Burnt Orange Report

David Van Os, Gary Mauro Running for State Party Chair

By Byron LaMasters

David Van Os briefly challenged Molly Beth Malcolm as chair in 2002, but withdrew before the convention. Van Os is running again now, with the position open. As a labor laywer, Van Os obviously has a following among labor. Personally, he, along with Dallas Precinct Chair Tom Blackwell were very helpful in last year's Platform Committee meeting at the Texas Democratic Convention in getting my student regent plank into the state party platform, "Texas Democrats... support efforts to place a voting student regent on the appointed Board of Regents of each state-supported four-year institution of higher education." Personally, I'm more inclined to support someone for Party Chair that I see representing the future of the party (Kirk Watson, Sherry Boyles, Garnet Coleman, etc.), but folks like Jim Mattox, Gary Mauro and David Van Os have certainly paid their dues and bring a lot of experience to the table.

David Van Os for State Party Chair website

Draft Jim Mattox for State Party Chair website

Gary Mauro has announced that he is running for state party chair, as is Garnet Coleman.

I have not yet endorsed a candidate for this race. I may do so... I may not. Not that I have a vote in the matter, other than calling / emailing my SDEC members. Still, I think I'll wait to see what happens (who else jumps in, who jumps out - since the field is already crowded) before I start seriously looking at the choices.