Posted on 11/21/2003 7:59:41 AM PST by Theodore R.
Ratliff stepping down
BY NATALIE GOTT Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN - State Sen. Bill Ratliff, a Republican who served for two years as acting lieutenant governor and recently denounced the GOP-led congressional redistricting effort, said Thursday he is resigning.
Quoting from the Bible, Ratliff said "to every thing there is a season." He said now is his "time for going out."
Ratliff, 67, made the announcement in his district in Mount Pleasant and in Austin.
He also delivered a letter to the governor's office that said he plans to retire effective Jan. 10, exactly 15 years after he was sworn into office. His letter asked the governor to call an election to fill his seat at the earliest possible date so the district doesn't go without representation for long.
"Senator Ratliff has made significant contributions to the Senate and the state of Texas. He has been a leader for his constituents on many issues that have helped make Texas a better place to live, work and raise a family," Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.
Ratliff's retirement was not unexpected. In the heat of the redistricting battle that pitted Republicans against Democrats this summer, Ratliff said he was considering resigning early.
Ratliff sided with Democrats who opposed the redrawing of the state's congressional districts. He said he feared the redistricting dispute would hurt the Senate's bipartisan tradition and said the GOP map would dilute rural representation.
He angrily stormed out of a Senate Republican Caucus meeting in August when his colleagues decided to fine Senate Democrats who were boycotting the Legislature over redistricting.
On Thursday, Ratliff denied there was any one issue that prompted him to resign, saying he began to feel burned out. "It's hard to keep the fire in your belly forever," he said.
Lloyd Bolding, 69, who owns an oil field services company in Kilgore, said East Texans are losing the first senator who ever effectively represented the largely rural region.
"Every year he's run his margins have become larger," Bolding said. "I think people look at Bill Ratliff as a guy who's working for their interests harder than you'd expect him to. He digs out the facts, he looks at the pros and cons."
Ratliff has served in the Senate since 1989. Nicknamed the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" of the Texas Senate because of his intelligence and ability to cut through complicated issues, Ratliff was chairman of the Senate education and finance committees during this tenure.
In 2000, his Senate colleagues elected him to become acting lieutenant governor to fill the job when then-Lt. Gov. Rick Perry became governor.
Ratliff launched a short-lived campaign for a full term, but bowed out and Dewhurst ultimately won the seat.
Ratliff said he was most proud of his rewrite of the public education code in 1995. In 1993, he helped write the current school finance plan, which sends money from property-rich districts to poor ones. Lawmakers are working to revamp that plan now.
Ratliff sometimes angered party leaders, who questioned his commitment as a conservative Republican. Ratliff has said he considers himself a Republican "at least 51 percent of the time."
In March 2002, Ratliff said Gov. Rick Perry and other top Republican officials were not strong enough in condemning anti-gay political mailings in legislative races. The ads accused Ratliff and other candidates of supporting a "radical homosexual agenda."
Ratliff said support from his constituents allowed him the freedom to vote his convictions in the Legislature and ignore the political pressures of political partisanship and other special interests.
"The Texas Legislature can be a puzzling, frustrating and at times exasperating mechanism for implementing democracy, but I am proud to have been one of those honored to do all I could to make it work for the people of this state," Ratliff said.
11/21/03
That alone is enough for me to say GOOD RIDDANCE!
Well, good. If they didnt condemn them at all that would be fine with me.
So long democRATliff, go on...GIT.
Texans in that district deserve to have a Republican who considers himself to be a Republican more than just 51% of the time. How about a 100% Tom DeLay type of Republican?
What, does he want a cookie for that?
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