The Monday deadline has passed for candidates to file for the March 1 primary. And the races are shaping up across North Texas and around the state. Here are some highlights:
Dallas County
Dwaine Caraway will battle John Wiley Price in the Democratic primary for the Dallas County commissioner. Price, the longtime incumbent, faces federal corruption charges. A trial is pending.
The Dallas Morning News reports:
An epochal battle between two of Dallas’s most prominent African-American politicians — John Wiley Price and Dwaine Caraway — is taking shape with both candidates officially set to run for the District 3 Commissioners Court seat. … The commissioners’ race pits the two longtime rivals in a contest that will test Price’s political power as he seeks to retain a seat he’s held for 30 years while awaiting trial on federal corruption charges. … In addition to Price and Caraway, former Balch Springs mayor Cedric Davis and Micah Phillips, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2012, have also signed up for the March 1 Democratic primary. On the Republican side, political newcomers S.T. Russell and Kinney Fields both filed to run in District 3 by Monday’s deadline.
Caraway and Price: ‘They’re not best buds’
Gromer Jeffers, a columnist with The Dallas Morning News, talked with KERA back in July about the Price-Caraway matchup:
“They’re not best buds,” Jeffers told KERA. “They really dislike each other. It goes back a long way. Caraway is a jovial, friendly guy. He doesn’t like Price.
“A lot of the bitterness has come from Price through the years, sort of opposing Caraway every step of the way. He opposed Caraway when he wanted to be the president of the local chapter of the NAACP. In 2001 … Price opposed Caraway’s campaign for City Council. Caraway was trying to replace his wife, Barbara Mallory Caraway, and Price backed Ed Oakley, a white candidate in a mostly black district. It was symbolic of a feud going on for many years.
“The fact that Caraway is running against Price – Caraway has always wanted to get on the City Council," Jeffers said. "He’s done that. The other thing he wants to do is beat John Wiley Price in an electoral contest.”
Tarrant County
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram explores the lineups in Tarrant County:
“In a county that’s so Republican, you are always going to get challenges,” said Jennifer Hall, who leads the Tarrant County Republican Party. “In Tarrant County, the big race is usually the primary.” More Republicans are on the local ballot than Democrats, which is to be expected in one of the reddest areas of the state. But more Democrats are on the ballot than in the past, said Deborah Peoples, who heads the Tarrant County Democratic Party. “We won’t cede any area of the county,” Peoples said. “I think Democrats are excited about this election cycle. The Republican rhetoric is frightening and people are deciding the Tea Party stance has gone too far. People are ready for a change.”
Other races
The Texas Tribune has details on other races across North Texas and the state:
- U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, will face a primary rival in Carlos Quintanilla of Dallas.
- State representatives Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, and David Simpson, R-Longview, have both entered the race for the open Senate Seat in District 1, leaving their House seats up for grabs. Hughes and Simpson will be facing off against two other Republicans for the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Kevin Eltife: James “Red” Brown, a major general in the U.S. Army, and Mike Lee, a retired Navy Pilot.
- In State House District 5, four Republican candidates have surfaced to replace Hughes, who was first elected in 2002. Randy Davis, a Texas State Guard officer, businessman Jay Misenheimer, Philip Hayes, a former Senate staffer, and Cole Hefner, an insurance salesman and former Upshur county commissioner.
- Longview Mayor Jay Dean (R) and businessman David Watts (R) have both filed for Simpson’s seat in District 7.
- In June, Rep. Scott Turner, R-Frisco, announced he would not run for re-election. Five candidates have emerged to fill the State House District 33 seat the Tea Party-backed candidate has held since 2012. Three Republicans have filed for candidacy, Heath Mayor Lorne Liechty, businessman Justin Holland and Army veteran John Keating. Cristin Padgett and Karen Jacobs are both seeking the Democratic nomination.
- In August, Rep. Myra Crownover announced she will not seek re-election to the State House District 64 seat she has held since 2000. Republicans Rick Hagen, a criminal attorney,Lynn Stucky, a veterinarian, and Read King, a commercial real estate agent have all filed for the seat as well as Democrat Connor Flanagan.
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