Tax Assessor Candidates Duke It Out

Okay, everyone who predicted – say, back in January – that the sexiest election in the 2008 Democratic Primary would be the race for Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector, raise your hand. (Oh put your hand down, you liar.) But against the odds, that’s how this campaign season is shaping up.

One of the most entertaining political debates this reporter has ever seen happened on Wednesday at the Central Texas Democratic Forum, held at the Austin Bar Association’s Congress Avenue headquarters, between incumbent Nelda Wells Spears and challenger Glen Maxey, who represented southeast Travis County from 1991 to 2003 in the Texas House of Representatives.

Maxey has focused his challenge on voter registration (unspoken in the office’s title is that the assessor-collector is also the county’s voter registrar). Despite the fact that Travis County has the highest registration in the state, Maxey said that isn’t good enough – having often worked as a deputy registrar, he says he conducted a study that found there are still a good 100,000 eligible voters out there in Travis that are not registered, and said the office must carry out a “systemic” registration effort year-round. Spears replied that Travis’ tax office is the best in the state, said that the high mobility rate (voters changing address) in the county is a challenge to 100% registration, and reminded the audience of the importance of the office’s other duties, collecting taxes (she said Travis currently has a 99% collection rate) and registering vehicles for the Texas Department of Transportation.

When time came for the Q&A, the loyalists had their guns loaded, but most of the questioning was aimed at concern over Democratic infighting than on the office duties. Former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire went after Maxey by pointing out that in the last general election, Spears – a 16-year incumbent – got more votes than any other candidate in Travis County, and asked what the message would be to voters if the Dems replaced Spears “with you, who hasn’t spent one day working for the tax office.” Maxey shot back, “I congratulate Nelda for getting the most votes against a Libertarian opponent in the last election.”

Spears seemed equally dismissive of Maxey’s campaigning abilities. When Dem campaign consultant Dave Butts asked both candidates whether they would endorse the other if they lost the primary, Spears got off a zinger: “I haven’t given that much though, David. When I get there, I’ll let you know.” (Maxey, for his part, said yes.)

Other notables putting the candidates on the spot were former state Rep. Wilhelmina Delco and Rick Cofer, a deputy campaign manager for Rick Noriega’s U.S. Senate campaign.

For more on this debate, check out the next (Oct. 5) issue of the Chronicle.