Boy, the 2010 election season is wide open already, isn’t it? Via email from Carl Whitmarsh comes the news of a potential primary challenger for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in CD18. From the email:
Houston attorney Sean Roberts today announced he filed the necessary paperwork to form an exploratory committee to study his potential candidacy as a lawmaker representing the 18th Congressional District of Texas.
“The 2008 election demonstrated that the voters in the 18th Congressional District were ready for progress even though some of their leaders were not,” said Roberts. A self-described “Obama-Generation” democrat, Roberts believes the constituents of the district are ready for fresh ideas and new-school leadership that prioritizes economic development and educational opportunities as opposed to seizing on controversies. “Right now, from an appropriations standpoint, District 18 is a forgotten district. I’d like to fix that,” added Roberts.
Roberts believes the District’s constituents are eager to maximize the opportunities being created for small businesses and educational equality under the Obama Administration. “Our President needs effective Congressional support to accomplish his agenda. In turn, the 18th Congressional District needs a representative that can show Congress why major investments are needed in the district and what the returns will be for those investments,” Roberts said. “Houston is a major economic hub for key sectors like health care and energy – our primary focus should be keeping these industries strong so that Houston can capitalize on the current shift in federal spending priorities.”
Roberts also strongly supports programs that focus on our children, the foundations of economic growth. “The children living in this district need access to information and resources – libraries and functioning school facilities – so they have opportunities to compete and contribute,” said Roberts.
His website is here if you want to know more. Miya was on this earlier, and I tend to agree with her take that while there was a lot of interest in this seat when rumors were swirling that SJL would step down to take a job in the State Department under Hillary Clinton, it’s going to be hard for anyone to unseat her head-to-head. I at least don’t have any compelling reason to want to change. That said, a primary challenge, even the threat of one, can be a good thing, in that it forces incumbents to work a little harder to remind the voters why they push the button for them. As far as that goes, I look forward to seeing what Mr. Roberts will do.