Our attention here in Houston is focused on the long-overdue special election in CD18, but it’s not the only special election of consequence on the ballot. One could argue that the special election in SD09, which was called to fill the vacancy left when Kelly Hancock was appointed as Comptroller, is more consequential as there is the (unlikely, but not non-existent) chance of a partisan flip. I was intrigued by this Quorum Report story from this past week:
Taylor Rehmet
Special election to succeed Sen. Hancock creates strange bedfellows and possibility of an upset
The race pits some top capitol insiders and the “new right” in Tarrant County against the local establishment
The special election for Senate District 9 in Tarrant County is anything but normal.
The safe Republican seat vacated by acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock includes two Republicans – former Southlake Mayor John Huffman and Patriot Mobile Chief Communications Officer Leigh Wambsganss along with Democrat and labor leader Taylor Rehmet.
It’s a race pitting the Austin establishment and the county’s new right coalition, who back Wambsganss, at the urging of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick against the Tarrant County establishment who support either Huffman, or more quietly Rehmet.
Huffman was mayor of one of the most conservative cities in the county’s hot bed of conservativism. Yet he’s being attacked for backing Black Lives Matter activists. That’s the allegation, anyway.
That’s the free excerpt, so I can’t tell you if the possible upset hinted at is Rehmet or whichever of the two wingnuts is the “wrong” one. In a year where Democrats have been overperforming in special elections around the country, you’d think that a district that Donald Trump won 58.0 – 40.6 last year and Ted Cruz won 55.6 – 43.6 in 2018 might draw some more attention, but so far not really. I found nothing remotely recent in a Google News search for “Taylor Rehmet”, and I sure haven’t been getting any emails or other notices about that race.
That may be a reflection of, or a consequence of, the fundraising. In the 30-day reports, John Huffman reported raising $575K, with $393K on hand. Leigh Wambsganss raised $844K, with $617K on hand. And Taylor Rehment…raised $70K, with $31K on hand. That’s not a good way to win a district that’s larger than a Congressional district.
Fundraising is always on the candidate first and foremost, but this should be a featured election, and the radio silence about it surely isn’t helping. Where’s the TDP? Where are the Democratic Senators? Sen. Roland Gutierrez was recently stumping for Rehmet, which is very much to his credit. Senators Sarah Eckhardt and Nathan Johnson each contributed $1,000, and State Rep. Chris Turner kicked in $500 (former State Rep. Lon Burnam added $250), to theirs as well. But we can do better than that.
There’s still time, and if the overall Democratic vote is more or less in line with the normal-year partisan level, Rehmet should be in good position to make the runoff. The main problem is that with an underfunded campaign and an off year special election, there’s no mechanism to ensure a normal-ish partisan mix. In a district like this, in a year like this, it would be embarrassing if Rehmet couldn’t break thirty percent, which ought to be enough to qualify for overtime. I’m too far away to have any feel for this. I sure hope Rehmet can get there. I just wish there were more eyes on this one. Let’s please not be an outlier for the wrong reason.