Burnt Orange Report

Justice Rose Spector Looking to Run in HD121

By Byron LaMasters

Andrew noted earlier that a high-profile Democrat was considering a run for the House seat being vacated by Elizabeth Ames Jones, who was appointed by Rick Perry to the Railroad Commission. Now, we hear that former State Supreme Court Justice Rose Spector is looking to make a run for the seat:

Former State Supreme Court Justice Rose Spector appears to be on the verge of jumping into a race for an open Texas House seat in San Antonio. So does former State Rep. George Pierce, who represented a neighboring district as both a Democrat and a Republican. So do others in a special election contest that has free-for-all potential in the wake of Elizabeth Ames Jones' last-minute decision to forego a third term in the House so she can take an appointment to the Texas Railroad Commission instead. [...]

Spector, one of the last Democrats to hold statewide office in Texas, is the second potential Democratic contestant for the special race in a district that is stacked with Republican voters. Melissa Kazen, the wife of a county court-at-law judge, is also weighing a possible bid in the special election for HD 121. [...]

Democratic strategists do not want more than one candidate in the special state House campaign. The Democrats' hopes will hinge on getting a candidate into a runoff and then trying to beat the top Republican vote-getter in a one-on-one match. That won't be easy - considering that almost 70 percent of the voters in HD 121 backed the GOP's statewide ticket in 2002. The district contains the old-money enclaves of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills and Olmos Park - all Republican bastions - along with suburbs that have more GOP voters than Democrats in the northeast part of Bexar County.

But Democrats see Spector as a potential dream candidate for that particular district. She was a highly-respected Texas Supreme Court member for six years until falling victim to the Republican statewide avalanche in 1998. She was a state district judge for a dozen years before winning a seat on the state's highest court and a Bexar County court-at-law judge for five years before that. Spector, whose children attended Alamo Heights schools, fared better than all other Democratic statewide candidates except John Sharp and Paul Hobby when she lost to Republican Supreme Court Justice Harriet O'Neill in the general election six years ago.

As Andrew noted last week, the deck is stacked against us in that district, but a creditable Democratic candidate could make things interesting:

In the Elizabeth Ames Jones affair, it is true that her district is largely Republican, and it will be an uphill battle one way or the other. But its very nature is encouraging several Republicans to run- all of whom will surely be sniping at one another- and at least one Democrat (whose name I can't talk about quite yet- I'll have it later this week at the latest) has enough creditability in the district to make a real run at it. The deck is stacked against us by GOP gerrymanderers, but let's just say that the district isn't a total wash for us. Keep your eyes on BOR for all your updates!

Rose Spector certainly would have creditability in the district, even though the district is over 60% Republican. Still, anything can happen in a low-turnout special election, and with a strong candidate, there is no reason why Democrats shouldn't throw some resources into the race. We'll know more after the filing deadline tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned. Kuff and Vince have some thoughts on the topic as well.