Burnt Orange Report

Martin Frost to Run Against Pete Sessions in TX-32

By Byron LaMasters

According to several sources, Martin Frost will announce on Friday that he will challenge Pete Sessions in the 32nd Congressional District. His current 24th congressional district was sliced up among several other congressional districts in the redistricting fight. Frost's options include challenging Rep. Joe Barton in heavily Republican District 6, Rep. Michael Burgess in district 26, Rep. Pete Sessions in CD 32, or running in the new open 24th district where State Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Carrollton) is running. The new 24th includes much of the mid-cities, which is heavily Republican. Others have suggested that Martin Frost could challenge Eddie Bernice Johnson in the overwhelmingly Democratic 30th district in southern Dallas County. It's a possibility, but is probably unlikely. The 32nd is currently centered in north Dallas and is held by Pete Sessions and is heavily Republican. The new 32nd includes parts of Kessler Park, Oak Cliff and Hispanic precincts in west Dallas. It's still majority Republican, but with a huge minority turnout and cross-over Jewish vote for Frost in north Dallas, the race would be competetive. Martin Frost discussed his plans earlier this week at a Wesley Clark fundraiser in Dallas where Frost endorsed Wesley Clark. Here's the story:

Rep. Martin Frost of Arlington headlined a band of Democratic Texans, including former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, who endorsed Gen. Clark on Thursday.

Gen. Clark vowed to support the beleaguered Mr. Frost, a 13-term representative whose congressional district no longer exists under a Republican-backed redistricting plan upheld last week by a three-judge federal court of appeals panel.

Gen. Clark's nomination as the Democrats' presidential candidate would give Democrats their strongest ticket in Texas and help representatives such as him win re-election, Mr. Frost said.

For his part, Mr. Frost said he would announce, at 2 p.m. Friday at a location yet to be determined, the congressional district in which he will run. He was mum on his intentions, but coy.

Asked which district he would choose, Mr. Frost said: "I pretty well know. But I'm still talking to a lot of people about it." Asked to name his top two choices, he said he probably would run against Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, or Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis.

Mr. Barton, speaking last month about the prospects of a race between Mr. Frost and himself, said: "It'll be one of the spotlight races in the country. If it's Barton vs. Frost, it'll be based on issues. I'm a conservative; he's a liberal."

But several Frost supporters at the Clark fund-raiser predicted Mr. Frost would run against Mr. Sessions. Other scenarios have Mr. Frost challenging freshman Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Highland Village, or launching a primary challenge to Dallas Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson.

The Dallas County Democratic Party would probably be delighted to have Martin Frost run in the 32nd. The 32nd is entirely within Dallas County and Frost would be spending several million dollars to boost Democratic turnout in the district. With the Dallas County political divide being nearly 50-50%, a large turnout opperation by Frost could easily give the Democratic countywide candidates (judicial races, sheriff's race, tax assesor, etc.) a slight boost that would put them over the top. Perhaps this is part of Frost's thinking. He knows that he'll probably go down, but he might as well go down fighting and bring down a bunch of Dallas County Republicans with him.