Burnt Orange Report

Rider Out of March Primary

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

From the Statesman, Kathy Rider will be pulling out of the March Primary in District 48. (Even if Howard wins, there would still in theory be a primary, though the three candidates have agreed that if one won the special election, the others would not contest them in the primary).

Political consultant and lobbyist Bill Miller, a close ally of some Republican leaders, described the results as an upset because the seat was drawn in 2001 to elect a Republican. He said it could signal that good times are ahead for other Texas Democrats as they try to pick up seats in a Republican-controlled Legislature this year.

"She still has to win, and you have a runoff," Miller said. "But it's a big warning to Republicans to take a look at the issues that are surfacing in this race and how they play with the electorate."

The winner will serve for the rest of 2006, including at least one special legislative session this spring to address the state's school finance system. Baxter resigned in November, citing professional and family reasons, and now lobbies for the cable industry.

Rider said she will drop out of the March Democratic primary to see who will face Bentzin in November for a new term that will start in January 2007.

"I think the Democrats are going to take the seat in the runoff, and we're pleased," Rider said.

I'll be the first to thank Kathy Rider for her previous service to the AISD and for helping to show that Democrats can solidly perform in District 48 (and for being gracious in defeat). No one could have predicted that her campaign more or less kept Donna Howard from winning outright tonight, even though after the fact, that does appear to be the case.

This now puts candidate Andy Brown in a bit of a pickle, because if Donna wins the run-off, his campaign doesn't need to restart, but no real decision can be made until a month from now when that election is over. I'm willing to bet there will be pressure, now that Rider is out, to urge Brown to fully endorse Howard in the run-off. We should hear from that camp in the next couple days. Check back with Burnt Orange Report for any updates. Also thanks to the Texas Whip for their reporting.