South Texas Stands Up For Noriega

Local leaders welcome U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega to Uvalde State Representative Pete Gallego joins Governor Briscoe in praising Noriega for bringing military experience to national debate

(Uvalde, TX) – State Representative and Army Lt. Col. Rick Noriega, who is exploring a run for the U.S. Senate, was the Special Guest last Wednesday night at a fundraiser honoring fellow State Representative Pete Gallego (D-Alpine). Former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe and Uvalde County Democratic Party Chairman Pat Dodson hosted the event at the Oasis Outback Bar-B-Q. Governor Briscoe and Representative Gallego recently announced their endorsements for Noriega's bid for Senate.

"I am honored to receive the support of Governor Briscoe and my colleague, Representative Gallego," said Representative Noriega.

In his statement endorsing Representative Noriega, Governor Briscoe called Noriega a "humble public servant."

"I think in these times an essential criteria for representing Texas in the United States Senate is service in the military, a person who has walked the walk. Rick's service to his country in Afghanistan makes Texans proud," Briscoe said.

"In the Legislature, Rick served as the point man on border security, helping put politics aside and bringing a common sense law enforcement perspective based on his first-hand experience serving in Operation Jump Start," said Gallego, whose district includes Uvalde County.

Noriega discussed with Briscoe, Gallego, and another South Texas legislator, State Representative Tracy King (D-Eagle Pass), the need to strengthen the V.A. health system to provide the care veterans deserve, and his challenge to Republican Senator John Cornyn to stand up for Texas children and support the Children's Health Insurance Program.

"I appreciate every opportunity I have to hear the concerns of people throughout Texas, whether here in Uvalde or up in the Panhandle," Noriega said.

Rick Noriega, in his fifth term as a State Representative from Houston, led the effort to increase teacher pay during this year's legislative session. A Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, he served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and as the incident commander at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, leading the relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

You're Invited! Rick Noriega Reception in San Antonio

Please Join

Eddie Alderete
Hon. Joe Bernal
Gina Castenaeda
Hon. Joaquin Castro
Hon. Henry Cisneros
Hon. Mary Alice Cisneros
Hon. Trey Martinez Fischer
Hon. Pete Gallego
Dr. Cha Guzman
Andy Hernandez
Hon. Charlie Urbina Jones
Ernest J. Martinez
Gerardo Menchaca
Henry R. Munoz III
Gilberto Ocañas
Hon. Justin Rodriguez
Hon. Sylvia Romo
Hon. Elliot Shapleigh
Hon. Mike Villarreal
Hon. Leticia Van De Putte

For a reception in support of
State Rep. &

Army Lt. Col. Rick Noriega
and his exploratory campaign for US Senate

Friday, September 28th
Noon-1:30 p.m.

La Margarita Restaurant
120 Produce Row
San Antonio Texas

$2,300 ~ Patron
$1000 ~ Host
$500 ~ Sponsor
$250 ~ Friend

Please make checks payable to “Rick Noriega for Senate”

For more information or to RSVP,

please contact Cathy Rivera at 713-337-0068 or email rsvp@landslidevictories.net

(h/t Walker Report)

Rick Noriega at The University of North Texas TONIGHT!

(via WhosPlayin)

State Rep. Rick Noriega, Candidate for United States Senate, is coming to the University of North Texas on Tuesday, September 25 in an event co-hosted by The College Democrats and UNT LULAC council #4789. The event will start at 7:00 in the Lyceum with a presentation on the Dream Act, a bill that State Rep. Noriega wrote while he was in the the Texas House.

At 8:00, Noriega will begin his speech, informing campus students as to why he should be the next senator from the state of Texas. A Question and Answer session will follow, so you can find out his position on almost any issue.

This will be a hot race next fall, so use this opportunity to learn about the candidate so you can have an informed voice when you vote.

*LULAC is a non-partisan organization that has not endorsed any candidate for political office
Sincerely,
Joseph Vogus
President of the College Democrats of North Texas

Rick Noriega: Huge Hit at UT UDems Meeting!

We told you about two appearances that our next Senator from Texas, Rick Noriega made last Wednesday. I was unable to attend personally, but "Jazzy" Jess Faerman, UT UDems member Austin-area minor political celebrity, was front and center for Rick's speech. From this photo, you can tell that the entire lecture hall (capacity:200) is completely full, and was standing room only.

From The Daily Texan:

Noriega addressed the University Democrats, who are supporting his campaign, said President Benjamin Trotter, a government sophomore.

