Newly appointed Travis County Commissioner Margaret Moore has announced her intention to run for the Pct. 3 seat, although she may have an uphill battle on two fronts: She is a Democrat running in Republican-leaning western Travis County, and she served as a paid consultant for Longhorn Pipeline Partners LP — the controversial company that wants to move gasoline and other fuels through Austin to El Paso.
Moore, who is no longer on the Longhorn payroll, says she provided consulting services to the company “off and on” for about two years during the early stages of the company’s attempts to resolve environmental concerns. “I am a lawyer,” Moore said, “and I was hired for my professional advice. I don’t see any inconsistencies between what I believe now and what I believed then to be the safety and the environment of this community.”
As of press time Wednesday (the deadline for candidates to file for office), no other Democrat had filed to run for the Pct. 3 post. The Republican primary will be the one to watch, with two candidates — light-rail opponent Gerald Daugherty and rancher Ira Yates — vying for the GOP nomination. Yates, a conservationist and friend to the environmental community, filed his candidacy over the long weekend. The Travis County GOP seeks to reclaim the seat vacated by Todd Baxter, who resigned to run for the state House of Representatives.
In announcing her bid for the seat last week, Moore said party affiliation shouldn’t be a factor in the race. “I have friends and colleagues who are Republicans, and I believe I have their support,” she told a roomful of supporters, who included U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Moore, a former county attorney, listed traffic and the environment among her key issues. She has retained political consultant David Butts to help her develop her campaign.
This article appears in 2001.
