Just the Facts
Fellow Blogger JustToTheRight blogs about the possibilty of Julie Eckstein becoming a State Senate candidate potential when Senator Chuck Gross resigns to take the County Administrator's position (You will notice I have given up all pretenses of "IF" he takes the job.)
I don't know what kind of feedback JTTR is getting but the feedback I am receiving, somehow people confuse RepPolitics with JTTR which is not necessarily a bad thing just innaccurate, is interesting. With the lone exception on the St Chuck Watch board and an Anonymous comment on JTTR, I have not heard a bad word about Ms Ekstein. Ok, the democrat bloggers haven't always been kind to her but what do they know? However positive the feedback has been about Ms Ekstein, none have agreed that she should be considered a viable special election candidate.
Julie Eckstein is a wonderful person. She is vivacious, outgoing, and smart. Knowing her as I do, I would be surprised if she were the one saying she was interested in doing this. I know she respects Dempsey and Bearden and their work in the legislature. One could make the argument that she just gave up a $100,000 job and is looking for work but I think she could do better than the $31,000 a State Senator gets paid.
If this election was a primary race in August of 2008 and she decided to run in the open seat I would say more power to her. And if she beat Bearden and Dempsey I would say she would be in a much better position to win the General. However, under the special election scenario, she would be starting out with a clear disadvantage (her name not withstanding especially when people discovered she wasn't related to THE Eckstein). This is a position the Republcians cannot afford to put themselves in and hopefully those making the decision recognize that fact too.
posted by RepublicanDude @ 1:01 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Keep in mind that Julie has her own business that can be run while she's in Jefferson City (as it has been for a while), and the senate salary could merely supplement her income.
It is said that she knows a lot about what truly needs to be done, and that she may be just the catalyst to calm the administration down a bit and knock them back into reality.
I sure hope someone does!
Her chances of getting the nomination? Who knows. I wouldn't put it high on the list. But with Bearden and Dempsey's lack of landslide victories in November, I would suggest that there are those that don't believe they're ready to take on the next level so soon.
Maybe putting Eckstein in the senate for two years while they finish their terms in the house would provide St. Charles County with an excellent opportunity to continue the strides we've made in the House of Representatives.
JTTR
It appears we diverge on the anaysis of Julie's +'s and -'s.
You and I both know that a former department knows a lot about their former department. However, most, and there is no indication from my sources that Julie is an exception, have no particular grasp or inside knowledge about fixing other departments. Certainly no more so than sitting elected officials.
I would be interested in how you think Julie would be "just the catalyst" to calm the administration down a bit. With various proposals that haven't faired well such as 65% and the original MOHELA plan, there appears to be plenty of people peforming in the role of "knock(ing) them back into reality". A freshman senator who has never been an elected official will scarcely possess that ability.
The outcome of the November elections for Bearden and Dempsey are precisely why one of them should be the candidate. Bearden got 55.3% of the vote which is the district Repbublican %. Dempsey got 52.8% which isn't far off from that district's Republican % either. In both cases, they pulled off a clear and convincing win in a very democrat year. I believe if you look, both men outperformed Talent in their respective districts. They are battle tested and have shown they can fight it out toe-to-toe and win tough elections. Julie has never done that.
Having Julie in the Senate for 2 years accomplishes nothing. Dempsey and Bearden will still be termed out of the House. One of them will win a primary for Senate and go on to be elected Senator. Their seats will need to be filled and other than Sally Faith and perhaps Doug Funderburk, at the moment, St Charles County is going to be in a position of having no one in any significant position.
Throwing Julie in the mix just complicates the issue, particularly if she should decide she liked the job. So far, I don't think a case has been made to demonstrate that she could even win a special election having no experience much less be the candidate selected.
Sorry, it's been a few days. I mention that Eckstein might just be the catalyst because there are some things that she obviously knows that would make a few people in the administration a bit nervous, should she end up in a position of power (such as the state senate).
Not necessarily the governor, himself, but I have to say -- as much as I like the governor personally, he really seems to have surrounded himself with a lot of buffoons.
His wisest choice by far was the recent appointment of Rich Chrismer as his spokesperson. Chrismer permanently takes the place of Spence Jackson, who I felt should have been relieved when Blunt became governor -- he was in sooooo far over his head.
Either way -- back to Julie. She's imminently qualified, although not quite so much as a Dempsey or Bearden. I felt it would be interesting discussion to throw her into the mix, seeing as many people in positions of power have a great deal of respect for her, and many of those people have tried to recruit her for a house seat.
My money is on Dempsey getting the nod, as I pointed out before. There are a number of factors that give him the clear advantage in this situation, and I believe Bearden is trying to position himself to either run state-wide again, or hang up his political shoes and become a lobbyist.
He would do well in either endeavor, I would imagine.
JTTR - thanks for the feedback.
I think Julie should look to run for rep. Hopefully she is in either Bearden's or Dempsey's district as both will need to be replaced in two years and one sooner.
Julie is apparently in Vicky Schneider's district -- and Schneider is making comments about not running again.
Could be interesting ...
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