Thursday, December 22, 2005
A Tragedy In The Courthouse
Lampasas County, Texas, will have at least one less Democrat serving her people in January. As reported by my hometown newspaper, District Clerk Terri Cox (for my Mississippi readers, that's the equivalent of the Circuit Clerk) is switching parties to run for her fourth term.
As quoted by the newspaper: "It was a difficult decision," Mrs. Cox said. "But I decided it would be in the best interest of the county and to provide continued service to the office of district clerk to file Republican."
As this it is my prerogative to speculate through this medium, I strongly suspect that Lampasas County Republican Party Chairman Skipper Wallace twisted Mrs. Cox's arm. Wallace has been very aggressive about encouraging party swapping and Mrs. Cox is one of three Democratic holdouts. Mrs. Cox faced a Republican challenger four years ago. That challenger came to the race with only basic experience in public record keeping but made some headway with the old Republican tactic of questioning the morals of all persons Democratic. What immorality had Mrs. Cox been accused of? Being a Democrat.
Wallace, in my estimation, likely threatened Mrs. Cox with another challenger. As she's one of only a few offices the party has to target, any opponent would be well funded and could drown out any discussion of real issues with more false cries of immorality. Mrs. Cox, being the true public servant she is, recognizes which way the wind is blowing and will put up with GOP nonsense so that her work can continue unimpeded. I truly respect Mrs. Cox and her work, so she may well be the third Republican I've ever voted for. Barring that, and some highly unlikely Democratic ubercandidate, I may well just not cast a ballot in that race at all.
As for the other Democratic holdouts, there are two. County Clerk Connie Hartman (the Chancery Clerk is Mississippi) has not officially indicated her plans, but any change would be a shock. Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1, Frances Porter, is not seeking another term. Three Republicans have filed for her seat.
A final Democratic contender (maybe) is Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cox, husband to District Clerk Terri Cox. In what may be a case of sloppy journalism, his decision to run for another term is already known, but his party affiliation is not. As my hometown paper has reported, Mr. Cox will seek a second term, but no one has filed for any office in the Democratic primary. Mr. Cox does not qualify as a Democratic holdout in my book, at least not yet, as he'll be running for his second term. His victory was a much needed positive outcome for the Democrats in 2002. A win in 2006 looks like it may be our only positive outcome.
A race to watch will be the one for County Judge. In Texas, the County Judge is basically the county's chief administrative officer. I have heard a lot of rumors regarding who will run and under which party's banner. There has even been some talk among the party faithful regarding my own possible candidacy. As of this writing, one Republican has filed.
All politics is local. Lampasas County politicians pick their party labels based on largely national happenings, but their actions often defy those labels. The current crop of county leaders, heavily Republican, has, literally and figuratively, done more to expand government than any of their predecessors. They've built a second county government building while spending millions of dollars to restore the first. They've helped create another elected board to run an arm of the bureaucracy. They've increased county employee salaries (most notably their own). I don't write that as criticism, but rather as a lesson that sometimes party labels don't really matter.
The 2006 election will be one to watch.
As quoted by the newspaper: "It was a difficult decision," Mrs. Cox said. "But I decided it would be in the best interest of the county and to provide continued service to the office of district clerk to file Republican."
As this it is my prerogative to speculate through this medium, I strongly suspect that Lampasas County Republican Party Chairman Skipper Wallace twisted Mrs. Cox's arm. Wallace has been very aggressive about encouraging party swapping and Mrs. Cox is one of three Democratic holdouts. Mrs. Cox faced a Republican challenger four years ago. That challenger came to the race with only basic experience in public record keeping but made some headway with the old Republican tactic of questioning the morals of all persons Democratic. What immorality had Mrs. Cox been accused of? Being a Democrat.
Wallace, in my estimation, likely threatened Mrs. Cox with another challenger. As she's one of only a few offices the party has to target, any opponent would be well funded and could drown out any discussion of real issues with more false cries of immorality. Mrs. Cox, being the true public servant she is, recognizes which way the wind is blowing and will put up with GOP nonsense so that her work can continue unimpeded. I truly respect Mrs. Cox and her work, so she may well be the third Republican I've ever voted for. Barring that, and some highly unlikely Democratic ubercandidate, I may well just not cast a ballot in that race at all.
As for the other Democratic holdouts, there are two. County Clerk Connie Hartman (the Chancery Clerk is Mississippi) has not officially indicated her plans, but any change would be a shock. Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1, Frances Porter, is not seeking another term. Three Republicans have filed for her seat.
A final Democratic contender (maybe) is Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cox, husband to District Clerk Terri Cox. In what may be a case of sloppy journalism, his decision to run for another term is already known, but his party affiliation is not. As my hometown paper has reported, Mr. Cox will seek a second term, but no one has filed for any office in the Democratic primary. Mr. Cox does not qualify as a Democratic holdout in my book, at least not yet, as he'll be running for his second term. His victory was a much needed positive outcome for the Democrats in 2002. A win in 2006 looks like it may be our only positive outcome.
A race to watch will be the one for County Judge. In Texas, the County Judge is basically the county's chief administrative officer. I have heard a lot of rumors regarding who will run and under which party's banner. There has even been some talk among the party faithful regarding my own possible candidacy. As of this writing, one Republican has filed.
All politics is local. Lampasas County politicians pick their party labels based on largely national happenings, but their actions often defy those labels. The current crop of county leaders, heavily Republican, has, literally and figuratively, done more to expand government than any of their predecessors. They've built a second county government building while spending millions of dollars to restore the first. They've helped create another elected board to run an arm of the bureaucracy. They've increased county employee salaries (most notably their own). I don't write that as criticism, but rather as a lesson that sometimes party labels don't really matter.
The 2006 election will be one to watch.
