Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Who derailed Wendy Davis in District 10 State Senate race?

By Steve Smith of The Caravan of Dreams

Wendy Davis

FORT WORTH — Is Wendy Davis going to get to run against Kim Brimer for the State Senate District 10 seat?

Obviously, Davis wants to -- she announced that back in August. Everything seemed like smooth sailing until Monday afternoon when three Fort Worth firefighters waltzed into Tarrant County Democratic Party headquarters with a letter for local party poobah Art Brender. According to the Star-Telegram, the letter calls on the party to disqualify Davis from running because she is still a Fort Worth City Council member. Seems there is a little conflict between state and local law.

State law forbids sitting council members from running for the Legislature, but local law requires her to keep her seat until a successor is sworn in. Joel Burns, who won the special election runoff Dec. 18 to replace Davis, is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 8.

Brender has asked the secretary of state for a formal opinion on the issue, but there is a sense of urgency to the matter -- the deadline to file for the election is 5 p.m. tomorrow. Very interesting timing. Brender and Davis don't have a lot of time to figure this out.

So, I'm curious.

According to the Startlegram, the letter was sent by Cullen Cox, Rickey Turner and Javier Cerda, three firefighters who support the Democratic Party, according to Rob Gibson, second vice president of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association. If these guys truly support the Democratic Party, why would they derail a candidate who looked to have an excellent opportunity to unseat a very vulnerable and disliked Republican?

As one local Democrat told me this morning, the dots are pretty easy to connect. The political consultant for the Fort Worth Firefighters is Republican political consultant Bryan Eppstein. The political consultant for Kim Brimer is -- you guessed it -- Republican political consultant Bryan Eppstein.

And just when you thought that firefighters spent all their off time studying arcane aspects of state and local law.

Still Davis potentially has time to recover. And as Machiavelli once said, never do your opponent a small wound. Why did the letter arrive in Brender's hands on Monday? Why not tomorrow? Or Thursday?

But if Davis is done, who steps in? I think Davis would have been a tough opponent for Brimer. She was popular enough -- and liberal enough -- to play well in South and West Fort Worth. And she was conservative enough to appeal to voters in the suburban part of District 10 like Colleyville, Mansfield and the suburbs south of Fort Worth. So, Art, who is waiting in the wings?

Pegasus News content partner: The Caravan of Dreams

Related stories

• Kim Brimer-Wendy Davis showdown in Fort Worth set to end Friday (Aug. 19, 2008)
• Wendy Davis wins first battle in fight to keep name on ballot (Jan. 24, 2008)
• Joel Burns sworn into Fort Worth Council a week ahead of schedule (Jan. 2, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Politics and Government > City Government > Fort Worth > Fort Worth City Hall
• Politics and Government > Texas > Statewide and Legislative Elections

Comments

John McClelland Verified

I would think state law supercedes local law at any rate, so she can resign her seat and file to run for SD10.

Additionally, I see nothing in the Fort Worth City Charter, Chapter III, Section 1 or 4, that says she has to keep her seat. It only designates how long a term is and how to fill a vacant seat by special election.

Feel free to peruse the below link to the Charter, because I can't find anything. http://www.municode.com/resources/gat...

1 year, 10 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )