Posted on 01/17/2004 8:27:06 AM PST by Theodore R.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Millionaire Teel Bivins' replacement in the Texas Senate most likely will be another man capable of putting a lot of his own money into the contest.
The Panhandle-to-Midland/Odessa district Bivins represented for 15 years, including stints chairing the Nominations, Education, and Finance committees, came vacant when he resigned Monday to become President Bush's nominee for United States ambassador to Sweden.
The probable front-runner to be his replacement in Tuesday's special election is the former Amarillo mayor, Kel Seliger, 50, who left that office in 2001.
Of the six other candidates, the three chief competitors, based on their spending, are from the southern end of the district, 250 miles from Amarillo:
• Bob Barnes of Odessa, a well-known restaurant owner who will turn 50 on Saturday;
• Kirk Edwards, 44, an Odessa businessman; and
• Don Sparks, 64, an oilman from Midland.
All four are Republicans. As one veteran state representative put it, all are for more money for education and against new taxes.
The other three candidates, considered unlikely to be in a probable runoff election, are Lee Gibson, 50, a Dumas farmer; Jesse Quackenbush, 41, an Amarillo trial lawyer and restaurant owner who ran unsuccessfully for state representative as a Democrat in 2002; and Elaine King Miller, 54, a retired educator and the only Democrat running.
If no one receives a majority Tuesday, the top two finishers will be in a runoff. The earliest possible date is Feb. 17.
Because Bivins' seat was up for election this year anyway, all seven candidates also are filed in the party primary elections March 9.
It is conceivable that one person could win the special election and someone else the GOP primary runoff April 13.
The eventual GOP nominee will face King Miller in the November general election but almost certainly will be the district's senator for the following four years because of the district's heavy Republican voting pattern.
As often happens in rural districts, when more than one population center is involved, there is a probable regional bias to the race.
Some Midlanders have resented for years that their senator is from Amarillo. And the districts were redrawn by the Legislative Redistricting Board in 2001 with the specific idea of increasing Midland/Odessa's clout in the 31st District.
The Midland Reporter-News editorialized that the new senator should be someone who favors a Midland/Odessa oil-and-gas perspective and adds to Midland's "power base" — preferably hometown guy Sparks.
"It is . . . important all Permian Basin voters support whichever of the three 'southern' candidates makes the anticipated runoff against an Amarillo-based candidate," the paper said.
The Amarillo Globe-News said the new senator should represent the entire district but said hometown guy Seliger could do it best. It's against the Odessa American's corporate policy to endorse.
Dave McNeely's column appears Thursdays. Contact him at (512) 445-3644 or dmcneely@statesman.com.
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