There's a big difference between Rebecca Bell-Metereau and her three primary opponents for State Board of Education, District 5: none of the three gentlemen raised any funds in the most recent reporting period covering the first three weeks of January, while Rebecca has raised over $10,000 in the same time frame ($30,000 to date). So in addition to Rebecca being an articulate, well-qualified educator, she's clearly the only Democratic candidate taking the campaign seriously.
Note: the above thermometer is not in sync with the reported numbers due to fund-raising outside of ActBlue. We'd love it if readers would help Rebecca reach $10,000 through ActBlue!
Yet all three of the gentlemen are making the rounds of endorsement meetings asking for support, and no one seems to be asking them this basic question: "If you aren't willing to raise money, how are you going to win in a general election in a Republican-leaning district?"
If one of her opponents wasn't named for a famous frontiersman, we could probably hold some back for the general election. Instead, we just hope we're reaching out to enough people and that enough are paying attention so that this year's version of Gene Kelly won't spoil the dance.
Campaigning in a vast district with limited resources is a challenge. Rebecca is routinely going back and forth between her home in Hays County and either Bexar and Travis. Treasurer Teresa Hobby is regularly out in Caldwell and husband Pierre teaches at Texas Lutheran in Guadalupe County. Bell County is quite the hike, but I was up there with Rebecca earlier, and she will probably be back for a visit or two before the primary.
The other six counties in the district are Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie, Kendall, Llano and Comal. We can pretty easily cover deliveries to Comal, but it would be great if a Democrat or two from the western counties headed into Austin for the day could stop by and pick up materials for the neighbors.
Yard signs are now in, and we'd love it if people would let us know so we can claim their yards for Bell-Metereau. We'd like them in yards, not rights-of-way where they won't stay up. Call 512-637-7260, and we can probably deliver. Or email Adam@voterebecca.com. During business hours, you can pick up signs at my office at 812 San Antonio in Austin (Suite G23). Please take only what you can guarantee will be displayed in someone's yard since they cost the campaign $2.50 each!
Look for some campaign communications in the coming week, and please tell your friends that if they want a Democrat who will be running to win in November, they need to vote for Rebecca.
