Sen. Doug Henry Gets A Challenge From The Left

13 Responses to “Sen. Doug Henry Gets A Challenge From The Left”

1. Billy writes
   September 29th, 2009 8:16 am

   Jeff is right, Senator Henry has served honorably but it is in the interest of our senate district and the state democratic party to send new leadership to the Legislative Plaza. I plan on speaking with my wallet and my feet on this one.

2. Orbserver writes
   September 29th, 2009 8:43 am

   Jeff Yarbro is smart, principled, and hard-working.

   Jeff would be a worthy successor to Doug Henry — but beginning on 1970, the voters have chosen Doug Henry as their State Senator 10 times in a row.

3. It's time... writes
   September 29th, 2009 8:57 am

   Doug Henry has done a good job as state senator, but it’s time to pass the torch.

   There is no person better suited for the position than Jeff Yarbro. He’s been committed to this community for years, he’s been an active participant in supporting others, and he’s extremely smart to boot.

   I think it’s a good thing he’s making this a race for Doug Henry.

   Billy, I’m with you on this one; I’ll make sure to knock on some doors AND give to his campaign.

4. Dr. Funk writes
   September 29th, 2009 9:08 am

   The 21st district should be extremely proud that such a bright, dynamic, earnest hard-working man has decided to get in to this race and give the voters a choice.

5. Divided we fall writes
   September 29th, 2009 9:12 am

   With all the efforts to try and retain the state House for Democrats do we really want to be spending time and money trying to oust the most influential democrat in the Senate? Why don’t we just give the Republicans a blank check now and save us the effort of banging our heads against the wall in 2010?

6. Zuh? writes
   September 29th, 2009 9:23 am

   Doug Henry is an honorable, intelligent man, but to call him the most influential Democrat in the Senate is quite a stretch. Maybe he just seems influential because he sides with the majority so often.

   I don’t know much about Yarbro, but young, progressive (at LEAST pro-choice) leadership is just what the Senate Dems need. There’s no re-taking the Senate this year, so lets at least get some D’s who will vote like D’s in there.

7. Bill Hobbs writes
   September 29th, 2009 9:25 am

   The voters of Henry’s district vote for him reflexively. It’s positively Pavlovian. His name is on the ballot, they vote for him.

   The first election in that district without his name on the ballot, I imagine there will be thousands of Green Hillians wandering around their polling places with a blank stare on their faces, thinking they have been given the wrong ballot, mumbling gibberish, confused about what they’re supposed to do.

   I used to live in that district. I voted for Sen. Henry once - the year that he was opposed by a liberal pro-choice “Republican.” A lot of Rs voted for Henry that day.

   Much as I’d like to see Henry replaced by a conservative Republican, I expect he’ll win in 2010. He’s defeated every challenger from the left and the right. Remember when Jeff Wilson was going to beat him from the Left? Remember when Sharon Bell was going to beat him from the Right - by running to his left?

   The idea that his district is just chock-full of progressive liberal Dems itching to get rid of Henry is sheer ignorance. The district is full of middle-aged and older people - Republicans and Democrats - who have voted for Henry for decades and will do so again this cycle. Some older voters die ever year of course, but they still outnumber the young progressives - and they are more likely to VOTE than the young progressives anyway.

   Sean Braisted’s blog post arguing that Democrats in the district must think long-term and elect a new senator now because Sen. Henry is old and might die mid-term - or because the GOP will get rid of Henry through redistricting and take the seat in 2014 - makes sense at first, until you realize that the district has made it quite clear since the dawn of the disco era that it doesn’t want a more “progressive” or liberal state senator. It wants Sen. Doug Henry.

8. common sense writes
   September 29th, 2009 9:32 am

   The fact that Bill Hobbs voted for Doug Henry should speak volumes to residents of District 21. This is like being endorsed by Mephistopheles.

9. GoldnI writes
   September 29th, 2009 11:27 am

   “Divided we fall,” should we just not have primaries then?

10. The OG DG writes
    September 29th, 2009 12:50 pm

    Hobbs: rattled.

11. Orbserver writes
    September 29th, 2009 3:58 pm

    Hobbs: now reduced to plagiarizing himself, copying and pasting his own spiel, verbatim, on different ACK sites.

    (Check out his post above at 9:25 a.m., and at “The Case For Jeff Yarbro Over Doug Henry” at 9:31 a.m.)

    Repetition does not connote reality.

12. Divided we fall writes
    September 30th, 2009 7:31 am

    I’m all for primaries but in a year that Democrats at least hope to take back control of the state house, it doesn’t seem like good strategy to be primarying all Democrat incumbents. The volunteer efforts and money spent there could be spent in other places trying to reclaim Republican seats.

13. sharon writes
    September 30th, 2009 8:43 am

    NO democrats. No democrats. They are ruining this country.

    Real “change” is coming in 2010 and 2012 and dems fear it.