Are there West Texas pickup opportunities available?

Depends on how you look at it, I suppose.

Former Potter County Democratic Party chairman Abel Bosquez said he plans to run for the same Texas House seat he did not win in last year’s election.

“I am ready to go again,” said Bosquez, who was soundly defeated by Amarillo Republican Four Price in the District 87 race. “We can’t sit out this or any other election.”

Bosquez said he intends to make a formal announcement on or around Labor Day.

[…]

Although first-time Republican candidates Price and John Frullo of Lubbock, as well as second-time candidate Jim Landtroop of Plainview, cruised in last year’s election, West Texas Democrats said they’ll fare much better next year and could even win a House seat.

“We’re energized,” said Lubbock County Democratic Party Chairwoman Pam Brink.

Brink’s main task is to recruit candidates for House districts 83 and 84, both anchored in Lubbock. District 83 is represented by Charles Perry and District 84 by Frullo. Perry is a freshman and did not have a Democratic opponent in November.

[…]

Heflin had narrowly defeated Landtroop in the 2006 election when both were vying for what was an open seat in District 85.

If the Texas House redistricting map the Legislature approved this session survives numerous court challenges, Landtroop would find himself campaigning in large sections of the Panhandle.

His new district would stretch all the way to Lipscomb County.

Heflin said he has yet to decide if he’ll run again. If he does, he would likely run against Rep. Rick Hardcastle, R-Vernon. Hardcastle’s redrawn district would include 14 counties in the Panhandle and South Plains regions, including Crosby where Heflin lives.

Although no Democrat has expressed interest in running against Amarillo Republican John Smithee in District 86, Bosquez said he would not be surprised.

Note that if you look for HD85 in the viewer (Plan H283), HD85 is the new district anchored in Fort Bend County. Landtroop would be running in HD88, which is being vacated by Warren Chisum. I admire Bosquez and Brink’s attitudes, but the numbers aren’t pretty. Here’s the Google spreadsheet for Plan H283, and here’s a summary of the 2008 election returns in districts that I’d call “West Texas” districts:

Dist Inbumbent Obama Houston =============================== 68 Hardcastle 22.13 31.36 69 Lyne 28.07 34.27 71 King, S 26.98 32.88 72 Darby 26.68 33.35 81 Lewis 24.61 28.88 82 Craddick 21.49 23.47 83 Perry 24.62 28.57 84 Frullo 35.99 36.34 86 Smithee 18.66 21.58 87 Price 24.70 28.48 88 Landtroop* 21.30 27.35

Like I said, not very pretty. If you squint you could maybe see HD84 go our way over time, but that’s about it. You’re not going to win any of these seats via turnout and demographics, that’s for sure. You’re only hope is to convince the voters in these districts that they’ve gotten screwed by their legislators. The good news, if you want to look at it that way, is that that’s precisely what happened this past session, so if there’s ever a time to try a persuasion campaign, this is it. It’s possible your audience will be more receptive in 2014, after we’ve had yet another deficit-dominated session, but there’s no reason not to start laying down that message now. The mantra out here should be simply “Your legislator voted for things that will harm/have harmed this district. I will vote to help this district.” Will it work? Probably some, maybe a little more than some, but those are some steep hills to climb. You can’t win if you don’t play, though, and if there was ever a time that a message of change might resonate, this has to be it. I wish Bosquez and Brink and all of their colleagues the very best of luck in their quest.

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