Wednesday, December 31, 1997
Area Democrats looking for someone to run against
Haywood
By RICHARD HORN Staff Writer
Though Democrats promise to re-take the Texas Senate next year,
they're having trouble mounting a challenge to a one-term Republican
senator.
With a 6 p.m. Friday deadline looming, no candidate in either
party has filed to challenge state Sen. Tom Haywood of Wichita
Falls. Haywood, elected in 1994, is seeking a second four-year
term.
A Democratic Party spokesman on Tuesday stressed a candidate
may still come forward by the deadline.
"As of today no one has filed but there are a number of
folks looking at it - one in particular who is very serious but
who's not confirmed," said Rafe Bemporad, the party's communications
director in Austin.
Bemporad would neither name the potential candidate nor say
where in the vast district he or she lives. Wichita Falls and
the counties north of Dallas-Fort Worth were considered the most
fertile ground for a challenger.
Earlier this year there was talk a Republican might take on
Haywood in the primary, partly out of concern about Haywood's
health, but nothing ever developed.
For his part, Haywood said he expected all along a Democrat
would get into the race.
"I understand they have had conversations with numerous
officeholders in the district, each one of which for one reason
or the other has backed away from challenging me," he said
Tuesday.
But he said he will continue assuming his re-election will
be contested until the deadline passes. If he's unopposed, he
said, he'll probably busy himself campaigning for the GOP ticket.
Haywood upset Democratic state Sen. Steve Carriker in 1994.
One potential challenger, Democratic state Rep. David Counts of
Knox City, decided to seek re-election to his House seat, instead.
With the 1996 elections, Republicans took control of the Senate
for the first time since Reconstruction and now hold a 17-14 majority.
Democrats have vowed to retake control and early on counted Haywood's
District 30 as winnable.
A number of people have been approached about running, Bemporad
said Tuesday, but have declined, largely because of family considerations
and the time commitment required.
"It's just been a matter of finding a candidate who's
interested in making that sacrifice to campaign and face those
pressures," he said. "It's a difficult district to campaign
in."
District 30 comprises 36 counties, including the most Republican
sections of Abilene such as Fairway Oaks and the Abilene Christian
University neighborhoods. It extends north to the Red River and
east to cities such as Sherman, north of Dallas.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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