Thanks to Tom DeLay and the Texas GOP’s gerrymandering in 2003, Austin went from being mostly represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett in a compact Congressional District 10 to a four-way split between Doggett (CD 25) and Republicans Michael McCaul (CD 10), Lamar Smith (CD 21), and John Carter (CD 31).
DeLay’s intention – to force most of liberal Austin into Republican representation – has held up since then (except for his main goal, to drive Doggett from office). In 2008, Democrat Larry Joe Doherty, after raising $1.2 million (including $100,000 of his own) in a failed bid to take out McCaul, summed up the intractability of DeLay’s handiwork: “The monster that was created to produce the result that has occurred tonight,” he said drolly, “has in fact produced the result that occurred tonight.”
This go-round, the Dems don’t appear to have a candidate of Doherty’s potential – at least, not after high tech CEO Jack McDonald bailed early in the election cycle, despite apparently having huge fundraising potential. So Austinites should probably expect two more years of the same, until the 2011 redistricting occurs. That said, here are snapshots of the races:
District 10
West Lake Hills, northeast Travis County,
all or part of six rural counties, and western Harris County
A rematch of a mismatch: McCaul has held 10 since 2004, the first election after its radical redesign. The closest any Dem has come to taking out McCaul was in 2008 with Doherty’s 43%. Before that, in 2006, was retired NASA executive Ted Ankrum (40%), and now he’s back for another shot at the champ, along with Libertarian Jeremiah “JP” Perkins. McCaul was a consistent and predictable Republican vote throughout the Bush years, although, for what it’s worth, he was the least awful of a pretty extreme-right Republican field in that first election. The few areas where he has stood out have been initiatives on green schools (although he otherwise gets dismal appraisals from the environmental community) and cyber security (on which he co-authored a bipartisan report in 2008). Ankrum criticizes him as “a multi-millionaire who has never done anything except work the government jobs that his father-in-law [Clear Channel Communications Chair Lowry Mays] got him.” Ankrum ran his 2006 campaign against the Iraq war and says job creation is now his main issue.
District 21
Western Travis, northeast Bexar County,
and six Hill Country counties
Lamar Smith was first elected in 1986 and has held the seat despite multiple reshapings. He is most noted for his hard line on border issues and, like most Republicans, conflates the issues of illegal immigration and terrorism. Democrat and Austin real estate broker Lainey Melnick has been running a smart, issues-oriented campaign criticizing Smith’s recent votes, but unfortunately for her, there likely aren’t enough Democrats in this very red area. The Libertarian is James Arthur Strohm.
District 31
Williamson County northward to Stephenville
The surest of these very sure Republican bets. After three Dems since 2004 failed to get even close to taking out John Carter, the party isn’t even trying this go-round – Libertarian Bill Oliver is his only opponent. Carter has exemplified the worst of the GOP since taking office – typical are a 2004 editorial in the Statesman saying that war opponents are anti-soldier and a 2009 constituent newsletter calling President Obama a Marxist.
This article appears in October 22 • 2010.