Brimer Is Still Running Scared

Fort Worth's State Senator for District 10 (Kim Brimer) has a reputation in Austin for not getting much accomplished (other than paying rent to his wife). In fact, a majority of his constituents don't even know his name. The only reason he's been re-elected is because he's a Republican, and the Democrats have not run a really good candidate against him.

But things are different this year. The public is tired of the failed Republican leadership, and it's looking like only the well-known Republicans in the safest districts will survive this year. Compounding the fact that Brimer is not well-know and doesn't represent a really safe district, is the fact that this year he has a formidable opponent.

His opponent in the November election is Wendy Davis. Davis (pictured above) is a well-known and well-respected former member of the Fort Worth City Council. She resigned her council seat a few months ago so she could run against Brimer in senate district 10.

After she got her name on the ballot, Brimer must have been scared because he put some Ft. Worth firemen up to challenging the legality of her candidacy. I guess he thought if he couldn't beat her in the election, maybe he could beat her in court by getting her name removed from the ballot. But the judge said the firemen didn't have standing to challenge her candidacy, and tossed the case out of court.

Evidently, Brimer is still afraid to meet Davis in a fair election in November. Both Politex and North Texas Liberal tell us that he has now filed suit against Davis himself. He's trying the same argument that the firemen were using. He's trying to use the fact that even though she had resigned before becoming a candidate, she kept sitting as a council member until her replacement could be elected and sworn in (as the law demanded).

He must not be keeping up with the news though, or he would know that House Speaker Craddick had tried the same thing to keep his opponent off the ballot -- and failed. The judge in that case ruled that Dingus' (Craddick's opponent) city council position would be over before the election, so he was eligible to be on the ballot as a candidate.

There is no reason to believe the decision in this case won't be the same, especially since Davis has not been on the council for several months now. I expect the courts to once again slap down Brimer's hopes. If he wants to go back to Austin, he's going to have to defeat Wendy Davis in November.

Personally, I don't think he can do it.

SD 10 Race In Tarrant Is Heating Up

It looks like Kim Brimer will have some competition for his senate seat in Tarrant County's District 10. The district covers several cities in the eastern part of the county, including Colleyville, Arlington, Mansfield and part of Fort Worth.

On Thursday night, Wendy Davis resigned her city council seat and announced that she will be running for Brimer's seat as a Democrat. Davis has been on the Fort Worth city council since 1999. She told her fellow council members that she wanted to fight against special interests in Austin. She said, "Texas is ready for change. The partnership in Austin is badly broken."

County Democrats feel that they have a good opportunity to take the District 10 seat since Brimer has done little to distinguish himself since being elected. In fact, a recent poll conducted in the district showed that over half the residents there don't even know who Brimer is.

Davis may have some opposition in the Democratic primary. Long-time Democratic activist and party leader Art Brender is also considering a run for the seat. He sounded like a candidate Thursday night by firing a shot at Davis for voting in the 2006 Republican primary. He said, "I believe like Harry Truman if you run a Republican against a Republican, the Republicans will win every time."

It's good to see a couple of strong Democratic contenders ready to challenge for this seat. For too many years, the Republicans have been allowed to keep this seat with little or no opposition.