I just got off the phone with former state Comptroller John Sharp, whose name always gets tossed around as a possible Democratic candidate for something or other ever since his two close defeats in the 1998 and 2002 Lieutenant Governor races. It happened again last week – after San Antonio trial lawyer Mikal Watts dropped his exploratory candidacy for U.S. Senator, the Houston Chronicle’s Peggy Fikac wrote that, “With plenty of time left for candidates to enter the Democratic primary, Watts’ move doesn’t necessarily clear the field for [state Rep. Rick] Noriega. Among those who have been mentioned is former state comptroller John Sharp, who is working for a bond proposal on the November ballot to fund cancer-fighting efforts.” I then echoed that speculation myself in last week’s issue.
Well, fear not, Noriega – asked about the Senate speculation, Sharp said, “Man, I have never made a comment one side or another on that. I guess where they got that from is [New York Sen.] Chuck Schumer came through about six months ago and he talked to me, and he talked to Kirk Watson, and he talked to Ron Kirk, and every other living person who that’s ever been on the ballot as best I can tell. I don’t have any plans like that.”
Are there any other races that might interest Sharp? “I miss it, I’d love to be back in public service, but I don’t see anything right now on the horizon,” he said.
Which is not to say that Sharp is uninvolved in politics – he is the state co-chair for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential bid. When the conversation sidetracked into a discussion of my trip to El Paso this weekend, Sharp said that city could help propel Richardson into some big votes in the Democratic primary. “I haven’t seen a poll in El Paso yet that has Richardson at less than 85% of the vote against all of the candidates running for president. They know him.” Sharp speculated that, farther down the Rio Grande River, Valley voters haven’t quite picked up on the fact that Richardson is Hispanic, but once they do, he’ll become a political force here. “[El Pasoans] don’t know who the hell Rick Perry is, but they know Bill Richardson,” joked Sharp.
This article appears in Richard Suttle.