Which way will Heflin go?

So does Talmadge Heflin want to head up the Texas Lottery Commission? Or would he rather try to win his old seat back in the State House? Maybe he wants to do both.

Heflin, a Houston Republican who served 22 years in the Texas House before being defeated in 2004, interviewed Tuesday to become the Texas Lottery Commission's next director.

Yet he also is signaling that he'll run to regain the House District 149 seat he lost narrowly after a protracted battle with Democratic newcomer Hubert Vo. Heflin is listed on the Harris County GOP's Web site as a 2006 candidate for the district, which includes parts of Alief, west Houston and Katy.

Heflin did not return calls seeking comment.

Ol' Tal is a bit hamstrung by deadlines here. He has to choose by January 2 whether or not to file for HD149. Maybe the Lottery Commission will make its choice by then, I don't know. If so, at least he can then pick one or the other with a clear conscience. If not, he'd better choose soon and he'd better choose wisely.

Question for the Republicans: Assuming Heflin is your first choice to run against Vo (which, of course, he may bnot be, though for what it's worth I've not heard of any other contenders as yet), what's your plan B if the TLC takes its time making a decision? This is your one pickup opportunity in Harris County. Do you recruit another candidate and maybe risk a nasty primary fight, or hope leave the field open for Heflin and risk letting Vo go unopposed if Heflin chooses not to run at the last minute? If it were up to me I'd go with the former, but Heflin may have enough favors to call in to keep the race to himself. So what will it be?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 07, 2005 to Election 2006 | TrackBack