Sunday, November 30, 1997
Season of primary battles, rematches opens
Wednesday
By RICHARD HORN and BETH HALLMARK / Abilene Reporter-News
Once again, Texans are fated to share their Christmas with
politics.
Despite lawmakers' failed efforts to shorten the state's 11-month
election season, the political filing period opens Wednesday.
And it's shaping up as a busy winter, especially for Republicans.
The Taylor County GOP expects several contested primary races
at the county level and is gearing up for two big rematches for
Congress and an area Texas House seat next fall.
"I think there'll be a lot of interest, because all the
people who've indicated they'll enter seem very well-qualified,"
said Larry Gill, the county's GOP chairman. "It will help
make the Republican primary very big."
Democratic chairman David Dillman sees opportunities for his
party with the retirement of two county commissioners, one of
them a Republican. But these days being a Democrat in heavily-Republican
Taylor County means you play a lot of defense and focus on fundamentals.
"We'll be working on keeping what we have, retaining the
Democratic commissioners seat and doing what we can," Dillman
said. "I just don't want to lose ground."
The filing period runs until Jan. 2, and as usual many hopefuls
won't make up their minds before then. But here's a look at the
major races, in ballot order, and what's known about them so far:
CONGRESS
Here's a race that never really ended.
Twenty-year U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm and his 1996 Republican
challenger, Rudy Izzard, early on announced their intentions to
go at it again in 1998. Izzard will formally launch his second
campaign Tuesday.
Since a year ago, both men have moved to Abilene's Fairway
Oaks subdivision. And each has criticized the other's campaign
finance practices.
Of all the conservative Texas Democrats elected in 1978, Stenholm
is the only one still in the House and still a Democrat. He aims
to stay where he is and what he is, he says, and by now the blood
between him and Republicans is so bad that party-switching is
out of the question. So is retirement, Stenholm insists.
Izzard, a former San Angelo city councilman, dealt Stenholm
his toughest blow yet in '96, capturing Abilene, eight other counties
and 47.4 percent of the vote. Texas Republicans say Stenholm is
their No. 1 congressional target this year because of his vulnerability.
Among the issues likely to be raised are Stenholm's longevity
and aspirations to party leadership and his opposition to term
limits, broad tax cuts and private school vouchers. For his part,
Stenholm vows to fight harder than in 1996 and warns Izzard will
have to defend his record, as well.
No primary challengers have been mentioned for either man,
but anything can happen in a district stretching from west of
Big Spring to the Fort Worth suburbs.
TEXAS SENATE
After turning out Democratic state Sen. Steve Carriker in an
upset four years ago, Tom Haywood is seeking a second term in
the District 30 seat.
In his announcement last month, the Wichita Falls Republican
said he will push for tax changes, initiative-and-referendum rights
for voters and child care incentives for businesses.
Haywood, who has Parkinson's Disease, dismissed concerns about
his health that had been raised privately even by some in his
own party. And early talk of a primary challenge has fizzled,
both in Abilene and Wichita Falls.
Democrats have pledged to mount a fight, however, believing
the largely rural district belongs in their column. But no one
has stepped forward. Carriker has expressed no interest in a rematch,
and state Rep. David Counts of Knox City considered the race but
chose to seek re-election, instead.
Haywood is well-funded and has proven himself a tireless campaigner
and well-liked party loyalist. And the 1994 primary, in which
Ag Commissioner Rick Perry helped Haywood's opponent, showed that
raising health as an issue tends to backfire.
TEXAS HOUSE, District 60
Jim Keffer, an affable Eastland Republican, said he will seek
a second term, joking he now knows how to get from his office
to the House chamber.
No one in either party has surfaced to challenge him, though
Keffer points out he didn't finally decide to take on incumbent
Democrat John Cook until well into the filing period two years
ago.
Property appraisal reform was one of Keffer's top issues, and
he said he was glad to see some progress made in this year's session.
He wants to do more on this and other issues, he said, and believes
rural representatives, Democrat and Republican, need to work together.
TEXAS HOUSE, District 70
In this year's other rematch, four-term state Rep. David Counts
is seeking re-election, again challenged by Big Spring Republican
Scott McLaughlin.
Counts, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, is
serving on an interim water planning committee and, among other
things, is expected to push his role in putting the state's massive
new water program into action.
McLaughlin, a businessman and brother-in-law of state Sen.
Troy Fraser, lost by just 549 votes in a 33,000-vote race. He
tags Counts as part of a "tiny band of old-guard Democrats"
preventing a more business-like approach to state government.
