Hubert Vo is ready to serve, while Andy Taylor keeps flapping his gums.
"Andy Taylor and Talmadge Heflin are the last two people who just won't take Vo for an answer," said Kelly Fero, a Democratic strategist and unpaid adviser to Vo.In his petition, Heflin contends the election was marred by voting irregularities, including a number of votes cast illegally by people living outside Harris County. He also has questioned Vo's residency, alleging Vo lives in Sugar Land.
Vo said he was ready to "move on forward to serve the people of my district."
"We haven't had any concrete evidence from Mr. Heflin's side yet, so we're not sure what they're talking about," he said.
Taylor replied that Vo "will see lots of concrete and specific evidence once we are before the House committee, trying this case."
The Star Telegram gets woozy at the thought of Yet Another Bitter Partisan Battle In The Lege When There's Real Work To Do, but is curiously wishy-washy about it.
Finally, the Austin Chronicle joins the growing list of those who think the other challenges, by Eric Opiela and (especially) Jack Stick, are just there to provide cover for the Heflin squabble, as the House Republicans could then dismiss those two and say "see! we were reasonable!" I'm sure some of my Republican friends will say this is just more hyperventilating paranoia by us poor downtrodden Democrats, but then some of my Republican friends thought the very idea of a House challenge by Talmadge Heflin was also just so much hyperventilating paranoia. If the House winds up tossing out Heflin's case with the contempt it deserves, I'll be more than happy to say that you told me so. In the meantime, I'd rather be prepared for all eventualities.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 03, 2004 to Election 2004 | TrackBack"won't take Vo for an answer," that Kelly Fero is one cool cat.
Posted by: Red Dog on December 3, 2004 9:38 AMCharles,
I'm always of the mind that Dems should play offense, not defense (even though our leadership seems not to understand this). Shouldn't Kelly White place a challenge of her own? After all, her margin of loss was a lot closer than Stick's. If nothing else, it would draw more attention to the issue.
Posted by: John Greenman on December 3, 2004 9:48 AMJohn, your point is well taken, but Kelly White chose not to pursue the issue beyond a recount.
In her opinion, the margin was close enough to reasonably request a recount. But an anlysis of the votes showed that it would be essentially impossible to find enough voter error to reverse the outcome.
Now, of course, the deadline for requesting a House challenge has passed.
Posted by: Zangwell Arrow on December 3, 2004 10:05 AMWhat I want to know is how Heflin, a wealthy middle-aged white Judeo-Christian male, can possibly delude himself that he was robbed of election to a district whose demographic has swung majority minority/immigrant and greatly Southeast Asian at that? A demographic that NOT coincidentally describes the Honorable Member from Sugarland, Mr. Vo?
Posted by: Constance Reader on December 3, 2004 10:07 AMEh, Hubert lives in SD 149. Not Sugarland.
Anyway, when a friend of mine went to vote in 772 and refused to take Helfin's literature the Heflin campaign workers looked at her as if she had two heads. Of course in her neighborhood her neigbors told her to remove her Gore/Lieberman sign from her yard, that's just the kind of neigborhood it is. I don't think they realize that they share their SD with all those people in Alief. (Helfin doesn't live in either of those precincts. He lives, I hear, in 300. But it's the same mentality. Frank disbelief that there are people who wouldn't vote for him.)
Posted by: Sarah Berel-Harrop on December 4, 2004 9:05 AM