Democrat Lainey Melnick filed her papers earlier this week to be a candidate in 2010's election for U.S. Congressional District 21, a district currently represented by Lamar Smith. Her kickoff event is planned for Wednesday, the day the Special Session is set to start. From her press release:
Lainey Melnick will kick off her campaign with her official announcement for the 21st District Congressional seat on July 1st at the Shoreline Grill, 98 San Jacinto Blvd., from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. CHAMPS quartets from Anderson and Westlake High Schools will play live and other entertainers are expected. Advance tickets are available at actblue.com/page/lmkickoff.
"We need a representative in Congress who actually represents us." says Ms Melnick, "We face enormous challenges with the economy, health care, energy, and education to name only a few. We can't afford to play partisan politics. We need a Congressman willing to vote for the people instead of a political party if we are to return to stability, prosperity, and our position as a global leader."
Lainey, a grassroots leader, small business owner, mother and grandmother, is leaving her position as the Central Texas Regional Lead with Organizing for America to put full-time effort into the race. Her website, www.LaineyMelnick.com, already includes a long list of public supporters and endorsements.
Although Melnick is a political novice, her list of public supporters already includes some good Austin Democratic names, including Councilman Mike Martinez, and Councilman Chris Riley. Go view her website and check out her campaign. She has facebook and twitter accounts, but links to those are hidden in the bottom right-hand corner of the website, which is probably ineffective. That said, though, she's still off to a decent start for what will definitely be a very uphill battle.
Update by KT: I just noticed this in a Statesman post about Lainey's kick-off next week but there is apparently another Democrat looking at running in the primary. I haven't heard of him until now.
Separately, an Austin businessman who's been weighing a run for the Democratic nomination for the seat said the race might cost a challenger more than $1 million considering the district takes in two major media markets.
Tejas Vakil, 52, described himself as conservative on economic issues but less so on foreign policy and social issues. He said: "The issue is whether or not I can run a credible campaign."
Update by Michael (7:11 pm): When this post was written, Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Councilmembers Mike Martinez and Chris Riley were listed as supporters on Melnick's website. We got a call by source knowledgeable about the mayor and councilmembers to strike out that part of the post for the time being. Since then, Mayor Leffingwell's name has been taken off of Melnick's public list of supporters, but the names of Martinez and Riley remain. |
