January 2018 - SATXDailyNews

Van De Putte, Taylor To Compete In Runoff Election

January 18, 2018 Charles A. Ford General, Local News

SAN ANTONIO — Former State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and interim Mayor Ivy T. Taylor will compete in a runoff election on June 13 after neither candidate earned more than 50 percent of the vote.

Van de Putte, who entered the mayoral race after losing the lieutenant gubernatorial race to Dan Patrick, earned 25,982 votes, equaling 30.43 percent of the total vote. Taylor earned 24,245 votes, equaling 28.4 percent of the vote.

Taylor was appointed interim mayor by her fellow city council members in June 2014 after then-Mayor Julian Castro announced he would be leaving to Washington, D.C. to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration.

Former State Rep. Mike Villarreal missed the runoff election by nearly 2,000 votes. Villarreal earned 22,246 votes, equaling 26.06 percent of the votes. Former Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson earned 8,344 votes equaling only 9.77 percent of the total vote.

Both Villarreal and Adkisson have conceded the race.

All ten incumbent city council members led their respective races. City Councilman Cris Medina will have to compete in a runoff election with Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez. Medina earned 46.88 percent to Aguirre-Rodriguez’s 27.8 percent. Aguirre-Rodriguez served as interim city councilwoman in District 7.

The runoff election is set for Saturday, June 13. Early voting begins on Monday, June 1 and ends Tuesday, June 9.

Former Gop Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney Will Not Run For President In 2016

January 13, 2018 Charles A. Ford General, Politics

WASHINGTON, D.C – 2012 GOP Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney announced Friday that he would not be making a bid for the White House in 2016.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney told supporters on a conference call from New York.

Romney, 64, has made two bids for the White House before. In 2008, Romney withdrew his name for the Republican nomination before endorsing Arizona Senator John McCain. In 2012, Romney, with the backing of the majority of the party, earned the Republican nomination.

The announcement not to run comes after many of his former major donors and a veteran staffer in the early voting state of Iowa defected to support former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Bush formed a PAC, which is required for raising money and hiring a staff for a campaign, in December of last year.

The 61-year-old former governor reacted to Romney’s announcement on social media.

“Mitt Romney has been a leader in our party for many years. There are few people who have worked harder to elect Republicans across the country than he has.” Bush said via Facebook. ”Though I’m sure today’s decision was not easy, I know that Mitt Romney will never stop advocating for renewing America’s promise through upward mobility, encouraging free enterprise and strengthening our national defense. Mitt is a patriot and I join many in hoping his days of serving our nation and our party are not over. I look forward to working with him to ensure all Americans have a chance to rise up.”

Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would have served as Romney’s most likely rivals for the support of GOP members and donors.

Romney is not expected to endorse another Republican candidate.

“I am convinced that we could win the nomination, but I fully realize it would have been a difficult test and hard fight,” Romney said.

As for reconsidering another bid for the White House in the future, Romney said it “seems unlikely.”