From the Examiner News via Carl Whitmarsh. Janek is my state Senator and I heard some buzz that there was a Democrat considering running for this seat if Janek vacated it. This article does not definitively answer the question, “will Janek run again for his senate seat in 2008?”, but it does put to rest any rumors that he will run for Congress in TX-22 or for Lt. Gov. in 2010.
He’s still District 17’s State Senator, but Kyle Janek isn’t living in the “neighborhood” anymore, so to speak.
Recently, the Examiner came across a garage sale listing of a “moving sale” from May at his West University Place address.
We also observed what appeared to be a vacant house and heard from neighbors on Cason Street how the senator and his family had left after school was out.
Janek confirmed that he had, indeed, moved to a bayside home in Galveston for the summer.
“The yard was just too small for three growing boys,” Janek said with a laugh. “My wife said it was time to move on.”
Before school resumes, he said they’ll make a choice among staying in Galveston County or moving to Fort Bend or Brazoria counties.
The reason? “More space in those neighborhoods,” said Janek.
All those locales also fall into Congressional District 22, Tom DeLay’s old stronghold, now occupied by Nick Lampson. Janek admits “there were people who were asking” him to seek the seat.
“Once upon a time, I would have thought about running, but now I’m definitely not running for Congress,” he said. “That requires commuting that I’m not even willing to consider with a young family.”
Earlier talk of a run for a statewide office — most notably, lieutenant governor — is dying down, he said: “There’s a long line of Republican millionaires waiting to run.”
This spring’s legislative session in Austin caused him to miss “about 90 percent of my sons’ Little League games,” he said ruefully.
For now, Janek explained, he’s catching up with district business after the legislative session and still practicing medicine with a Houston-area group of anesthesiologists.
His wife, Shannon, has given up the successful maternity wear stores she founded and ran with a friend in Rice Village and Austin, he said.
They’ll figure out housing soon, he said. Politically — “I love serving the district. I’ve got one of the best jobs in the state.”
Hm… very convenient – if he moves out of West U, at the very northern fringe of his insanely gerrymandered district (as almost all SDs are – this one stretches from West U down to Sugar Land and Freeport, around to Galveston, and up the coast to Port Arthur), he doesn’t have to worry about being districted out of it (or into a less favorable one – as Ellen Cohen did rather nicely in some of the areas around his home) after the 2010 Census.
Janek will announce later this year that he isn’t running again and is moving to Austin to practice medicine and lobby. Count on it.
There’s not much chance of any Republican being redistricted out of his or her Senate seat with the LRB being 5-0 Republican & likely to stay that way or have at least 3 or 4 of the 5 in 2011.