DALLAS — Texas politics — usually a feisty fight with a foregone conclusion — are up in the air this year as voters on Tuesday continued a trend of unseating incumbents in the state’s primary runoffs, and as Republican officials scramble to find a successor to Rep. Tom DeLay, who announced last week that he would step down from public office.
The confusion is especially unsettling coming as it does just under a week before Texas lawmakers prepare to convene for a seminal special legislative session on school finance. Gov. Rick Perry has called a special session to begin Monday to rewrite current school finance laws found to be unconstitutional by the Texas Supreme Court.
The state has until June 1 to write new school finance laws that would put more money into school funding and distribute that money more equitably. In addition, the state is under order to provide more local discretion for school finance.
Lawmakers who ran for office in 2002 and 2004 have maintained that they want to reduce the state’s reliance on local property taxes to finance school operations. Currently, property taxes paid by local property owners account for more than 60% of the $33 billion per year spent on public education in the Lone Star State.
However, during four special sessions and a regular legislative session in 2004 and 2005, lawmakers were unable to agree on taxes or fees that would replace funding that would be lost if property taxes were decreased by the one-third lawmakers have promised their constituents.
With many voters feeling betrayed by the candidates they have supported over the last few years, support has been very strong for new candidates that have appeared on the ballot in 2006. In many cases, these candidates have had backgrounds in public education that voters say they believe could help to break the stalemate between business and property owners, who want accountability in public education spending, and educators, who want to improve on already strong performance levels by Texas schoolchildren.
In Houston, newcomer Borris Miles defeated veteran state Rep. Al Edwards in the Democratic runoff for House District 146 with 54% of the vote to Edwards’ 46%.
Edwards, 68, has represented the south Houston district since 1978. His war cry in his bid for re-election was his seniority, which he said would serve his constituents well.
Miles, 40, owns a Farmers Insurance agency. He was the first challenger Edwards had faced in more than 10 years, and says he ran because he believes that Edwards had developed a sense of entitlement to his seat at the state Capitol that hurt, rather than served, taxpayers.
He is expected to be the favorite in the November election against Libertarian nominee Gerald LaFleur. There is no Republican challenger in the race.
In the northern part of the state, Republican Tan Parker defeated Anne Lakusta by 48 votes in the runoff election for the Republican nomination in Denton County’s House District 63, according to unofficial results.
Both were competing for the seat currently occupied by Rep. Mary Denney, who did not seek re-election.
While there will definitely be some new names on the ballot for voters to consider in November, the biggest news in Texas politics this fall will be the race for the 22nd Congressional District.
The seat is up for grabs following the announcement last week by DeLay that he would leave public office. DeLay has been plagued with unfavorable attention following his indictment on campaign finance charges, and says he will step down by this summer.
One of the leading possibilities for his successor is longtime Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, the chairman of the commissioners’ court for the highly rated county — AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings and Aa2 by Moody’s investors Service.
Eckels, a Republican, has also worked closely with neighboring counties as the chairman of the Transportation Policy Council for the Houston region. He is also Chairman of the Alliance of I-69 Texas and the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation.
“I am looking at the possibility of running,” said Eckels. “I had not started out with any plans to do so, but the opportunity has dropped into my lap, and I have received a lot of support from people throughout the district.”
About half the district is located in Harris County, with the remainder divided between Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Galveston counties.
“I believe it’s a pretty winnable race,” Eckels said. “My question now — what I am trying to decide — is whether I have the ability to get more done here or in Congress. I am giving it a thorough analysis.”
Many of the precinct chairs who will determine DeLay’s successor to the Republican nomination have asked him to run, Eckels said, adding that he will make a decision soon about the race.
Meanwhile, lawmakers already seated in office are gearing up for a special legislative session that will begin Monday to hammer out new laws for school finance. Support is coming in from various parts of the state for a proposed gross receipts tax that would replace revenue lost if the state reduces the maximum local property tax by one-third — from $1.50 per $100 of assessed valuation to about $1 per $100 of valuation.
However, when the session starts, there will be some notable differences in committee chairmanships. Perhaps most notable will be the loss of Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, from his former place at the helm of the House Education Committee.
Grusendorf was unseated last month by Republican challenger Diane Patrick, a former educator and member of the State Board of Education.
