Were all the signs pointing to Brimer's defeat?

While many political observers have described Democrat Wendy Davis' victory over Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer as an "upset," a government watchdog group is suggesting there were clear indications during the campaign that Brimer would lose his seat.

Davis ousted Brimer (R-Fort Worth), 50 percent to 48 percent. He had served the in the state Senate since 2003.

In retrospect, Matt Pulle of Texas Watchdog sees obvious markers that the incumbent was "chocking away" his re-election. He suggests several ways Brimer failed to engage his campaign and voters, while pointing out how Davis mounted an aggressive challenge.

For one, communicating with the Brimer campaign wasn't easy. "I probably called Brimer's headquarters 10 times during the campaign. Only two or three times did an actual person pick up the phone; every other call went directly into voicemail," Pulle writes. The Davis campaign, he says, always answered the phone.

Brimer didn't have a website up until weeks before the election. Once the site was live, parts of it were incomplete. 

He recalls a story from Davis spokesman Bernie Scheffler, comparing the Davis campaign's activity to Brimer's apparent inactivity. A few weeks before Election Day, Davis staffers were tired from block walking. They headed over to Brimer's headquarters and discovered "all the lights were out and there were no cars in the parking lot." The Davis campaign figured Brimer's team was ignoring their efforts and taking their own re-election for granted.  

Besides the candidate himself, Pulle questioned the value of Brimer's campaign consultant, Bryan Eppstein.

 "You have to do a minimum amount of work to retain your seat," Pulle writes. "You don't necessarily have to outwork your challenger or even break a sweat, but you do have to get out of bed."