line for me was that I never heard EITHER candidate campaign at all and when I went looking for information all Carrillo had available was a brief bio, a list of endorsements, and some nifty java animations on drilling. Porter had a list of his qualifications (few though they were) and goals as Railroad Commissioner. It felt very much like Porter wanted the job and Carrillo didn't much care either way.
I think Carrillo's statement is premature and irresponsible without proof. If you look at the results data for Dallas, Carrillo did OK in urban areas, even winning a number of major precincts in north Dallas, which should have gone against him based on his reasoning. I assume that is because the political infrastructure in cities equals more informed voters. The candidates worked the local GOP groups, including Carrillo I assume, and it paid off for them.
I voted for Carrillo, but only because I did the research. I follow Republicans pretty closely, and I knew very little about Carrillo (which is something many of my fellow Republicans say as well). He must admit he did not do enough to build recognition with his fellow Republicans. Do some folks choose to vote against a Hispanic surname? Perhaps, but he must take some responsibility for his loss and quit reinforcing negative stereotypes about the GOP. Michael Williams, a African-American, is successful in the GOP because he works the grassroots and builds name recognition. Carrillo didn't, and it cost him.
The GOP is history in Texas once Hispanics become the majority voters and start reaching out to other minorities and labor supporters. Can you say New Mexico? Yay!!! From red to blue, say goodbye to you. Get the lobbyists out of Austin! Get Texas high up on the stats on health care and education! Can you say Governor Anchia??
Carrillo why are you complaining? You ran in the party of the far white and you are complaining about them voting you out? Come one!
What did you expect?
Obviously this guy is a "Moderate or a Liberal Republican" and the only thing he can do is blame his loss on racism.
Please go to the democrat party. That sounds like where you belong sir. They seem to blame everything on racism because that is all they have to try to argue with when they lose and OH YES will continue to lose!!!!
Victor you may be experiencing some backlash for simply being the incumbent. I am saddened that you bring race into the picture. You were elected and have served all of the people, respect the voters' choice even in your loss.
Victor's comments will go a long way in the general election to make that a much closer race than necessary. It does not do justice to the Republican Party. Many Democrats voted in the Republican Primary to try to bring down Perry and may have voted against him. I did not receive his mailer, so maybe he got ripped off, or maybe people did not like his message. He was running as the "Hispanic Christian candidate" which turns many people off. I would vote for someone who was a Hispanic Republican because they would have a greater likelihood of winning a national office. But for someone who bills himself as the highest elected Hispanic official, it sounds like he is trying to advance an ethnic agenda. Lincoln lost many an election, including the one involving the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. I wish Victor all the success in the future, should he decide represent ALL of the people.
Victor's comments will go a long way in the general election to make that a much closer race than necessary. It does not do justice to the Republican Party. Many Democrats voted in the Republican Primary to try to bring down Perry and may have voted against him. I did not receive his mailer, so maybe he got ripped off, or maybe people did not like his message. He was running as the "Hispanic Christian candidate" which turns many people off. I would vote for someone who was a Hispanic Republican because they would have a greater likelihood of winning a national office. But for someone who bills himself as the highest elected Hispanic official, it sounds like he is trying to advance an ethnic agenda. Lincoln lost many an election, including the one involving the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. I wish Victor all the success in the future, should he decide represent ALL of the people.
Message to Mr. Carrillo - Look to the party of the future - Da Dems.
Hispanics will be the majority in the great state of Texas within the next 5-7 years, and once the youth comes of age, the GOP is HISTORY.
Why would any citizen who is not white, middle-aged to senior-citizen or a right-wing, bible thumping bigot ever be a member of the GOP?? Those are the facts folks, and Perry and the Tea-Party crowd are playing to this faction, but time is on our side, it's not a question of if, but when.
Demography equals Destiny.....GOP your time is coming regardless how much you fight to delay it!
Carrillo has only himself to blame. He had over $600,000 in the bank in July. If he had raised another $400K he could have bought TV. Instead he sent out two low-grade mailers designed by a 22-year old amateur, and never hired a political consultant. The same consultant who led Perry to a 50 point turnaround last night, and who helped Victor in his first statewide election, was not asked to help.
Victor's claim that he did everything possible is naive and frankly not substantiated by the kind of campaign he ran. The fact he blamed ethnicity instead of his refusal to build name ID and define himself is enraging to those of us in the GOP who truly want to expand the party. The Hispanic surname argument is convenient, but Victor gave this away with the most lackluster campaign in modern memory (excepting KBH)
Great news!
I'm definitely running for a Republican nomination in the next election.
Carillo was one of the oil and gas industry's biggest lackies. His inattention to the issues confronting citizens of the Barnett Shale is responsible for his defeat. Take a look at the returns from North Texas.
His explanation of his defeat only confirms how incredibly ignorant the guy is.
@Whitey Guns McChristian you have my vote!
White people voted for the less qualified Porter because they dont know anything about Carrillo. It has noting to do with racism.. I am a hispanic and in races that I dont know anything about I always vote for the white guy because I believe the minority will not be conservative enough. Perry could not campaign for Carrillo this time because he had Kay running against him. That is the difference from last time!!!!!!!
Thank you GOP primary voters, you just gave the Democrats the Hispanic voting bloc. Thank you! Thank you ! Thank you!
Welcome to the Texas Republican Party: a bunch of old white people afraid of change and anyone who isn't anglo. They'd vote an unqualified buffoon over a well-qualified incumbent purely based on the man's name. I will be voting Democrat in November so we can have qualified leaders running this state.
I looked over the DMN summaries of David Porter and Victor Carrillo and voted on what I found there. My problem with Carrillo is that he looked like he had many ties to the oil industry. I didn’t want someone on the commission who had a reason to not be impartial. Porter is a CPA and I felt that gave him the understanding of business to make the needed decisions.
I voted for every unknown, underfunded candidate on the ballot. If Victor Carrillo had fit that description, I would have voted for him. And today I would have regretted it.`
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. -OSCAR WILDE
Hmmmm, Debra Medina could have made the same claim. This guy is a LOSER in every meaning of the word!
Mr. carillo, thank you for speaking the truth George Bush kep saying we need to reach out to the Hispanic community and got trounced. The politics of anti immigration and anti Hispanic agendas within the Republican Party will be its demise.
If you fear the Tea party you should fear the great number of Hispanic voters that will be eligible to vote and will vote in November. The numbers will be suficient enough to sway and perhaps win the State and defeat Gov.Perry.
Wake up Republican Party, Mr Carillo is sending a message,if he, a longtime staunch Republican feels that way,imagine all those non Hispanic non Republicans that feel just like Mr. Carillo.
Although our system has flaws we live in a country where we have the right to vote. With that right comes the obligation to learn about the candidates,their qualifications, and experience. If Porter voters had taken the time to read about these two men they would have seen the only good choice was Carrillo. Texas will suffer for this. If you don't know about a random name on a ballot..leave it blank.
He should have had the Dallas City Council to change his name to Cesar Chavez.
It just furthers the stereotype that the GOP's candidate for Governor is a middle-aged plain vanilla white dude named (snicker) Bill WHITE!!!
Oh, those crazy Republicans. So predictable.
There must be a typo in the other blogs.
This guy is a Democrat.
His name must REALLY be Bill Hispanic or Bill Black. What's going on?