CD23 won’t be the only electoral action in Texas next month. The death of Republican State Rep. Glenda Dawson has left a vacancy in HD29 that needs to be filled. According to the Bay City Tribune, candidate jockeying has already begun.
Former Pearland City Councilman Randy Webber made an announcement late Tuesday while Mike O’Day made preliminary personal visits with Bay City officials.
Both intend to file as Republicans.
On O’Day’s campaign Web site, odayfortexas.com, the candidate says he is a fiscal conservative who supports limited government, a successful small businessman and community volunteer.
Webber says he is running on his record as a “real Republican.”
“I currently have both Republican and Democrat opponents who are running away from their records, and I firmly believe that District 29 voters will be able to make the distinction,” Webber said.
Webber cites O’Day’s support of Shane Sklar in his bid to unseat Rep. Ron Paul and a favorable comment from longtime Rep. Tom Uher recently printed in the Tribune as negatives in announcing his bid for the Texas House seat.
O’Day supporters say the bipartisan support shows willingness to put his constituents ahead of party politics, an important factor given the results of the November election.
Alvin physician Anthony DiNovo, Dawson’s Democratic challenger in the General Election, will decide this weekend whether to run in the special election, a campaign staffer said Tuesday.
The Shane Sklar factor – who’da thunk it? Ideally, there would be one strong Democrat in this race and more than one Republican, so as to force a runoff. Dawson’s name on the ballot was good enough to win last week with about 60% of the vote, so a Democratic win in a low-turnout election is certainly possible. Stay tuned, and keep an eye on this one. If 81-69 is a close margin for House Speaker Tom Craddick, 80-70 is probably too close for comfort.