Texas Primary Casualties 2008
I am going to make a little picture collage of the seven Texas House Reps who won't be returning next session, after being defeated in Tuesday's party primaries. In fact, I was going to make the collage last night and actually started to, but my primary post-partum was too strong to overcome.
The retiring class of the Texas Primaries 2008:
State Rep Kevin Bailey, D-Houston (pro-Craddick)
State Rep Thomas Latham, R-Sunnyvale (pro-Craddick)
State Rep Corbin VanArsdale, R-Tomball (pro-Craddick)
State Rep Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso (anti-Craddick)
State Rep Paul Moreno, D-El Paso (anti-Craddick)
State Rep Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville (anti-Craddick)
State Rep Borris Miles, D-Houston (anti-Craddick)
Pat Haggerty may not have known it was one of his last night's in the lege when he led the quorum-busting walkout at the end of the 2007 session, but at least he left the House in a way we won't soon forget.
Whether he and other ousted members will be replaced by people who are pro or against Craddick is unclear, because the people who defeated them must still compete in the general election. But Craddick spokeswoman Alexis DeLee told the AP, "Overall, we're very happy with the results of the evening."
Interestingly, Thomas Latham defeated incumbent Elvira Reyna in a 2006 primary, in large part because of her stance on education, vouchers and other Craddick-led issues. He was the anti-Craddick candidate in that primary -- is the person who replaced him more anti-Craddick?
It may be that the pro- vs. anti-Craddick frame does not explain all the results, although it certainly seems to in some of those races (Bailey, Haggerty .. )
Pat Haggerty should have switched Parties when he was invited to do so. If he had, he'd still be in the legislature next January.