Telford to Retire
By Byron LaMasters
The Quorum Report says that State Rep. Barry Telford (D-Dekalb) will not run for re-election. Telford is one of a rare breed - a white Texas Democrat. His northeast Texas district is a clasic east Texas swing district, usually preferring Republicans on the statewide level, but electing more Democrats on the local level. Both US Rep. Max Sandlin and Barry Telford have won the district easily repeatedly. It'll likely be a toss-up race with it vacant. Here's how the district voted in 2002:
U.S. SENATOR
CORNYN, JOHN R 17,532 53.3%
KIRK, RON D 15,390 46.7%
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 1
LAWRENCE, JOHN R 12,340 37.1%
*SANDLIN, MAX D 20,895 62.9%
GOVERNOR
*PERRY, RICK R 17,158 51.3%
SANCHEZ, TONY D 16,260 48.7%
LT. GOVERNOR
DEWHURST, DAVID R 15,876 47.8%
SHARP, JOHN D 17,310 52.2%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 1
TEAFATILLER, DAN R 12,616 38.0%
*TELFORD, BARRY B. D 20,627 62.0%
STATEWIDES INDEX D 48.4%
R 51.6%
Looking further down the ballot there's lots of 51-49% races.
As for other state house races, some races are developing across the state. Katy Hubener (D) is running against State Rep. Ray Allen (R) in Grande Praire. I've worked with Katy in the past and I wish her the best, although the webpage needs some work... Here in Austin there's some buzz on Democratic challengers to Todd Baxter and Jack Stick (if Stick runs for Congress in the new 10th as expected, that would leave his north Austin / Pflugerville district open):
Word on the Democratic street has Austin SafePlace Executive Director Kelly White stepping down to run for state representative in District 48 (currently held by Republican incumbent Todd Baxter), and former legislative aide and cybervote maven Mark Strama is seriously considering Jack Stick's District 50 seat. White didn't deny the rumor, but told Naked City that her tenure with SafePlace runs through Nov. 21 -- "That's what I'm focused on." Strama was traveling and could not be reached at press time, but Elliott McFadden, Travis Co. Democratic Party executive director, said that Strama has indicated he's pretty certain that he'll run. Of course, the way things are going at the Capitol, the primary campaign may not actually get under way until next August. -- M.K.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at October 19, 2003 06:39 PM
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Byron, that seat will stay Democratic. It will be a little bit more competitive though without Telford.
Molly Beth Malcolm could be a viable candidate, but I have doubts if she will enter that race. The GOP doesn't have a strong organizational presence in Texarkana.
Ray Allen is a tough nut to crack. We have a better shot towards the end of the decade. If Katy can get 46-47%, that would be a victory. That was a Democratic seat before Allen. Carlye Smith and Bob Arnold held it in the 1970s and 80s.
I don't know much about those Dems running against Stick and Baxter.
I don't know much about Strama, although if Stick runs for Congress his seat would be very competetive if we had a strong candidate.
As for Kelly White, here's some stuff about her. She's been highly touted by local Austin folks and she'd likely be a beneficiary of some Annie's list money (Texas' EMILY's List). Still that's a tough district and Baxter is a tough opponent, but it would be a good fight.
As for Katy... I agree... anything 46%+ puts it on the radar screen of the state party... I don't think that it's on the radar screen of the state party (although i'm sure it is with the local party).
Agreed with the Telford seat. It's one of the more Democratic rural districts in the state. Most years I'm sure that district votes more solidly Democratic... last year was a tough year for Democrats all across the state so a 48.5% DPI (using last years statewide average) isn't bad at all.
