Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Pflugerville, was interviewed at an event held by the Texas Tribune this week. Yet rather than put the drama of her recent legal saga behind her, she used the time with interviewer Evan Smith to lay into … well, just about everybody. Dukes claimed that there was a political conspiracy against her, mounted by none other than fellow local Dem Reps. Donna Howard and Celia Israel, who apparently were hugger-mugger with the Statesman – an allegation that both Howard and Israel have denied – and that her own delegation worked to sabotage her legislative agenda (which implies she had one). Furthermore, Dukes claimed there was a “concerted effort” to make her attendance history at the Legislature look bad – though, as a matter of public record, it was the worst of any state rep all session – a charge she lobbed after turning up 40 minutes late to the Tribune’s event. Dukes is up for re-election in 2018, and faces stiff opposition from a roster of primary challengers, including former Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and workers’ rights attorney Chito Vela, who revved up his campaign this week, saying that her dropped felony charges were never his issue. “The record is clear and indisputable,” he said. “She has not shown up for work.”
This article appears in November 10 • 2017.
