The Walker Report says:
Gov. Rick Perry set Saturday, May 10th, as the special election date to fill the vacancy in House District 119. The seat was left vacant by the resignation of Rep. Robert Puente.
Candidates for this special election must file applications with the Secretary of State no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 4, 2008. The early voting period for this special election runs from Monday, April 28 to Tuesday, May 6th.
May 10th is the next eligible uniform election date to fill that vacancy in the Texas House. The representative elected in this special election will serve out the remainder of Rep. Puente’s term, which expires Jan. 2009.
Former San Antonio City Council member Roland Gutierrez is unopposed in both the primary and the general. At first blush, that might make this special election a waste of time. However, assuming Gutierrez wins it (a safe bet, I’d say), he’d get a leg up on seniority over the rest of the class of 2008. That does matter, so the special election does as well.