The Statesman reports that five-term Republican Rep. Suzanna Hupp will not run for reelection next year, making her at least the fifth GOP incumbent to either step down or seek to step up. Her district is somewhat more hospitable than that of the retiring Bob Griggs. She won with a shade under 61% last year; by my count the district overall was 59.2% Republican in 2004, down a tad from the 60.3% tally in 2002.
Looking at the precincts, HD54 is basically a very purple swath of Bell County (Bush got 53.4% there, Hupp 51.7%, while Democrats Bob Scarborough and JR Molina each won a majority) and very red Lampasas and Burnet Counties (Bush 74.6%, Hupp 71.5%), with about half the votes in each. I don’t know if one exists or not, but a Democrat who could hold the losses down in Burnet and Lampasas while carrying Bell would have a shot. For certain, this is a seat that ought to be harder for the Republicans to have to defend, so I hope someone will step up; perhaps 2004 nominee Edward Lindsay will have another go at it.
Aaron Pena has Hupp’s going-away statement.
Elsewhere, Ken Rodriguez reports that Rep. Carlos Uresti is planning to challenge Sen. Frank Madla in the primaries (see here for earlier reports on that), with San Antonio City Council member Richard Perez in the wings to run as Uresti’s replacement. The Jeffersonian has some analysis of that scenario. And Greg passes on a report that Democratic State Rep. Dora Olivo may face a primary challenge.