Like Stenholm, Counts believes he was the target of a late
GOP spending spree in 1996 and vows to be far more aggressive
next year.
TEXAS HOUSE, District 71
State Rep. Bob Hunter, first elected in 1986, said he'll seek
another term, "at the request of an awful lot of people who've
asked me to."
No opponents have come forward, though his only two previous
challengers, one Democrat and one Republican, filed at the last
minute.
11th COURT OF APPEALS
Three candidates are gearing up for the fight to succeed Associate
Justice Bob Dickenson of Abilene, who is retiring after serving
on the Eastland court since 1978.
Comanche County Attorney Terry McCall and Taylor County Assistant
District Attorney Kollin Shadle have filed for the Republican
nomination. Randy Wilson, an Abilene defense attorney, is expected
to run as a Democrat, but he has not yet formally announced.
This court considers all initial civil and criminal appeals,
except death penalty cases, from a huge 24-county area including
Abilene. Texas tort reform advocates have begun focusing on these
intermediate appeals courts, meaning a lot of money could be flowing
into this race.
COUNTY POSTS
Fourteen county seats will go before voters next year. Though
the majority of Taylor County seats up for election next year
are occupied by officeholders who plan to run again, at least
four are open game.
-- 326th District Court Judge -- Democrat Aleta Hacker, who
has held the seat since 1986, will run again. Hacker was first
appointed to the post in 1986 before being elected later that
year.
-- District Attorney -- Republican James Eidson is expected
to seek re-election. He was appointed to the post in 1988 by Gov.
Bill Clements and then elected later that year.
-- County Judge -- Lee Hamilton, Republican, said he plans
to run for re-election. Hamilton was first elected county judge
in 1992 after being appointed to fill an unexpired term in 1991.
-- County Court at Law No. 1 -- Republican Jack Grant plans
to seek another term. He's held the post since 1988.
-- County Court at Law No. 2 -- Republican Barbara Rollins
will run again. Robbins was appointed to the judge's seat in April
1988 and elected later that year.
-- District Clerk -- Democrat JoAnn Lackey plans to seek her
second full term in office. Lackey has served as district clerk
since 1992, when she was elected to a two-year unexpired term.
-- County Clerk -- Democrat Janice Lyons, long-time officeholder,
said she intends to run for a sixth term. Elected to the post
in 1978, Lyons has faced only two elections with an opponent.
Republicans expect she will have a challenger in 1998.
-- County Treasurer -- Republican Laura Browder plans to run
for re-election. Browder was appointed to the treasurer's post
before being elected in 1996 to fill the two-year unexpired term
of Anna Moore. Lesa Crosswhite, a Republican and former small
business owner, intends to also seek the post.
-- County Commissioner, Precinct 2 -- Longtime commissioner
Don Dudley, a Democrat, is retiring and will not seek a fifth
term.
Several Merkel residents have expressed interest in the post.
Planning to seek the Democratic nomination are Nowlin "Corky"
Cox, Walt Harris and David "Buster" Tarpley. Billy Bob
Neff is the only Republican so far to announce plans to run for
the office.
-- County Commissioner, Precinct 4 -- Republican Neil Fry,
who has held the post since 1986, is retiring at the end of his
term.
The vacancy has attracted the attention of two Republicans:
Former Boys & Girls Club director Melinda Cunningham has announced
plans to run for the office, and Chuck Statler, a television advertising
executive, also is expected to run.
W.E. "Merle" Grissom, a former Precinct 4 employee,
plans to seek the Democratic nomination.
-- Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Place 1 -- Republican
Sam Matta, justice of the peace since 1984, said he will seek
another term in office.
On Thanksgiving Eve, a former employee filed a sexual harassment
suit against Matta and Taylor County. Matta calls the suit part
a political plot and vows he will prevail both in court and at
the ballot box.
-- Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 -- Democrat Jack Keenan
is retiring from the post he's held since 1989. Jo Ann Mashburn,
Don Burt and Lee Deitz, all of Merkel, have announced plans to
seek the Democratic nomination.
-- Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 -- Democrat Leroy Groves,
first appointed to the JP seat in 1989, will seek another term
in office.
-- Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 -- Democrat Billy Matthews
announced retirement plans last month and won't run again in 1998.
Republican Frank Cleveland, who recently resigned as the head
of the West Central Texas Interlocal Crime Task Force, is expected
to seek the office.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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