Streusand in SD7?

Posted by Greg Wythe on April 25, 2005

HoustonChronicle.com - Some say the GOP Sen. Jon Lindsay is vulnerable

Dunno how, but I missed this one ... Kristen Mack runs down the situation of GOP wannabes for Jon Lindsay's job. Some of this has been common knowledge for a while: Houston City Councilman Mark Ellis and State Rep. Joe Nixon haven't been shy (even though Nixon plays coy in this report).

But after a reminder/tip via email that Capitol Inside is reporting on former CD10 candidate Ben Streusand expressing renewed interest, I hit Google and found Kristen Mack's report. Streusand livens things up just due to the money he's likely to pour into the district. Having spent $3.5 mill to lose a runoff for the GOP nomination, one would suspect a similar effort would be in the works for another office-for-life type of seat like the heavily Republican 7th Senate District.

Worth noting, a few more State Rep names are dropped into consideration for the same seat: Peggy Hamric, Bill Callegari, Corbin Van Arsdale and Beverly Woolley are also mentioned ... basically, any and all State Reps covered in the Senate District (though Debbie Riddle is notably missing from this list).

Of course, the big unanswered question is whether or not Jon Lindsay goes quietly into the good night or whether he stays on to fight another fight. About the best I've got to offer is that nobody's really making any firm decisions at this point in the legislative calendar (even fellow State Senator, Kyle Janek's rumored early retirement isn't considered a done deal). If Lindsay runs, I have a hard time seeing how he loses ... even though he might be heavily dinged up in the process of winning. If he doesn't run, then here's the likely frontrunners:

Ben Streusand - Clearly is willing to spend the jack to get in the game. Though Mike McCaul softened him up for the hyperconservative base, there's not a great deal keeping Streusand from topping his results in 2004. Only problem from 2004 was that Streusand LOST the Harris County portion of the 10th CD to Austinite (and eventual winner) Mike McCaul to the tune of 48-52. A more limited geographical base, a ride around the block on the political go-round, and a still-fat bank account ought to balance out that performance, though.

State Rep. Joe Nixon - Clear front-runner in the IOU department. He's carried the most water for business & insurance interests, he's hit all the right notes for the religious right base in the district and will clearly be the one to beat. Open question is if he can balance out Streusand's money with organizational strength.

Houston City Councilman Mark Ellis - quick ... name the last conservative Houston City Councilman to go on and win a partisan Republican office. Anyone coming to mind yet? Didn't think so. Sad thing is (for Ellis, at least), Ellis is as conservative as they get on the council and my guess is he's still not going to pass the (Harris County Commissioner) Steve Radack test of conservative anti-Houston acceptability. Radack rules the west side with an iron fist. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that his endorsement will denote the front-runner. You'll have to check with others in regards to the personality mix with the names included here and Radack.

Of the other State Rep names mentioned, the only ones that are intriguing for this race are Wooley and Hamric. They at least stand a chance of appealing to GOP women and in a crowded race, splitting off that segment in a notable way can put you in a runoff. Wooley's got ties to gambling, however ... and Hamric splits some geographical base with Streusand. So there's no easy call that even these two can make it. The remaining men on the list take a back seat to Nixon in terms of how many IOUs they've collected.

Now to find a Democrat to run in this district. Even though it's highly unlikely that any Democrat can actually win the district, the prospect of running an active camapaign in an environment where there may be a maximized number of persuadable voters up for grabs can go a long way towards adding a few more votes to Democratic countywide candidate totals as well as any Statewide candidates that might find themselves in a close race late in the season. Part of creating the perfect storm involves fielding candidates and right now, it looks worthwhile to find a good party-building candidate for SD7.

1 Comments

cacafuego said:

I agree. The only way he is not re-elected is if he chooses not to run again. A lot of big names there but he does have a lot of friends.

April 25, 2005 1:43 PM

Streusand in SD7?

Categories

1 Comments

Twitter Stuff

twitter.com/gregwythe

Recent Comments

Reading List

News Links

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Subscribe