Joe Jaworski: Looking to unseat one senator but leave another with his drum stool Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

When Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie yelled out: “Harris County? You’re next!” at last weekend’s Texas Demo­cratic Party State Convention, he was looking at candidates like Joe “Thundersticks” Jaworski. Running in Senate District 11 (La Porte) against GOP Sen. Mike Jackson, Jaworski is another part of the Democrats’ plan to do in the Greater Houston area what they did in Dallas County in 2006, and produce a near-clean sweep in a supposedly Republican enclave. “We have a zeal that we have not seen in our adult life,” Jaworski said, “and it is bringing out people that have felt oppressed and just decided ‘why bother voting?’ Well, not anymore!”

But why “Thundersticks”? Jaworski (as in grandson of Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski) is a pretty mean drummer. Good enough for the Bad Precedents, the House (and Senate) band of Rep. Jim Dun­nam, D-Waco. As he proved at his postconvention party Saturday night at the Austin Club with a rousing rendition of “Honky Tonk Women,” maybe so. But would this mean forcing Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, out from behind the drums? “Maybe they could become a two-drum lineup,” said Jaworski. “Like the Grateful Dead.” OK, but you can argue amongst yourselves who gets to be Mickey Hart.

posted June 9, 1:56pm

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This article appears in June 13 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.