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Thu Sep 01, 2011 at 09:51 PM CDT
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| As of next Tuesday, former Judge Charlie Baird will stop exploring and begin officially campaigning for the position of Travis County District Attorney. Making his primary challenge to Democratic incumbent Rosemary Lehmberg official, Baird has announced that he will be joined by the Hon. Morris Overstreet, former judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Cory Session brother of Tim Cole, defendant exonerated in 299th District Court in 2009 by Charlie Baird.
The selection of the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex in a historically African-American part of East Austin, combined with his announced guests, would indicate that Baird is looking to tack to the left of Lehmberg in his primary challenge. This sets up the highest profile primary on the county level in Travis County for next spring's ballot outside of the TX-35 Congressional primary. Lehmberg sports a broad list of supporters, including many traditional African-American community and elected leaders including Rep. Dawna Dukes, Sheriff Greg Hamilton, and former DA opponent Gary Cobb. While Black voters tend to make up a larger share of the Democratic primary electorate than say a general election, it's not a source of votes from which to launch an terribly strong primary challenge for a countywide race.
We'll know more after next Tuesday as Baird lays out more of his policy agenda which he has been building with community input through local advertising including on Burnt Orange Report. |
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