It's times like these when I just have to sit back and grin with my German Schadenfreude. The subscription based Quorum Report confirms the news that party-switcher Rep. Hopson didn't get the field cleared for him by his newfound Republican friends.
Jacksonville dentist Michael Banks confirmed with QR this afternoon that he will seek the GOP nomination in HD 11, challenging the incumbent representative, Chuck Hopson, who announced last week that he was switching his party affiliation to Republican.
Banks said he would make a formal announcement of his candidacy Monday morning in Jacksonville. He told QR that he decided to challenge Hopson for the nomination because of the belief among many Republicans in the district that "the conservative values of our district in East Texas haven't been represented in the past."
By switching parties Hopson chose to move the challenge of getting re-elected from a general election to a primary, and with a hyper-Republican district I can understand the initial logic behind that move. Sure, Hopson won every general election by pulling lots of Republican support over to his side. But by moving the battle to the GOP primary, I think Hopson fails to understand that A) few Democrats are going to cross over to vote for him in a Republican primary and B) the Republicans willing to vote for him in the general election are not the same Republicans that vote in the GOP primary.
From Quourm Report (subscription required), we learn that Republican Michael Banks is already considering running against Rep. Chuck Hopson in the Republican primary in House District 11. Via QR:
Jacksonville dentist Michael Banks this afternoon said, “After receiving considerable encouragement from the people in each of the counties in District 11, including Cherokee County Republican Chairman Josie Schoolcraft, I am considering filing in the Republican Party Primary for the Texas State House of Representatives, District 11.I am considering my options and will be making an announcement next week.”
(Dr. Banks is a practicing dentist in Jacksonville, Texas and is a veteran of the Texas National Guard.He has been president of the Jacksonville Rotary Club, serves on the Board of East Texas Medical Center-Jacksonville, and has been a Trustee of the Jacksonville Independent School District.He also is a director of the Texas Wildlife Association and an active member of the Texas Conservation Alliance.
First, from Chairman Boyd Richie of the Texas Democratic Party:
“While I am extremely disappointed with Chuck Hopson, I remain confident the Texas House of Representatives will have a Democratic Speaker of the House next Legislative Session. Democrats continue to make inroads across the Lone Star State and will continue to put the best interests of Texans ahead of the special interests Republicans continue to represent.
“Make no mistake… as a rural Democratic elected official who served in rural Texas, I can tell you that if, in fact, Chuck Hopson makes this announcement this afternoon, he will be joining a party that has abandoned rural Texas.
“The Republican Party is the party that has abandoned our public schools to send our tax dollars to private schools in the big cities; the Party that tried to take 600,000 acres of our farmland for toll roads while leaving our farm to market roads in disrepair.
“Perhaps more importantly, Chuck Hopson will be joining the party of the special interests – the party that has given us the highest homeowners insurance rates in the country, that has increased our health insurance premiums beyond repair, and let the special interest lobbyists rule our State Capitol.
“It takes strength and integrity to stand against the special interests – and while some members have that strength, others like Chuck Hopson, do not. In the Democratic Party, there is room for members who are conservative and progressive – the only reason anyone would leave is for crass political reasons and a refusal to stand up to special interests.”
From Jim Dunnam, House Leader and one of the three heads of the House Democratic Campaign Committee (via the Houston Chronicle):
"Chuck has assured me and a number of other Democrats of his intention to continue to vote as he has in the past, which has been with our Democratic delegation the vast majority of the time. ... As for the future, this will have only a marginal impact on House Democrats' inevitable progress toward a majority ... Our overall goals and plans for 2010 have not changed, and we will gain a majority in the House in 2010."
From Jim Dow of the 20/20 PAC:
"We learned this morning of Representative Hopson's intentions to switch political parties. In light of that, he is no longer a member of our organization. We are profoundly disappointed by his decision."
I know that the members of the 20/20 PAC -- the other conservative Democrats -- were furious at Hopson this morning.
In a tale of the bizarre, Republican Bryan Walker is determined to keep the 2008 election cycle going.
Walker has challenged the election in House District 11 and the subsequent recount. His challenge, filed with the Secretary of State today, would put the authority to seat Democrat Chuck Hopson in the hands of the Texas House.
Hopson won the election by 200 votes after the recount (more than Republican Linda Harper-Brown).
According to Vince, the last candidate to file a similar challenge was in 2005 when Talmadge Heflin refused to accept his defeat at the hands of State Rep. Hubert Vo.
This is what happens when speakers politics and sore losers collide.
For more information, including the complaint, check out Capitol Annex.
