Districts 5 and 10 were drawn to make sure that Austin, one of the most educated cities in the country, wouldn't have a vote on the SBOE. The districts split Travis county and stretch to Northern Bexar County (San Antonio) and the Houston suburbs.

The scopes of the districts are evident, but the numbers are promising. In 2008 President Obama received 48.2 % and in 2006 Bill Moody candidate for Texas Supreme Court got 49.8% in District 10. In District 5 Obama received 44.3 and Moody received 42.3%. While district 5 is a harder race, the incumbent make it much easier. Our polling shows that this is not so much an anti-Democratic year, but an anti-incumbent one and Ken Mercer is vulnerable. Texans are fed up with Mercer and as we are phone banking and talking to voters this has become very evident.

District 10 is truly a swing district, this year it is an open seat and there is very good Democratic participation throughout the district. Marsha Farney is the tea-party candidate running against Judy Jennings. Farney doesn't make it out into public much but when she does she doesn't miss a chance to kowtow to her far right base take for instance comments at a July 4th tea-party rally, when she said she "would rather be here than with those American bashing Democrats." Soon after that Farney went into hiding and very seldom speaks to the public. On multiple occasions she has allowed tea party blogs to speak for her.

We can win these races in Texas, but only with everyone’s help. Those of us on the ground are knocking on doors and phone banking every night. For those of you who can’t do this, you can help too. First, you can watch the video that we just released and send it to anyone you know in Texas. Voters need to be educated about these races and this is a good start. Second, give a few dollars to Judy and Rebecca, they are planning a big voter contact effort and every dollar helps. And finally, when you see posts by them or other about the State Board of Education in the next few days give them a rec. The SBOE meets again starting Wednesday and they are sure to give us something to be ashamed of.

Texas State Board of Education and the Debate Debate