January 5, 2006

Staples Backs Former Mayor in Effort
to Oust East Texas Democrat Hopson

Three Targeted Democrats Face Rematches in Re-Election
Campaigns while Ex-School Board Leader Challenges Rose

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

State Senator Todd Staples - undaunted by criticism he caught for taking sides in the primary fight for the East Texas seat he's not seeking again - has thrown his support to one of the three candidates who hope to represent the GOP in its push to replace Democratic State Rep. Chuck Hopson with a Republican.

Staples, a Palestine Republican who's running for state agriculture commissioner, has endorsed former Jacksonville Mayor Larry Durrett in the race for the House District 11 seat that Hopson won initially in 2000. Staples is supporting another former Jacksonville mayor - Robert Nichols - in his battle against three other Republicans for the Senate District 3 seat that Staples is giving up in order to run statewide.

Hopson is one of nine Democratic incumbents who Republicans think they have the best chances to beat in Texas House races this year. Four targeted Democrats - State Reps. Mark Homer of Paris, Jim McReynolds of Lufkin, David Farabee of Wichita Falls and Hubert Vo of Houston - will face Republican opponents who ran for the seats they hold in 2004.

The Democrats think that the GOP missed its best opportunity to pick up East Texas seats when President George W. Bush led the ticket and targeted congressional races fueled turnout throughout the region in 2004. Several Republican state House challengers came close but fell short that time around. While there's minimal competition in U.S. House races in East Texas this year, Republicans expect Governor Rick Perry to have a vigorous turnout effort that will boost candidates challenging incumbent Democrats there and in other parts of the state this fall.

Hopson was elected to House seat when Staples decided to run for the Senate instead. Staples represented HD 3 in the lower chamber before it was redesigned by GOP leaders during redistricting in 2001. Despite attempts to make the House district more conducive for a Republican victory, Hopson survived GOP challenges with re-election wins in 2002 and again two years later. Hopson believes that a majority of voters agree with the votes he cast in the House on public education, health care and other key issues - and he's confident about his bid for a fourth term and doesn't appear to be concerned about who is general election foe will be in November.

A Jacksonville pharmacist, Hopson garnered 53 percent of the vote in 2004 against Wells teacher Mike Alberts, who's competing against Durrett and Tatum attorney Brian Walker for the Republican nomination and a right to face the incumbent at the polls this fall. Before entering the picture in HD 11, Durrett had reportedly encouraged Walker to make the race and contributed to his campaign.

Staples said he's depended on the "wise counsel" that Durrett has provided on issues facing East Texas. While Staples has been a popular legislator in East Texas, it's unclear at this point how much impact his endorsement will have in the House race. Staples represented two current HD 11 counties during his stint in the House, but Cherokee County is the only county that SD 3 and the House district currently share. Hopson received 55 percent of the Cherokee County vote in his re-election bid two years ago. HD 11 also includes Houston, Panola and Rusk counties. Hopson carried Panola County with 52 percent support while receiving 62 percent of the Houston County vote. Alberts won in Rusk County, where Hopson only managed to get 46 percent.

Staples drew the wrath of state Senate candidate David Kleimann of Willis last year when he decided not to remain on the sidelines in the battle to replace him and pitched his support to Nichols instead. Kleimann, who's competing against Conroe businessman Frank Denton, Center businessman Bob Reeves and Nichols in the GOP primary in SD 3, accused Staples of trying to get him to back out of the race to help clear Nichols' path to the nomination. Two other Democrats near the top of the GOP's targeting list - State Reps. Robby Cook of Eagle Lake and Mark Strama of Austin - will wait to see who wins primary contests in their respective districts before knowing who their November opponents will be.

State Rep. Patrick Rose - a second-term Dripping Springs Democrat - will duel in the fall against Republican Jim Neuhaus, a former San Marcos school board president who's now retired. Neuhaus, who served on the school board in the largest city in HD 45, led the opposition to a $128 million school bond issue two years ago.

Homer, Farabee and Vo are pit in rematches against Sulphur Springs businessman Kirby Hollingsworth, Wichita Falls consultant Shirley Craft and former House member Talmadge Heflin respectively. Columbus rancher and writer Herman Brune and Lexington attorney Tim Kleinschmidt are battling in the Republican primary for a shot at Cook in the fall. Strama will face the winner of a GOP primary fight between Dell Computer employee Jeff Fleece, retired county employee Mary Wheeler and Don Zimmerman, a software engineer who filed for the HD 50 race two years ago before pulling out before the primary election.