I think I may have finally found an election in which I’d fervently wish for a viable third-party candidate:
The Gossips hear that former City Council member Gabriel Vasquez and his new wife, Lisa Diamond, who is chief of staff for Council Member Shelley Sekula Gibbs, just purchased a home in Mangum Manor. That would allow Gabe to run as a Republican against State Senator John Whitmire in Senate District 15. Gabe is a former Democrat who switched to run as a Republican for City Controller and was soundly defeated. Whitmire who would be well funded is expecting an opponent due to his coming back to Texas to break the impasse over redistricting in the Texas Senate. But the Gossips think that Vasquez would unite the Democrats for Whitmire in a District that is strongly Democratic and also a majority minority district.
Quitmire versus the Party Switcher? Praise Jeebus I live in Mario Gallegos’ district and won’t find myself in the voting booth with that decision to make.
The best option, of course, would be for a better Democrat – like, say Garnet Coleman or Jessica Farrar – to knock off Quitmire in the primary, then beat whichever Republican runs in the general. Too early to say if that’ll happen, but we may as well start rooting for it now.
‘Round the Roll
Everything you didn’t know that you wanted to know about sign-stealing in Congressional races is at Off the Kuff. Why doesn’t Charles Kuffner run for something, anyway? He’s bemoaning the shortage of decent Dems for whom Texans can vote — why not ma…