Political and Social Thought to the Left of College Station

First Look: District 14 Republican Primary

State Representative Fred Brown is facing his first primary opponents since 2002, and is facing a challenge in the Republican primary for only the third time since being elected to the Texas State House of Representatives in 1998. This year Representative Brown is facing three primary opponents, and at least two of the candidates, if not all three, pose a serious challenge. Brown faces Rick Davis, a former district judge; Buddy Winn, a former tax assessor-collector; and Blanche Brick, the social sciences division chair and a professor at Blinn College. This year the Republican primary will decide who will be the District 14th representative, since no candidates from the Democrat or Libertarian parties have filed.

Gerald “Buddy” Winn was the Brazos County tax assessor-collector for nearly thirty years. According to an article in the Bryan-College Station Eagle, Winn said in the press release that he not running on a “personal agenda other than being able to serve the citizens of Brazos County.” Representative Brown said in the same article that Winn was not so much running against the incumbent, but rather running for the position. Winn was recently vindicated after being forced to pay more than $10,000 to cover money reported missing from his office's accounts in 1992, county officials admitted that Winn’s account was correct and returned $10,035 to the former tax assessor-collector. Winn’s campaign appears to be centered around his extensive experience in public office, and around a central issue of taxes. According to Winn’s campaign site, he will “fight for tax reform in the Texas Legislature and will file legislation to help reduce tax rates if appraisals go up.”

Former District Judge Rick Davis served on the 272nd District Court for seven years, but was reprimanded by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct twice for actions related to a dispute with the district attorney’s office. In 2003 Judge Davis was reprimanded by the State Judicial Oversight Agency after filing a court of inquiry in 2003 that accused fellow candidate Buddy Winn of being involved in a time-card scam, which was later dismissed. Davis was a candidate against the incumbent District Attorney, Democrat Bill Tuner, during the 2008 election, and lost after a bitter campaign filled with accusations. Davis’s campaign appears to be centered his experience as a judge, and his connections to the local community through Texas A&M and Blinn College. According to Davis’s campaign site, he is campaigning as a fiscally conservative, pro-life, pro-gun rights “committed Republican.”

Blanche Brick is the social sciences division chair and a professor at Blinn College. According to an article in The Ealge, Brick is campaigning in part because she “can ask many of the questions we all have as these policies are addressed at the state level.” Brick has never served in public office. According to Brick’s campaign site, her priorities are fiscal responsibility, education, community protection and development, and transportation.

It remains to be seen what kind of campaign this will be, but Davis has already stirred up some allegations against Brown. According to an article in The Eagle, Davis suggested that Brown may not be fully committed to being a State Representative because of an online resume in which Brown was seeking a “senior executive position in the auto industry.” The resume noted that Brown “carried legislation for car dealers and blocked proposed legislation that would hurt the Texas body of car dealers," and that he would be willing to relocated. Davis characterized it as a “lack of genuineness and a motivation by self-interest,” while Brown said that Davis should be more “concerned about being admonished by the State Judicial Conduct Commission.”

While Winn and Davis have never lost a Republican primary, history and statistics are on the side of Brown. During the last three election cycles in Texas, fifty Republican incumbents from the Texas House of Representatives have been challenged in primaries. Only ten challengers have defeated incumbent Republicans, although this number is trending in the challengers’ favor. In the 2004 Republican primary 12 incumbents where challenged and none were defeated, while in the 2006 primary 21 were challenged and five where defeated, and in the 2008 primary 17 where challenged and five were defeated. It appears that the challengers have about a 20% chance of defeating the incumbent. However, Brown should feel lucky that he is not the Representative of either House District 73 or 101; in the last two election cycles not only has the incumbent Republican faced a primary challenge but they have also lost to the challenger.