Burnt Orange Report

Howard In, White Out

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Bumped. Welcome visitors from the Donna Howard campaign e-mail, this is the post you were probably looking for. -KT

I've been aware of the talk that Kelly White would jump into the HD 48 primary in the hope of being a "consensus candidate" according to local consultant David Butts. This has been causing tensions of course since White is candidate Donna Howard's treasurer, and would immediately change the dynamic of the race for all candidates including Andy Brown (who's website design and e-mail images are still too wide to fit in average sized browsers) and AISD school board president Kathy Rider.

But this weekend I was at a fundraiser for the No Nonsense campaign where I learned that Kelly was giving Donna 'veto power' over any run she might make. And considering I just received an e-mail press release stating that Donna was in the race no matter what from consultant Kelly Fero, a run by White has now effectively been 'vetoed'. White is instead focusing her immediate time raising five figure money for an upcoming project for the No Nonsense campaign.

I'd also like to thank White for winning a No Nonsense campaign shirt at the fundraiser as a Thanksgiving present for my father.

The press release...

Veteran public education advocate Donna Howard today said she will be a candidate in any special election to fill the soon-to-be-vacant Texas House District 48 seat, and called for a series of public debates featuring every declared candidate to make sure voters have a chance to participate in a full discussion of the critical issues facing the district.

"The voters have a right to know who the candidates are and where we stand," Howard said. "At these prices, the stakes are too high to let partisanship, cronyism, and last-minute maneuvering at the Capitol take away that right."

A special election and possible run-off to replace incumbent state representative Todd Baxter, who resigned suddenly earlier this month, could cost taxpayers as much as $1 million, according to local election officials.

Howard, already a candidate in the regular primary election scheduled for March 7, 2006, said her campaign will offer hope to voters who are frustrated by the failure of the current state leadership to address public school finance, children's health care, soaring property tax and homeowners' insurance rates, and other major challenges.

"My campaign will be a home for anyone who believes we should be putting our community and the issues that concern us first and political gamesmanship last," Howard said.

A series of vigorous public debates would help voters counter the efforts of partisan leaders at the Capitol to short circuit the normal democratic process and hand pick their preferred candidate in a special election, Howard said.

Howard, a former Eanes ISD board member and widely recognized leader on school issues, was a co-founder of Advocates for Eanes Schools, a parent organization, and helped start the Texas Education Crisis Coalition, a grassroots group of parents and community leaders. Certified as a Master School Trustee by the Texas Association of School Boards, Howard has previously run for the State Board of Education.

Howard has a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's in health education from the University of Texas. She has worked as a critical care nurse at Brackenridge and Seton hospitals, served as the first hospital-based Patient Education Coordinator in Austin history, and helped get the Seton Good Health School off the ground. She has also been president of the Texas Nurses' Association (District 5) and a Health Education instructor at UT.