Candidates Log West Texas Miles in Race for House Seat

Story last updated at 4:20 a.m. Sunday, August 27, 2006 Candidates log West Texas miles in race for House seat BY D. LANCE LUNSFORD AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Across 15,104 square miles, House District 85 covers 16 counties and a population of more than 145,000 West Texans.

Reaching the edges of Abilene with its borders a few miles from Lubbock's and San Angelo's outskirts, the district's most metropolitan centers are Plainview and Big Spring.

The two candidates looking to replace retiring state Rep. Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, have burned a path between the two cities, working to snag votes and garner support to spread the word about their candidacy.

For Republican Jim Landtroop, the campaign started 20 months ago with plans to take on Laney, a former House speaker and championed legislative veteran for his bipartisan survival in a state that has slowly become majority Republican. For Democrat Joe Heflin, the race started with a phone call from Laney suggesting his candidacy for the seat.

It's a district that largely elects Republicans - except on the local level. Some of the district's counties, as Landtroop points out, don't even have an organized local Republican party.

"I speak to people in Brownfield, and they're registered as Democrats, but they all vote Republican. I don't know of that anywhere else but Brownfield," said the Rev. Derek McNamara, of the Brownfield Church of Christ on Thursday in a meeting with Landtroop.

Vastly rural and agricultural in its economy, voters turned out substantially for Republicans in races that appear on the ballot above the county races.

In 2004's general election, voters in House District 85 picked U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, by 59.3 percent - over Charlie Stenholm, an agriculture-focused 26-year Democrat who, through redistricting, was pitted against a congressman who had yet to serve a full term. At the same time, 61.5 percent of voters turned out for George W. Bush over Democratic candidate John Kerry in the presidential race.

Still, local candidates largely ran and won as Democrats in the same cycle. Laney, who is leaving the Texas Legislature after more than 30 years of service, himself won 48.8 percent of the vote against Republican candidate Kent Sharp.

"The Republican Party has really grown in West Texas," said Heflin, but, "anything from state representative down, especially local elections, tend to be more independent. One of the least asked questions I get are what party are you running in?"

HOUSE DISTRICT 85 CANDIDATESBY D. LANCE LUNSFORD Joe Heflin BY D. LANCE LUNSFORD Democrat

Both see opportunity in the figures - Landtroop recognizing the shift in West Texas voters over the last 25 years to the Republican side and Heflin seeing local leanings to moderate Democrats like Laney.

Heflin gave up being Crosby County judge where he would have cake-walked his way through an unopposed re-election. After Laney's call, he said spent three days of considering a run with his wife.

A graduate of the Texas Tech University School of Law, Heflin studied business and agriculture at Eastern New Mexico University for his undergraduate degree. He grew up on his family's cotton farm in Cochran County.

Landtroop owns a small insurance agency in Plainview. He studied business management, graduating from Texas A&M in 1991. He grew up in Keller, a small community - now a growing suburb - near Dallas.

Heflin started out early Wednesday morning, meeting up with a reporter in Plainview to tout his Texas Farm Bureau Friends of Agriculture (AGFUND) endorsement before trekking south to Floydada to record a radio show on KFLP-AM Wednesday. A few hours later, he was in Brownfield, hooking up with more Texas Farm Bureau officials and another local reporter.

Heflin does not want to get into an endorsement race - Landtroop touts an extensive list of supporters - but he said the TFB AGFUND endorsement is a big one for a district where the dominant industry is handily agriculture.

"It's a very agricultural district and very rural. The things that are important to this district are very important to the Texas Farm Bureau," said Lloyd D. Arthur, vice president of the Texas Farm Bureau.

Landtroop does not shy away from the issue, instead congratulating his opponent on the endorsement.

"... but I've been endorsed by multiple agriculture organizations. I feel very confident about where we stand when it comes to agriculture," Landtroop said.

Though Heflin packs a punch in agriculture support, he loses in overall campaign cash.

His latest campaign finance filing shows total contributions of more than $40,000 to Landtroop's latest report of $80,000.

Still, said a Heflin campaign spokesman, more campaign cash is rolling in as Democrats statewide get optimistic about keeping Laney's seat in Democratic hands.

It's money both candidates need to reach voters. Located on the peripheries of four major television media markets, neither candidate is running costly television advertisements. Instead, the financial push will be toward $3 gas to get to smaller gatherings of organizations that dot the 16-county district.

Landtroop held a gathering Thursday at the home of Dale and Brenda Travis. But before, Landtroop's wife, Kathy, went with Brenda Travis to talk to Brownfield voters, and Landtroop hit the streets with Dale Travis to meet others.

Sitting across from Brownfield Independent School District Superintendent Jerry Jones, Travis touted Landtroop's candidacy.

"I feel strongly about Jim's candidacy for this House seat," Travis said, prompting a discussion on the myriad of issues related to public education in rural West Texas.

For Landtroop, it could be a sticky subject, but it's one he brings up without prompting. His children attend one of the only private schools in House District 85. Though he's said it before, Landtroop's viewpoint comes off unrehearsed, and before the issue of school vouchers rears its head, he said he opposes them.

"In this district, if you're going to reach the kids, it's through public education," Landtroop said, noting the limited private education institutions in District 85.

Support from Houston home builder Bob Perry in the form of $10,000 on Landtroop's last campaign finance report requires the clarification from Landtroop. So does another $15,000 from Perry in a previous report as well as $5,000 from San Antonio conservative Dr. James Leininger. Both Perry and Leininger support school vouchers.

However, sometimes Landtroop's and Heflin's issues fall far from the politically polarized fray of Austin and Washington. Instead, their agreement on several issues shows a tepid race that has potential of heating.

What waves will result as the election nears in November remain unknown though the potential for a classic West Texas showdown might be the only one of its kind in this cycle.

One debate is scheduled for Big Spring. Another is in the works in Plainview. And plenty can change in two months.

With few other contested Republican versus Democrat showdowns in West Texas, the tree of political entertainment that hangs over voters here may yet come to bear fruit.

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This is a very good political article, but it has one error of fact. Most West Texans are not registered Democrats unless they have voted in the recent March or April Democratic primaries. Otherwise, they are technically "unaffiliated" voters. Very few Texans as a whole are "registered" in either party: they just think they are!

Landtroop has a real shot at this unless 2006 is such a national Democratic year that the tide defeats good Republican candidates like Landtroop in more closely-contested races.

I am in Big Spring. Nothing can happen that will turn these republicans around. We are steadfast about holding the house and Senate no matter how bad things get. The majority of my towns population is Hispanic, legal and illegal. The Hispanics make up 75% of our schools, but this town still votes a republican majority! Let's hope it stays that way.

Hope I get a chance to see Landtroop.

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