September 25, 2007

Republican Enters House Race with Kind
Words for Rival Who Beat Him in Runoff

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Less than a year ago Pearland businessman Randy Weber was calling into question his chief rival's GOP credentials in a special state House race for a seat that had suddenly become vacant when the Republican who held it died two months before the general election. But that didn't stop 57 percent of the voters in House District 29 from choosing Mike O'Day over Weber as their new state representative in a special election runoff in January.

With the first-term incumbent deciding to give up the seat instead of running again in 2008, Weber probably had the 3,557 voters who backed O'Day in the runoff in mind Tuesday when he launched a new campaign in HD 29 with a positive shout-out to the man who beat him at the polls earlier this year.

O'Day "served our district by defending our constitutional rights, worked to expand our economy by creating jobs, and voted to support our conservative values," Weber said in a statement. "I salute Mike O'Day's service to our state and community and wish him and his family well."

Weber - a former Pearland City Council member who's been a longtime player in Republican politics at the grassroots level - said that local leaders and GOP activists had encouraged him to run for the seat that will be open again when the term that O'Day won nine months ago expires after next year's election.

Weber acknowledged that the special election campaign had been a learning experience - and he vowed not to be outworked in his bid for the House in 2008. "I look forward to a full campaign cycle - rather than an abbreviated special election - to meet with voters one by one,” Weber said.

While several names have been mentioned as possible contenders in HD 29 since O'Day broke the news last month that he wouldn't be on the ballot again, Weber is the first and only candidate out of the blocks at this point in time.

That special election that O'Day won was needed to replace Republican Glenda Dawson, who'd served almost four years in the lower chamber before falling ill and dying within a couple of weeks last September. By the time Dawson passed away it was too late to take her name off the fall ballot - and Governor Rick Perry called the special election after she received more votes in the November general election than Democratic nominee Anthony DiNovo despite the fact she was dead.

Weber, who's in the air conditioning business, qualified for the special election runoff when he received 28 percent of the first round vote in December. O'Day led the field with 48 percent of the round one vote while DiNovo was eliminated with only 22 percent in the special December election. DiNovo, a physician who had minimal funds for the House bid last year, had claimed almost 40 percent of the vote six weeks earlier when he was matched against the late incumbent. A third Republican candidate, John Gorman, finished last in the opening round of the special contest with less than 2 percent.

More than 60 percent of the voters in HD 29 have sided with Republican candidates in other races in recent elections - making the seat a steep uphill climb but not completely out of reach for any potential Democratic contenders.

Weber fell short in the special election for HD 29 despite help in the campaign from State Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena and endorsements from other high-profile Republicans including U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Surfside Beach, Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams and ex-Houston City Council member Shelley Sekula Gibbs, who won a special congressional race in an overlapping district but served only two months after finishing second in the general election on the same day.