On Saturday, May 7, Texas held a special election to fill the vacant 120th State House seat. Here are the returns. An independent candidate, Laura Thompson, received more votes than any other candidate, but no one got 50%, so there will be a runoff this summer. Four candidates were on the ballot, Thompson and three Democrats. Texas has not had anyone but a Democrat or a Republican elected to the legislature since 1936, when an independent was elected to the House.
Normally the Texas straight-ticket device makes it very difficult for independents to win, but there is no such device in Texas special elections. Parties don’t have nominees in Texas special elections, which is why there were three Democrats running. Thanks to Michael for this news.
This is great. If an Independent were to win and then stay in after November then there is a good chance that Thompson will hold the seat for awhile. I haven’t seen too many Independents get ousted from office.
The seat, in east San Antonio, was held by Ruth Jones McClendon, who had held the district for almost 20 years. Last year, she announced that she was not running for re-election which triggered a 6-candidate race in the Democratic primary in March, with two candidates advancing to the primary runoff on May 24.
In late January 2016, McClendon announced her resignation from the term ending in January 2017. This triggered the special election, which was held on the next uniform election date, which was yesterday.
Neither candidate who advanced to the primary runoff ran in the special election. Lou Miller, the other candidate who advance to the special runoff finished 6th in the primary.
So in two weeks, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins will face Mario Salas in the primary runoff to determine the Democratic nominee for the full term beginning in January.
In July, there will be a special election runoff between Laura Thompson (I) and Lou Miller (6th place D) to fill the remainder of the current term. The legislature is not in session, and is unlikely to be in session this year. It will probably be arranged for Thompson or Miller to take the oath of office. There are interim committees, and they might be assigned to one.
If Thompson were to run for the full term as an independent, she would have had to file last December, and then collect signatures following the primary runoff. But there is no evidence on her Facebook page of her filing in December. She could run as a write-in candidate.
According to Linda Curtis, Laura Thompson did file the declaration of candidacy as an independent for the November 2016 election, and she is about to collect her 500 signatures as soon as the Mary regular runoff primary is over. So she will probably be on the November 2016 ballot, and perhaps she will be able to campaign as the incumbent.
Then the $1000 to file in the special election may have been well spent.
The filing deadline for the special was on March 7, 6 days after the March 1 primary. Typically in cases where a special election is after the primary, only the nominees or candidates in the runoff, file for the special election.
In this case, neither candidate in the runoff filed. Perhaps they thought that voters who voted on May 7, would not also vote on May 24.
Republicans will be able to sign Thompson’s petition. The screen out is based on voters who would have had an opportunity to vote for a party nominee for the particular office in question. The reason for the delay in petitioning is to catch any voters who skipped the primary, but vote in the runoff.
Based on their websites, neither the Libertarian or Green parties have a candidate in the district (in 2014, a Libertarian candidate received 18% of the vote against McClendon). It does not appear the the Constitution Party held a state convention or will qualify, since they are soliciting for elector candidates for Darrell Castle as a write-in candidate.
NO more special elections.
Legislative body candidates should have rank order lists for replacements (as a candidate or as an incumbent) — now somewhat super critical due to possible terror / war attacks.
i.e. major legislative bodies must now be ready 24/7 for the indefinite future.
The Texas legislature doesn’t even meet in even-numbered years.
You’re suggesting that Ruth Jones McClendon should have named her replacement in December of 2013, in case she was elected in 2014, and then in 2015 announced that she was not running for re-election, so other candidates might file, and then in 2016 determined she was not going to finish out her term (because the legislature doesn’t meet) should have a contingent replacement?
What if the legislator is removed from office, such as Sheldon Silver in New York, or the lovebirds Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat in Michigan, or the gun-runner Leland Yee in California?
What if there is a total massive Pearl Harbor attack on the U.S.A. — i.e.
most of the Congress is wiped out, most of the State legislatures are wiped out, etc. —
Dictatorships by a Prez, State Guvs, etc. ??? NO thanks.
Texas can conduct special legislative elections within 21 days.
With a massive Pearl Harbor attack on the Capitol in Austin, the Governor as commander-in-chief will exercise dictator-like authority.