"He really needs to capture the youth because we are a working force," Trotter said. "We're powerful in the Austin community and when we give our endorsement, it means something."Less than two hours earlier, over 150 turned out at Scholz's Beer Garten to hear Rick at a Democracy for Texas event. Over 300 people in a day, and we still have a full year to go before the election!

"He's gaining a lot of grassroots support," says Fran Vincent of DFT. "We're a grassroots organization, so it just makes sense."

From The Daily Texan:

As the sun began to set, Noriega jumped on the stage at Scholz's and opened his speech by criticizing Bush's positive outlook on progress in Iraq. He then segued into the idea that politicians in Washington are merely for show and "don't get anything done," he said.

"We need work horses in D.C., not show horses," he said.

3 Events, 2 Noriegas, 1 Amazing Evening

Rick was in Austin, first at an event with Democracy for Texas, where over 100 supporters turned out to see the state representative. It was a "huge success, [and] great speech," from a comment by Deputy Campaign Manager Rick Cofer. Both Ricks then made it out to a University Democrats meeting at The University of Texas. "Tons of people, [Rick had a] great response," said Cofer. Video is expected later.

Personally, I was able to head out to see the other Noriega, Melissa Noriega, who I'm proud to call one of my city council members. She held an event at Irma's where about 150 folks turned out to support Melissa's campaign for the At Large Position 3 (election on November 6).

About two dozen candidates and probably about a dozen currently serving officials attended to support Melissa. Pictured here are Max Cardenas, President of Harris County Young Dems and new campaign manager for Manisha Mehta, candidate for City Council District E.

I was able to share a table with several friends of the Noriegas. One young lady described remembering block walking for Rick as a child, and another gentleman knew Rick from high school. I was even able to meet Melissa's father, and Rick's father - all very lovely people.

It just turns out that the table we were sitting at had some literature from Rick's first campaign. If you're unfamiliar, Irma's is full of old political memorabilia, from old newspapers to buttons and stickers, and even Rick's old information. I took the liberty to add my own piece to the history.

But some of my favorite people that I met tonight were my fellow bloggers. Charles Kuffner from "Off the Kuff" introduced himself as he was leaving, but I was happy to have met him. I sat at a table with Lyn Wall from "Feet to the Fire" and John Coby from "Bay Area Houston."

All in all, several hundred supporters showed up at multiple events across two different cities, and this is just the beginning.

Democracy For Texas Hosts Rick Noriega in Austin

Join Democracy for Texas for their first meeting of the fall. State Representative Rick Noriega, who has announced his exploratory committee for a run for the US Senate, will be the featured speaker.

Description:
Democracy for Texas Meeting
TIME: Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 6:30pm
PLACE: Scholz's, 1601 San Jacinto

CONTACT: Fran Vincent at fran@democracyfortexas.org

DFT also hear from Glen Maxey about his run for Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector (and Voter Registrar), and will line up volunteers to register voters at this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival and other upcoming events.

[h/t boadicea]

Rick Noriega To Appear At UT University Democrats Meeting

The University Democrats of The University of Texas is having a meeting tomorrow, hosting current State Representative, Lt. Col Rick Noriega.

Details:
8:00 PM Wednesday, Sept 5th
Mezes 1.306
University of Texas Campus

Questions about the meeting?
E-mail Ben Trotter at president@udems.org, or call Ben at (940) 631-0095.

Melissa Noriega Fall Campaign Kick-Off Event TOMORROW!

Golly Gee-Willikers, Batman!

In all the hub-bub, we've nearly forgotten that Melissa Noriega is still running a campaign (Houston City Council At-Large Position 3: Remember to vote November 6th!) To remind us of this fact, and to get a bunch of us supporters together, they're having a fall kickoff event (if you're lucky, you might grab a peek at yours truly, NoriegaBlogger himself!) :

5:30-7:30 PM
September 5, 2007
Irma's Restaurant
22 N. Chenevert


View Larger Map

Please consider sponsoring the campaign as well. Check out the invitation for available sponsorship levels.

Rick Noriega Takes No Time Off For Labor Day

The Galveston Daily News reported seeing Rick as he attended a breakfast supporting the Galveston County Central Labor Union, where there were three topics on the agenda: “health care, health care, health care,” said Lee Medley, president of the county’s consolidated organized labor council (as you may remember, Cornyn voted against Children's Healthcare).

Lee Medley:

“We know this is a complex issue. There is no single way to approach this. Our main goal is that everyone should be covered, maybe under a single-payer system. But, we do know that what we have now isn’t working, and it is time to stop arguing and start doing something.”

Rick also appeared at the Washington County Democrats annual Labor Day Barbecue (as reported by Hal at Half Empty). Hal, and a group of his fellow Ft. Bend Dems joined the Washington Co. Dems and watched as Rick Noriega spoke as the highlight of the event.

