The WilCo Republican primary seen got thrown into confusion over the weekend as Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, reversed his decision to retire, leaving his heir apparent, Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, without a race.
Ogden is the four-time chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and had announced back in September that he was retiring. Gattis announced that he was running for the vacant Senate seat, starting a rush of replacements for his House seat and his own Senate rival, Huntsville realtor Ben Bius. With Ogden getting back in the race, Gattis has said he won’t run for the House again.
So why the reversal? After throwing out the standard line that “too often fulfilling my public obligations meant time away from Shana, our children, and my business,” Gattis goes on to explain that
Sen. Ogden and I began discussing the very real financial and budget challenges facing our great State and his interest in returning to the Senate to address these problems should I make the decision to step aside in order to focus on family commitments. It is Senator Ogden’s willingness to return to the Senate that gives me the peace of mind to withdraw from the race at this time.
The boildown is that Gattis regards Ogden as the only man with the financial know-how to fix the state budget with the anticipated 2011 deficit. Actually, there should probably be more probing of exactly how culpable the four-time Senate Finance chair is in creating that deficit. The Texas state budget is already in a structural deficit that Ogden et al papered over with federal stimulus money (thereby negating any stimulative effects). Ogden was Finance boss when the abortive business franchise tax reforms were passed in 2006. He’s also helped further institutionalize fund diversions (the legislative term for robbing Peter to pay Paul), which tax watchdogs like the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association oppose for disguising real need and real state spending, a practice he’s continually defended.
This article appears in November 27 • 2009.
