Another Williams switches from Senate to Congress for 2012.
Weatherford car dealer Roger Williams switched from the U.S. Senate race to a race for Congress this morning, finishing up a swap that began last week with calls to supporters in and around the new CD-33.
He’s the second candidate to jump. Former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams switched to the congressional race last week, opting out of the crowded GOP pack seeking to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Senate.
Roger Williams is a former Texas Secretary of State and has been a successful fundraiser for other candidates while never seeking office himself. The new district includes all of Parker County and part of Wise County, but the biggest part of the population is in the portion of Tarrant County that’s included. It’s one of four new seats in Congress coming to Texas because of its population growth over the last decade. Williams started with endorsements from Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, Arlington City Councilman Robert Rivera and state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford.
Trail Blazers and Jason Embry both noted this as well. Michael Williams was the first Williams in and still seems to me to be the stronger candidate, though his lackluster Senate candidacy took some of his shine off. CD33 was certainly drawn to be won by a Republican, but it’s by no means hopeless for the Democrats. It would help if a candidate were to enter the race, though.
I’m having trouble thinking of a good candidate for this race. Most of the top Democratic candidates in Tarrant live outside CD-33. For instance, Wendy Davis and Chris Turner could be good candidates, but I think they would be more interested in CD 12 and CD 6, respectively. The lone exception is Paula Pierson, but she is almost certainly looking at HD 101, which would be a much easier race for her.
However, CD-33, since it is new, is the least likely to survive preclearance. (See my Section 2 argument against it.) Furthermore, the State Senate map might also be redrawn, which would open up even more Democratic opportunities. Depending on what happens here, we might see Royce West or Rafael Anchia looking for a promotion.
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