The Challengers to Texas House Republicans (Part I)



In this post, we’ll look at the challengers in Texas House districts 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, and 18. The incumbents, challengers, and biographical information about the challengers are listed in the table below:

District
Incumbent
Challenger
Residence
Occupation
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map
1
George Lavender
Gary VanDeaver
New Boston
Boston ISD Superintendent
Web Site

District Map
4
Lance Gooden
Stuart Spitzer
Kaufman
Physician
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map
6
Matt Schaeffer
Skip Ogle
Tyler
Businessman
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map
8
Byron Cook
Bobby Vickery
Frost
Businessman
Web Site

District Map
11
Travis Clardy
Tony Sevilla
Alto
Businessman
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map
12
Kyle Kacal
Timothy Delasandro
Bryan
Registered Nurse
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map
18
John Otto
Terry Holcomb
Coldspring
No  Information
Web Site
Issue Positions
District Map

Most of the districts are located in East Texas. Of the seven challengers, four had sought a Texas House nomination in the previous electoral cycle. Stuart Spitzer came close to winning with 45.56 percent of the vote in the 2012 Republican primary election for HD 4, losing by only 1332 votes. Bobby Vickery lost to Byron Cook in 2012, garnering 38 percent of the vote. In district 11, Tony Sevilla was third, winning only 6.57 percent of the vote in the first primary in 2012. Timothy Delasandro was fourth in a six-person contest in 2012, receiving 12.25 percent of the vote in the first primary in 2012.

Two of the challengers, Gary VanDeaver and Bobby Vickery, provide little information about their positions on issues. Both candidates have more information on Facebook but provide little information on their positions on issues. The other five challengers provide information on their issue positions on their Web sites, which are linked in the table above.
  
Among the seven challengers, Stuart Spitzer appears to be the candidate who has the greatest chance of defeating an incumbent. His Web site is extremely well done, and his performance in the 2012 Republican primary was very good.

I’m anxious to see the campaign contribution reports for these candidates when they’re reported.


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