Texas State House races on the radar screen
Texas State House races on the Democrat radar screen:
Lone Star project is a Democrat group targetting "the most competitive Democratic challenger and Democratic incumbent races leading into the 2008 General Election."
District 19
Incumbent: “Tuffy” Hamilton
Democratic Challenger: Larry Hunter
District 52
Incumbent: OPEN - Bryan Daniel (Krusee)
Democratic Challenger: Diana Maldonado
Location: Williamson County – Central Texas
District 78
Incumbent: OPEN - Dee Margo (Haggerty)
Democratic Challenger: Joseph Moody
District 96
Incumbent: Bill Zedler
Democratic Challenger: Chris Turner
District 101
Incumbent: Open – Mike Anderson (Latham)
Democratic Challenger: Robert Miklos
District 102
Incumbent: Tony Goolsby
Democratic Challenger: Carol Kent
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2 comments:
The Texas Democrat Party and St Rep Jim Dunnam have a good track record of targeting Republican State House seats to win.
Two years ago, they made in-roads in Dallas by beating Bill Keffer and Toby Goodman. Four years ago, they defeated Talmadge Heflin in Houston.
The open seats are the most dangerous for Republicans as our candidates can only run on their principles and not a proven track record. We have one in our own backyard, in HD 52, where we can make a difference.
Of the seats mentioned, Haggerty's seat will probably go Democrat; Tuffy Hamilton is probably the safest Republican (everybody knows Tuffy in East Texas); Bill Zedler needs to put on his walking shoes because it will be close.
Given the Republican turnover in HD 101 (Elvira Reyna ousted by Thomas Latham in 2006, Latham defeated in 08 primary), I'd suspect the Democrats have a shot at taking the seat. It'll be a very localized, very tight race (especially as Anderson didn't get the typical conservative support you'd have suspected up there).
Best chance for us to keep a Republican seat is HD 52. Daniel is a solid conservative who represents a positive change from TXDoT/big government apologist Mike Krusee.
Not listed here is HD 55, another open seat in Temple (Bell County). That was Dianne White Delisi's seat; the Republican candidate is local businessman Ralph Sheffield, the Democrat is Chet Edwards' former staffer, Sam Murphey. It's guaranteed to be a volatile race and one in which we have a vested interest to protect.
The Democrats celebrated the fact that they are a mere 5 seats away from taking back the majority in the Texas House. Now does everyone realize that it's the down-ballot races we must focus on in November??
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