Early voting ended Friday in Texas, and now we wait for Tuesday to see who takes over in 2013. What are the most salient issues on the agenda and what are the hot races to watch? Turns out Texans are still leery about federal government and the direction the country is heading, but the good news is marginally more persons think Texas is heading in the right direction. As for what the new state legislature will do after the election in terms of setting the agenda (deciding which issues and problems government should try to address) is hard to know. Border security and the economy top out as the most important topics in public opinion polls.
Depending on the margin in the legislature, Republicans may be in a strong position to move through their agenda. The most expensive race in the state is the Wendy Davis/ Mark Shelton battle for Senate District 10 in Ft. Worth which will wind up costing six million dollars by the time it’s over. It has been a particularly ugly campaign because Shelton has accused Davis of ethics violations and Davis has accused Shelton of wanting to let rapists go free by voting against legislation for rape evidence kits. Who’s ahead—no way to tell—this is a true horse race (election contest where the media focus on candidate personalities and the competition rather than emphasize the issues).
One race that is literally heating up is in CD-14, a newly re-drawn district where Mark Weber (R) and Nick Lampson (D) are competing to fill the vacancy left by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, (R-Lake Jackson). Recent video posted on-line shows Lampson getting aggressive in response to questions about some of his policy positions. The Lampson campaign quickly fired back that this was a Republican set up. The biggest difference between these two candidates is about the role of government and business. Lampson argues that there is a role for government to play in helping to protect the economy, while Weber said that “[g]overnment is the problem.”
The third hottest race (but only because of the glare from the lights of national attention on what this race means for the Tea Party) is that between Paul Sadler and Ted Cruz. Sadler recently called Cruz one of the most extreme U.S. Senate candidates ever because of Cruz’s support of Tea Party principles. The race isn’t hot because it will be close though, expect Cruz to take this easily.
What aren’t considered “hot” this season are judicial elections. Most folks don’t pay attention to the fact that judges are elected on a partisan basis in Texas. Critics of electing judges argue that campaign donors “buy” justice through their contributions to judicial campaigns. Two candidates this cycle who have been the objects of media lights and who are seeking re-election for another 6-year term are Justice Nathan Hecht (the longest-serving member on the Texas Supreme Court) and Justice Sharon Keller on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (best known for closing office doors promptly at 5 pm rather than accept a last-minute death penalty plea). Keller, along with Justice Nathan Hecht each owe fines for ethics violations which have been levied by the Texas Ethics Commission. Hecht’s fine was for failing to report a campaign contribution from a top law firm, while Keller was fined for failing to disclose more than $2 million in personal holdings on financial disclosure forms. You might see Keller go up in smoke, but plan on Hecht continuing to burn bright.
Lone Star News Review 