The Texas GOP is just as crazy as we have always known they were.
linkFormer state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, a Houston Republican who served two decades before losing a re-election bid three years ago, was hired Monday as executive director of the Texas GOP.
"Talmadge Heflin has over 25 years of conservative leadership and experience as both a leader in the Texas Legislature and a businessman," Republican Party Chairman Tina Benkiser said.
Heflin succeeds Jeff Fisher, a former Van Zandt County judge who will continue as an adviser to the party, Benkiser said.
Heflin was a state lawmaker from 1983 to 2004, including a stint as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
In November 2004, he lost by 16 votes to political newcomer Hubert Vo, a Democrat who became the first Vietnamese to serve in the Texas House. An election recount showed Vo's victory margin over Heflin was 33 votes and Heflin challenged the results before the House. While Heflin gained 17 votes in the investigation, he withdrew his challenge in February 2005 to avoid the possibility of a bitter partisan fight.
He then lost once again to Rep. Vo in 2006 but not before applying for a job to head the Texas Lottery even though he had taken lots of money from gambling interest to help pay for his failed 2004 campaign.
Hearing a Call to Service is not just a religious thing. I believe all True Leaders have been called to service. JFK, Martin Luther King, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins and many more were called to service in many different ways. The podcast is a farewell to Lady Bird Johnson and an introduction to some of the great Texans who have answered the call to service by running for office in 2008.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing Mike Engelhart who is running for 151st District Court Judge in Harris County. You can check out Mike's web site at Engelhart for Judge
Mike, his lovely wife Eva and their two boys Joey and Zachary
Once you hear the interview, I believe you will be excited about this campaign as I am. We need to keep finding great Democrats like Mike to run for office.
Original Title on DK:
Help! My Cousin’s running for Judge! (Houston TX)
I told the original DK poster that I'd post this for him here, since neither he nor his cousin, the candidate have accounts here -- yet. Here is his post:
Hey Kossacks,
A few weeks ago, I won my first elected office – Union County, New Jersey Democratic Committeeman. Well, the "campaign bug" is apparently quite contagious in my family, as it’s now affected my cousin, Mike Engelhart Engelhart for Judge. Mike is running for Judge of the 151st Civil Judicial District Court of Harris County (Houston), Texas. It’s a trial court judge position – they elect all of their judges in Texas. He’s starting early; the election is in November 2008, but now that he’s officially going to be a candidate (the Harris County Democrats have apparently slotted him to run for the job) he’d like to chat with the Blogosphere (he also has an account on Daily Kos and has posted here over the past several years). So, on his behalf I’d like to introduce Mike to y’all, what his job entails and why you should care (other than he’s my cousin!).
