CD 17: Are Republicans Moving In A Virginia Ringer To Challenge Chet Edwards

By Vince Leibowitz on Sep 11, 2007 in 2008 Texas Elections Tweet This Post

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According to The Right State, Chet Edwards (D-Waco) may have a GOP challenger in spite of the fact that his well-moneyed challenger last cycle was less successful than a feather hat in a rainstorm:

I have heard a rumor, a fairly reliable one, that Republicans may potentially have a very good candidate to run against liberal Democrat Chet Edwards for TX-17. This is great news. Chet is a guy we inherited from the from another area due to the 2003 redistricting. Another words, we inherited someone else’s problem. Perhaps we can finally rectify the situation by replacing Edwards with a true American hero, someone like Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian Birdwell, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon.

[...]

It is still early the season, so more Republicans may declare their intent to run. One thing is certain, Chet Edwards will have his hands full with Brian Birdwell. This guy is for real so I hope the rumor is true and Birdwell runs for the Republican nomination for TX-17.

The big problem for the Republicans here is that Birdwell evidently lives in Virginia. From the site for his ministry:

The Birdwells believe that Brian was spared for the purpose of telling others about the Gospel, and they delight in sharing God’s love and sovereignty with others. They currently reside in Manassas, Virginia, with their teenage son Matthew and golden retriever, Hayley.

Birdwell evidently spoke at the Texas GOP convention last year, but you’d think the information on his site would be updated if he actually lived in Texas.

Of course, residency requirements for congressional seats are lax, as we learned during the last days of Tom DeLay last cycle, but if he’s living in Virginia now and filing ends in January, it poses a lot of questions.

For one thing, it’s amusing that the GOP actually has to move a ringer into the district to even have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating Chet Edwards, who is very well-liked in his conservative district.

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3 Responses to “CD 17: Are Republicans Moving In A Virginia Ringer To Challenge Chet Edwards”

Eyes of Texas on September 11th, 2007 12:33 pm

Read the site a little more closely, under “Latest Update” it says the Birdwells moved to Granbury in July:

Birdwell’s move to Texas
Jul 24, 2007 (posted Jul 24, 2007)

Brian and Mel have moved to Granbury, TX and they have a new ministry mailing address. Please send any donations or correspondence to the following address: Face the Fire Ministry, P.O. Box 1112, Granbury, TX 76048

http://www.facethefire.org/updates/
Vince Leibowitz on September 11th, 2007 4:11 pm

Thanks for that update. I sure didn’t see that on the website. The front page, as of last night, still displayed the Virginia address as well. I just checked and it still does. Perhaps they are still receiving some stuff there, too.
Brains and Eggs on September 17th, 2007 3:31 am

Are Democratic Statewide Prospects Improving Because of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican’s version of Obama
South Texas Chisme on September 17th, 2007 2:42 pm

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican’s version of Obama
Three Wise Men on September 17th, 2007 3:02 pm

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican’s version of Obama
Burnt Orange Report: Our Eyes Are Upon Texas Politics. on September 17th, 2007 3:26 pm

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican’s version of Obama
¡Para Justicia y Libertad! on September 18th, 2007 2:59 am

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican
BlueBloggin on September 20th, 2007 5:59 pm

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican
Eye on Williamson on September 21st, 2007 9:07 pm

ll assume the GOP field will be cleared for him. One issue Ogden may have, if he runs, is that it’s been a while since he’s had to seriously campaign, if ever. Last I heard the GOP was trying to bring in a“ringer” right-winger from Virginiato challenge Edwards but that may have fallen through. Ogden already has name ID in the district, and maybe he’s ready to get out of the Austin and take a shot at Congress. Of course if he did run it would mean big changes in Williamson County. I
dickfmbeaumont on September 23rd, 2007 7:19 pm

Thanks for the laugh Vince! It seems the GOP just wants to continue sending carpetbaggers against Chet and not very good ones at that. Perhaps if the Republicans would figure out that Chet isn’t really liberal that they might come up with a game plan but I doubt it. The Right Wing GOPs just get so irritated over symbolism, with the fact that Chet represents Crawford.
Cheers,
Dick
http://eightfeetdeep.blogspot.com
Doing My Part For The Left on September 24th, 2007 9:25 am

Are Democrats Statewide Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering? Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at Doing My Part for the Left examines sex scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall Caucus.Have Republicans moved in a “ringer” to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD 17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex. The Texas Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually the Republican’s version of Obama
Common Sense on September 27th, 2007 1:40 am

t gotten a decent 7 hours of straight sleep in forever. And I’m practically living off of take-out Chinese food and Honey Nut Cheerios with vanilla soy milk. There’s a lot to talk about. A local bluesman died recently, theremight be a challenger for Chetand I’m having a stripper over for tequila shots tonight (Ed. note: Hopefully she’ll already be kinda drunk when I pick her up from work and I can talk her into some riske body shots). Like I said, a lot to talk about.