TribBlog: Stronger Than Advertised

It turns out Republican challenger Jason Isaac doesn’t need the speaker of the Texas House, a prominent member of his own party, to help him raise a sizable war chest.

Isaac is challenging Dripping Springs Democrat Patrick Rose in the November general election to represent House District 45. He stated in a news release that he rounded up about $169,000 during the previous six-month reporting session that ended June 30. This comes after raising no money and spending about $750 of his own during the second half of 2009.

Finance reports from all candidates are due Thursday, but Isaac seemed a bit eager to report his results, perhaps because Rose is expected to report several times more (his PAC, the Committee to Elect Patrick Rose had $375,000 remaining as of late February). Rose also touted Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican, as one of his supporters at a recent campaign event. Straus said after last session that he would not actively campaign against Democratic incumbents and now will be forced to fend off challengers from his own party to secure the seat two sessions in a row. Straus told Isaac he doesn't intend to do any more events for Rose, according to Corbin Casteel, a consultant to Isaac. As far as they're concerned, it's all patched up.

And Isaac is raring to go. “The support my campaign for State Representative has received this early is simply overwhelming," he said in his press release. "The people of Hays, Caldwell, and Blanco counties have had enough of self-serving politicians and are ready for new leadership.”

Isaac attributed a large portion of his financial support to hundreds of “small-dollar donations” and aggressive use of new media. He also has the endorsement of Libertarian Tom Gleinser, who dropped out of the race and posted on his website, “The only purpose my being a candidate has served is to help get a Democrat elected State Representative to the 45th district of Texas. That is bad for the State and bad for the country."