September 13, 2005
An HD 48 Threesome?
By Karl-Thomas Musselman
It looks like Donna Howard won't be the only candidate with an educational background to try to challenge Todd Baxter in HD 48 next spring. Former AISD school board President Kathy Rider wants in on that action as well, creating a rather interesting 3 way race. Now, this could be spun two ways: one, she enhances the presence of education as "the" issue in the district making the primary a battle between which school board mom the voters want to be their gal, or splitting the female/education minded voters giving Andy Brown a run-off with one of the two ladies. It's hard to forecast this far out, but a run-off seems to be in the cards and in any case, there will be one female school board member to pick from... so let the campaign strategies begin?
Former Austin school board President Kathy Rider said Wednesday she will run as a Democrat next year for the Texas House seat held by Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin.
Rider, 60, was on the Austin school board from 1992 to 2002, and she served eight years as board president. She is a clinical social worker.
Also seeking the Democratic nod for the western Travis County seat are lawyer Andy Brown and former Eanes school board member Donna Howard.
But can someone please tell me why we don't have the big rush of candidates to run in HD 47 for Keel's OPEN seat?
Posted by Karl-Thomas Musselman at September 13, 2005 01:43 PM
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Because the best way to capture one of these seats is to run against a piece of shit incumbent who voted to raise taxes on 90% of us, allow tuition to be raised by 40%, force the public to pay for open records requests, deregualte local phone rates that now may double or triple.
Todd Baxter did all of those things. There is no Republican incumbent to demonize in HD 47, so the work gets tougher.
Some Republicans want us to knock off Baxter so it will clear the way for Ben Bentzin to run in 2008. Bentzin would be a much tougher Republican to beat than Baxter.
Can we start talking about Jason Earle? I've met him and he is really a standup guy. He has a social work background and has been at the convention center every day since the evacuees got here helping people find their way. Case management is what he's been helping with and he helps other volunteers use their strengths.
The son of Ronnie Earle, I think we an excellent shot at picking up that seat.
Is Jaon officially announced yet? I wish I heard something more than just rumor out of that district.
Ronnie Earle lost the current House District 47 twice - in 1996 and 2000 and it wasn;t that close.
We'd have Kay Hutchison supporters pouring money in here from all over the state. I think it would be a bad, bad, idea.
This is the most Republican seat in the county - Terry Keel made certain of that.
Jason Earle has his father's baggage, we need a fresh face. What about the guy that works for Rep. Vo?
It ain't a rumor. Jason Earle plans to take back District 47 for the Democrats, and he needs your help.
We just got back from the South Austin Democrats meeting at Little Mexico, and Jason was there talking to SAD members about his HD 47 plans. He mentioned tonight that he's considering a mid-Fall announcement. It sounds like a fun event because Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison want to play on his behalf.
While Terry Keel won this race big, it's also true that Southwestern Travis County supported John Sharp and Kirk Watson in 2002. So there is hope for a Democratic upset. Also, Jason's part of the growing trend of younger candidates who hope to revive the Texas Democratic Party with new energy and new ideas.
While many politicians talk the talk about helping the needy, Jason actually rolls up his sleeves and walks the walk. He's a social worker, and I've seen him down at the Austin Convention Center volunteering nearly every day helping Katrina survivors cut through the FEMA red tape. HD 47 would be lucky to have a hands-on problem solver like Jason looking after the interests of Travis County voters.