Hal:

I brought blanks of Rick’s petitions and Geri, Marsha and I swept through the room getting signatures. They’re a tough crowd in Washington County so we didn’t get as many signatures as there were heads in the room. But we managed to fill one sheet and nearly fill another. But I’m here to tell you, there were people who chased me down wanting to get their names on that petition.

You know, I don’t think Rick’s campaign is going to have a problem getting those 25,000 signatures.

Video coming soon.

Who Needs Warrantless Wiretapping When You Have Mikal Watts?

Funny things can happen when you don't realize that a microphone is on.

One of the most famous may be Ronald Reagan not realizing that a microphone was broadcasting before a radio show, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

More recently, CNN's Kyra Phillps stepped into a bathroom with a live microphone during a speech by President Bush, seemingly calling her in-laws assholes in front of a national audience.

But this week, according to Capitol Annex, Democratic Primary hopeful and San Antonio millionaire Mikal Watts was at an Austin function followed around with a video camera. That's not so unusual in these political days, but Watts carried a wireless microphone while speaking with a number of individuals away from the camera as well.

Sources say that many people probably did not notice the relatively inconspicuous item, but a number of them also did. Was it on the entire time? Was it recording audio? Was Watts even in control of the device? Whatever the answer, it seems at least inconsiderable at best, and possibly even malicious or deceitful at worst.

Vince Leibowitz, Cap Annex:

It’s fine for a candidate to be mic’d, but it’s not good when he doesn’t disclose up front to everyone he speaks with that he’s got the mic on. This is especially important if the mic is always ‘hot’ or the candidate doesn’t control when it is turned on.

Noriega, Watts, Reichstadt to Appear at Banquet

This, from the (College Station) Eagle:

Pulitzer Prize-winning Austin American-Statesman cartoonist Ben Sargent and a half-dozen Democratic candidates for various statewide offices will be among the guests Sept. 16 at a banquet benefiting the Brazos County Democratic Party (7 p.m. at the Briarcrest Country Club)

The event will feature 2008 U.S. Senate candidates Rick Noriega, Mikal Watts and Emil Reichstadt, railroad commissioner candidate Dale Henry and Texas Supreme Court candidates Susan Criss and Linda Yanez.

Tickets for the banquet are $50 and can be reserved by calling [979] 779-5600. A reception for Sargent is set for 5:30 p.m.

Rick Noriega is a HIT in Tarrant County

In one of his first appearances, a group of about 50 welcomed Rick Noriega to Dallas, where he grabbed even more endorsements: Tarrant County State Representatives Lon Burnam, Paula Hightower Pierson and Marc Veasey before heading up to North Dallas for event at the home of Lenna Webb and Bob Franklin.

This comes on the heels of a week of powerful endorsements from Governor Dolph Briscoe, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and State Senator Rodney Ellis, and the Texas State Association of Firefighters. An endorsment from Daily Kos appears to be forthcoming next week.

Rick speaks with two decades of military experience under his belt:
"I just got back from two weeks of training at Fort Benning, and when you look at these 18- and 19-year-old kids who will do anything their country asks them to do, you realize they deserve better. They need leadership that is willing to be held accountable."

"Are we as Texans ready to take a step forward? Our state is off track and if we are going to set things right, we must be ready for the campaign of misinformation that John Cornyn and the Republicans are ready to unleash. They'll use this to divide us so they can maintain power. We have to reject that, but it will be a tough fight."

Read the full post from Steve-O at Caravan of Dreams.

Cornyn... Mmm Mmm Good?

Maybe Cornyn wants to make sure those folks down in Louisiana are having quality non-perishables, because a day after the two year anniversary of Katrina, John Cornyn tours the Campbells Soup Factory in Paris, Texas. It's the least he could do after voting against New Orleans neighbors ten times.

"Campbell Soup Company does more than just produce a delicious chicken noodle or cream of mushroom. Campbell's is making a positive difference for the local economy in Paris and the surrounding community."

Good job John. Drink it up, don't strain yourself on lifting that soup spoon, if that's the most work we can expect out of you!

Meet Rick... TONIGHT in Dallas!

Rick Noriega will be in Dallas tonight for an meet and greet:

6:00-8:00 PM

Home of Lenna Webb and Bob Franklin
17201 Hidden Glen Drive
Dallas, TX 75248


View Larger Map

Contact Deputy Campaign Manager for Details
at (512) 771-6266 or rick@rickcofer.com

Campaign contributions will be accepted and appreciated.
Please come out and meet the next Senator from the State of Texas.

(h/t to The Caravan of Dreams)