As EoW says, this is a complete non-surprise.
State Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, has just informed supporters he is running for the Texas Senate District 5 seat being vacated by Bryan GOP powerhouse Steve Ogden.
Via a Twitter message, Gattis said: “dangattisI am a candidate for the Texas Senate! Please get involved. http://dangattis.org/ Thank You!”
His Web site and Facebook page also say he is running.
Yeah, even people who don’t follow politics knew that was coming. Gattis is sure to be the favorite, and he appears to have Ogden’s support, at least tacitly, but I feel confident that the Dems will mount a serious challenge. As noted before, the district is red but not hopeless, and as open Senate seats don’t come along that often, the opportunity cannot be missed. If the DNC really is serious about helping to turn Texas blue, here would be a fine place to pitch in.
Gattis’ now-open HD20 seat, like SD05 red but potentially competitive given the right candidate and the lack of an incumbent, should also be a hot target next year. Along with the battle to defend freshman Rep. Diana Maldonaco, who is one of our awesome TexBlog PAC candidates, Williamson County and its resurgent Democratic Party will see a lot of action next year.
Gattis’ house seat is not even potentially competitive; he won re-election last year by 30,000 votes in a ‘bad’ year for Republicans. The secret weapon for the GOP here is Sun City, a retirement community which votes by the thousands and will give Republocans usually 3 out of 4 votes. It is not unusual for a Republican candidate to have a 5 or 6 thousand vote lead coming out of Sun City.
Gattis is weak among Republiocans and is very vulnerable in the primary, having cast some horrible votes. The real issue will be if a credible Republican steps forward to challenge him.