Contenders Crawl Out Of Woodwork To Seek Houston Area Legislative Seats

According to Capitol Inside, no less than five people are considering campaigns for four Houston-area house seats—only one of which is a likely open seat.

With former State Rep. Talmadge Heflin (R-Houston) out of the running for a second grudgematch against Hubert Vo now that he’s the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas, Houston ISD trustee Greg Meyers is reportedly preparing to seek the GOP nomination to oppose Vo.

And, there is evidently some serious behind-the-scenes debate going on as to whether or not Houston City Councilwoman Carol Alvarado would have a clear field to replace State Sen. Rick Noriega when he gives up his seat to run for U.S. Senate.

And, State Rep. Kevin Bailey, considered by many as a Democrat too loyal to House Speaker Tom Craddick, could face a primary challenge from Armando Walle, a community liaison for Congressmen Gene Green and chairman of the Harris County Tejano Democrats.Republican Reps. Dwayne Bohac and Jim Murphy are also likely to face serious Democratic challengers as Harris County works hard to turn as blue as Dallas County did in the last cycle. Kristi Thibaut, who opposed Murphy last cycle could be gearing up for a rematch, and Ginny Stronger McDavid is reportedly considering going against Bohac. Her husband, Mark McDavid, ran against Bohac last cycle.

Too, Democrats are looking at Rep. Robert Talton’s (R-Pasadena) seat, which he could vacate if he decides to run against Nick Lampson in CD 22 (and a very likely field of as many as six GOP challengers).

That part about Carol Alvarado having a clear field is, according to Capitol Inside, the subject of much controversy:

Alvarado supporters hoped she’d have a clear path to the Democratic nomination in HD 145. But the uncontested primary race that Alvarado forces envisioned has apparently run into some potential obstacles with State Reps. Jessica Farrar and Ana Hernandez reportedly resisting. While Alvarado has the baggage of an ongoing investigation into a scandal involving pay raises and bonuses for several employees when she was mayor pro tem, the problem
that other Hispanic state lawmakers in nearby House districts appear to have with her possible candidacy for Noriega’s seat seems to center more on her association with consultant Marc Campos.

The longtime Democratic strategist supported Hernandez’s main rival in a special election battle for a seat that opened when Joe Moreno died in a car wreck in 2005. Farrar was arguably Hernandez’s most influential supporter in the special House race. Campos has also drawn the ire powerful Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia for opposing her in a past race and backing Alvarado aide James Rodriguez against the candidate she favors for the open council seat. Alvarado has been a Campos client as well.

It will indeed be interesting to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned.

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