Posted on 11/04/2008 10:44:40 PM PST by weegee
With 40 percent of the votes tallied, it appeared two Houston lawyers - a Republican and a Democrat - will face one another in a runoff to complete an unexpired term in Texas Senate District 17.
As of 10:30 p.m., 183,125 ballots were counted.
With neither Democrat Chris Bell nor Republican Joan Huffman winning 50 percent plus 1, the candidates will go to a special election in December.
Reached at her campaign headquarters, Huffman she was ready to go "head to head" with Bell.
She received 26 percent of the votes cast.
"We are optimistic," she said. "So far it appears I will be leading the Republicans."
Huffman, a former prosecutor and district court judge, campaigned on her experience and used that to tout why she has the ability to tackle tough issues such as securing the border, strengthening public education and helping to maintain a positive business environment.
Bell, reached in Houston, said winning 40 percent of the votes was a greater victory to his party.
"I feel great about it. I knew this race was likely going to head into a runoff," he said. "Over 50 percent of the vote was Democratic. (Voters) have succeeded in turning what was a Republican district into a Democratic district."
He said he plans to mobilize the voters for the final push in December.
"I know it is going to be a hard-fought race and I am going to have to do everything I can to energize people to come back out, and so do the Republicans," Bell said. "When your party has won a victory, it is a lot easier to get people to come back out."
Bell, who has been in politics since winning a seat on Houston's city council in 1997, was considered the big name on the ticket.
He was elected to Congress in 2002, and in 2006 he lost a bid to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
His campaign echoed that of Sen. Barack Obama - "change." Obama is now president-elect.
Some areas Bell said he wants to change are the rising cost of college tuition, utility bills and insurance premiums.
Ultimately, it was the state of the public education system that compelled him to run for the senatorial seat, he said.
Earlier this year, Republican state Sen. Kyle Janek announced he would not complete his term, which has two years left.
That prompted a flood of candidates to throw their name into the race to take his seat. The Republican contenders for the seat were financial manager Austen Furse, lawyers Grant Harpold and engineering business owner Ken Sherman.
The other Democratic challenger was Missouri City lawyer Stephanie Simmons.
District 17, which includes about 750,000, stretches through portions of Jefferson, Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend and Harris counties.
Early voting totals had Bell and Huffman in a dead-heat for the senatorial seat.
A total of 47,694 early votes were cast in the race from the Fort Bend area, according to the Secretary of State Web site. Early vote totals were not listed for other counties as of 8 p.m.
Of those Fort Bend votes, Bell garnered 19,034 or 40 percent of the votes.
Huffman received 16,812 votes or 35 percent of the votes.
In Jefferson County, Bell garnered 57 percent of the votes followed by Simmons who received 27 percent of the vote.
None of the Republican candidates had more than 10 percent of the votes.
And Chris Bell is a 3 time loser. He lost his race for mayor of Houston. And his seat in Congress. And his race for governor.
He is the twerp who filed the charge against Tom DeLay after he'd been voted out of office (a black Democrat won his seat; but he claims that he was targeted by Tom DeLay's "agenda" to get more Republicans elected). So as a lame duck, he filed the charge. Ronnie Earle has stepped down and the case against Tom DeLay has still not gone to court. 2 years later.
He's apparently a career politician who plans to keep running for office. ANY office.
Houston PING
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