More on Roger Williams

The Observer blog has a great rundown on our soon-to-be-former Secretary of State, Roger Williams, and his future political ambitions.

Maybe the leap from public steward to Republican candidate isn't surprising, since Williams never missed an opportunity to use his supposedly nonpartisan office to score partisan points.

There was the incident in which Williams' office fired a state lawyer who inadvertently embarrassed Karl Rove. Williams admitted Rove called him after staff attorney Elizabeth Reyes indicated to the Washington Post that Rove may have committed a civil offense by voting in Texas without meeting state residency requirements.

"He and I are friends," Williams said of Rove, explaining the phone call and assuring us that Rover would never, ever ask for Reyes' head. Nevertheless, she was fired. A subsequent investigation by Kerr County officials cleared Rove of any wrongdoing (because he intends to return to the state).

Nice. I'd forgotten that incident (I could swear I blogged it at the time, but if so I can't find it). How typical for anything involving Karl Rove.

Vince speculates about Williams' replacement, and suggests Harris County Tax Assessor Paul Bettencourt, who has decided not to run in CD22, as a possibility. Maybe, I don't know. Bettencourt has been known to have statewide ambitions, and this would be a good springboard for him. On the other hand, the streets are already clogged with Republicans who have statewide ambitions, and it's not clear to me why Rick Perry would give any one of them a boost up. So who knows?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 14, 2007 to Show Business for Ugly People