Insanity Of Texas Politics

I'm sure there are crazy things happening in politics all over this country, but Texas has as many nutty political things as anyone -- maybe more. After all, there's a reason why the great Molly Ivins called Texas politics the ". . .finest form of free entertainment ever invented. . .Better than the zoo. Better than the circus."

As if to prove that point, we just had another laughable situation happen in a special election the other day. The special election was to fill a vacant seat in the Texas House of Representatives, and the only candidate in the race lost. That's right, this candidate lost the election even though he did not have an opponent!

The election had been called to fill the remainder of Republican Rep. Brian McCall's term. McCall had resigned to take the job as chancellor of the Texas State University System. When the election was called, two Republicans had tossed their name in the hat -- Van Taylor and Mabrie Jackson (both pictured above). But before the campaigning really started, Ms. Jackson withdrew from the race.

Since Jackson had withdrawn, Secretary of State Hope Andrade declared Taylor the winner and he was sworn in on April 20th. However, it turns out that Jackson had withdrawn too late to get her name taken off the ballot. So, the election took place in spite of the Secretary of State's declaration -- and Jackson won by a 56% to 44% margin!

Now the non-contest has been thrown into a minor quandary. Taylor (as expected) says, "The election didn't take place. I have a certificate from the secretary of state certifying me as the winner. I was declared the winner. Game over." But is that correct? Who is supposed to pick the winner -- the Secretary of State or the voters? Because whether Taylor likes it or not, an election was held and he lost it.

According to Republican consultant Eric Bearse, the outcome of the election will hinge on whether Secretary of State Andrade had properly notified the Collin County Clerk of the election cancellation. If she did, then why were election workers hired and the election held (and a bunch of money wasted). If she didn't, then Jackson is the winner because she was chosen by the voters.

Of course, all this is pretty much a moot point. The Texas legislature will not go into session again until next year, and there will be another election for this seat in November. That means there really was no point in having the special election in the first place.

The insanity of this whole situation brings to mind another quote from the legendary Molly Ivins -- "I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults." Indeed!