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Saturday, January 07, 2006
Kuff on the Texas House Races
Posted by DavidNYCThis is why I love the blogosphere. Charles Kuffner's comment on the Texas House races is worthy of its own post:
1. Sklar is going against Ron Paul in CD14. Paul ran unopposed in 2004 in a fairly new-to-him district, and he's nobody's idea of a moneybags - last I checked he had something like $150K on hand. Sklar is a farmer, something that the Texas Congressional delegation now lacks without Charlie Stenholm and Larry Combest, so he ought to get some support from ag interests. He's already got the Texas Farm Bureau endorsement.2. Lamar Smith ran against a no-name perennial candidate (Rhett Smith, who is now on the GOP (!) primary ballot for Governor; he also ran for San Antonio Mayor last year) and barely achieved parity with the district's GOP index. He carried Travis County (Austin) by a 50-46 spread (there was another candidate in the race as well), and it's about 40% of the district. If Courage can win Travis and hold his losses in Bexar County, he can win.
3. Former right-wing wackjob Congressman Steve Stockman, who ousted 40-year veteran Jack Brooks in 1994 before being dumped by Nick Lampson in 1996, has entered the CD22 race as an independent. He may provide an attractive alternative for some wingnut voters. Hard to say, since he's been mostly below radar since 1998, and because he's such a freaking nut that predicting what he'll do is a fool's errand, but it's a favorable development for Lampson.
4. Finally, Bush's support in any district is a slight overstatement of GOP strength there, as he generally outperformed all other Republican candidates. The performance of the three other statewide Republicans (Victor Carillo, who won Railroad Commissioner 55.5-41-3.5 against a D and a Lib; Scott Brister, who won a State Supreme Court seat against David Van Os by a 59-41 margin; and Mike Keasler, who won a spot on the Court of Criminal Appeals 58-42) is IMHO a better measure of Republicanness in a district.
You can keep track of all Texas races at Texas Tuesdays. If you have an interest in any race, we welcome your input - it's a CivicSpace blog, so create an ID and join in. Thanks!`
You can also visit Charles at his own blog, Off the Kuff.
Posted at 10:24 AM in 2006 Elections - House, Texas | Technorati
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