Even though the congressional, state House, and state Senate redistricting maps are all being challenged in court, that has not stopped a flurry of Travis County Republican primary challengers from gearing up to take down their GOP incumbents. Donna Campbell, who flamed out in 2010 against Congressman Lloyd Doggett, has decided to challenge Sen. Jeff Wentworth, whose San Antonio-based district reaches into southwestern Travis County. Similarly, there’s bad news for freshman Rep. Paul Workman, who is being challenged by former House Redistricting Committee general counsel Ryan Down­ton. The “more conservative than thou” rhetoric is already flying. Downton has called Workman a liberal, while Workman has fired back that Downton started his legislative career as counsel for Demo­cratic Rep. Mark Strama‘s House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, and Workforce. However, the real carnage may be reserved for the new Congressional District 25, running from Travis County to the outskirts of Dallas. So far, eight Republicans, including former Railroad Commis­sion­er Michael Williams, are preparing for a primary punch-up.

This article appears in October 14 • 2011.

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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.