Special Election for Texas House of Representatives, District 48

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The 'Chronicle' Endorsement

State House District 48, Special Election: Donna Howard

The artificially rushed circumstances of the state House District 48 special election have delayed our endorsement (normally published prior to early voting), and we expect it will also confuse voters and hold down turnout – as it was intended to do. In announcing a short-term election, straddling the holidays and preceding the March primaries, Gov. Perry is transparently attempting to anoint an instant incumbent – in this case, GOP businessman Ben Bentzin, who failed in his 2002 bid against District 14 state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos.

The dominating issue is education, because of its importance to District 48 voters, and because of the public school finance crisis and upcoming special legislative session, likely to be called this spring. Although Bentzin is running as a moderate determined simply to "improve the schools," he would replace his predecessor Todd Baxter as a reflexive vote for the GOP leadership, and he has already declared his support for private school vouchers "in certain circumstances" – a position indistinguishable from that of the stealth voucher promoters at the Capitol. (Ben Easton acknowledges that he is running primarily for Libertarian visibility, and he believes public schools should be privatized altogether – a position at least more straightforward than that of the current state leaders, who loudly proclaim their support for public education while they persist in bleeding the schools dry.)

Both Donna Howard (Eanes ISD) and Kathy Rider (Austin ISD) have school board experience, and are acutely aware of the issues facing the public schools and the necessity for the state not just to reform school finance but to fund more of it. Both are fully qualified for the seat, and it would have been helpful to hear them battle it out in a real primary. But because of the difficult arithmetic of this particular election, we strongly believe supporters of public education should unite behind a single candidate – indeed, it would have been nice if the Democratic Party had had enough common foresight to do so. By a narrow but significant margin, we believe the candidate with the best chance to defeat Perry's anointed candidate is Donna Howard.

Howard has been a school board member and a critical care nurse, and has made education and health care the dominant issues of her campaign, which has been immediately visible and effective. She understands the predicament of the current school finance system, its specific, often contradictory effects in her district and in Central Texas as a whole, and she will be an immediate asset to the regional delegation as well as to the Democratic minority in the House. Moreover, if the Democrats are to begin their difficult return to a balancing presence in state government, they need to put their votes where their anger is, turn out in this election, and send a message to Travis County and the entire state.

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Candidates

Kathy Rider (Democrat)

Donna Howard (Democrat)

Ben Easton (Libertarian)

Ben Bentzin (Republican)

Early voting runs through Friday, Jan. 13.

Election day is Tuesday, Jan. 17.

Voters in District 48 may vote at any location listed below during early voting but must vote in their individual precincts on election day. (See www.traviscountytax.org/showVoterSearch.do to find your precinct and whether you reside in District 48. Or call 854-9473.)

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EARLY VOTING

Through Friday, Jan. 13, 7am-7pm

Central
Travis County Tax Office, 5501 Airport

Northwest
Randalls, 10900-D Research @ Braker

Southwest
Randalls, 3300 Bee Caves Rd.

West
Northwest Rural Community Center, 18649 FM 1431, Ste. 6A

Central
Howson Library, 2500 Exposition(Thu., 10am-7pm; Fri., 10am-6pm)

For election day locations, go to www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/election or call 238-VOTE.