Travis County voters have decided that if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
After a vicious campaign that saw challenger Glen Maxey attack her with everything including the kitchen sink, 16-year incumbent Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Nelda Wells Spears obviously had nothing to worry about – this race was over as soon as the early vote totals showed her with a 72% lead, a number that is almost completely unchanged now that 137 of 210 precincts have been counted. But was she worried during the campaign?
“Worried is not a good word,” Spears said tonight at her victory party at De las Casas restaurant in East Austin. “Weary is a better word. It’s not nice to hear bad things said about you every day. It wears on a person.”
So what caused Maxey’s assault to fail so badly? “They looked at the tax office and they were pleased with the past 16 years,” Spears said. “The voters are proud of their tax office. I’m pleased they were willing to trust me with at least one more term.
“Of course, this is only the halfway point,” Spears said, referring to her November challenge from Don Zimmerman, but it’s hard to imagine he will do any better. If somebody with Glen Maxey’s 12-year record as a very popular state representative in the 1990s and early 2000s couldn’t bring down Spears, a Republican in this county damn sure won’t.
One person who was worried was Bill Aleshire, Spears’ campaign treasurer, spokesman, former county judge and her predecessor in the tax assessor’s chair. Asked what went so wrong for Maxey, Aleshire said, “Nelda Spears did her job.
“I have to apologize to Nelda for not having more confidence,” Aleshire said, who defended her with every bit the pit-bull doggedness that Maxey attacked her with. “Nelda Spears may not have been perfect as tax assessor, but Glen could not say why voters should fire her. He ran this campaign for personal reasons. He threw anything he could to see what would stick, but it didn’t work, and I find it inspiring. What a wonderful lesson to all the elected officials: ‘Just do your job, and the politics will take care of itself.’
“Glen, God love him, I’ve supported him many times, but this was a bad idea and he handled it badly.”
Many had speculated that this battle – pitting the only openly gay person to ever serve in the Texas Legislature against a clearly successful incumbent and African-American woman – would tear apart the Travis County Democratic Party. But with such a landslide, it would appear that there is no rift to heal.
“No,” Aleshire said, “There’s not. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Republicans for Nelda Spears group get organized.”
This article appears in February 29 • 2008.