I hope we’ll see more announcements like this in the coming months.
Karen Felthauser filed a campaign treasurer appointment on Thursday May 12, with the Texas Ethics Commission to run for State Representative for the 52nd District. Karen ran as a write-in candidate during the 2004 election cycle but has decided to start early for 2006, running this time as a Democratic candidate. In September of 2004 she filed with the Secretary of State’s office with 615 validated signatures from Williamson County’s District 52 residents. Karen and the 27 other people who helped circulate the petition, spoke with and registered many county residents. Karen is counting on the help of these past supporters for her second run for the Texas House.
Karen is a certified teacher, who substitutes in Round Rock ISD. She is the mother of 5 and the wife of Jim, a software engineer. Karen is a member of Education Round Rock, the Texas Federation of Teachers, the Texas State Teachers Association and two PTA’s. Karen has a B.S. in Geology and a B.S. in Environmental Psychology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. After graduating Karen worked for Ford, Bacon and Davis, an engineering firm.
“I choose to run again because I think we must address the very real needs of Williamson County’s District 52 residents. These needs include education, healthcare and transportation development. I am concerned that once again the 79th Texas legislative session in 2005 has not properly prioritized the issues facing Texas.”
Click the link to read about her legislative priorities. Felthouser ran as a write-in in 2004 and got 2801 votes for 6.37%, not too shabby a performance all things considered. Hopefully, that experience plus her early announcement means she’s committed to running hard. Incumbent Mike Krusee won against a Democrat and a Libertarian in 2002 with 64.55%, so this is not exactly a top-tier race, but with Williamson trending slowly Democratic from 2000 and with talk of a challenge to US Rep. John Carter, having all the down-ballot slots filled is a good thing. Felthouser joins Jim Stauber, running in a rematch against Dan Gaddis in HD20, in representing Williamson’s Dems.
Karen has a B.S. in Geology and a B.S. in Environmental Psychology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
I’ve heard of geology, environmental science (commonly known as ecology), and psychology; but WTF is “environmental psychology?” I can’t seem to get my mind around any concept that could be described by that term: it makes no more sense to me than “quantum sociology.”
That weirdness aside, I wish Karen the best of luck in the upcoming elections.