Waco-area Democratic activists are eagerly waiting to hear whether their party will nominate a candidate to run for state Senate District 22 in November.

Because of a quirk in the Texas election code, Democrats, who didn’t field a candidate for the seat originally, will have a chance to do so because former Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, pulled himself off the ballot.

Brian Birdwell, a Granbury Republican, won a special election to serve the remainder of Averitt’s term, which runs through the end of this year.

Democrats who didn’t field a candidate for the seat originally will have a chance to do so because Kip Averitt pulled himself off the ballot.
Harry Cabluck/Associated Press, file

And based on Birdwell’s victory, he is expected to be the choice of county Republican party chairs in the Senate district to run in the general election.

But it is no certainty that the Democratic chairs in the 10-county district will put someone up.

The district is heavily Republican, and party officials have said they need to determine whether they could win and whether they could knock Birdwell off the ballot on grounds he doesn’t meet an eligibility requirement.

A state Democratic Party spokesperson said Monday that party leaders are continuing to have strategic discussions about the seat.

But the absence of a formal announcement of the party’s intentions has fueled curiosity and speculation among rank-and-file Democrats.

A Waco Democratic activist sent a one sentence e-mail to Robert Aguilar, president of the Central Texas Tejano Democrats, asking if the party would nominate someone.

Aguilar forwarded the question to a group of 40 party activists, elected officials and campaign workers.

While he said he has not been told who, if anyone, party leaders might go with, “I heard that the (Democratic) establishment has someone who’s good and can garner some votes.”

Party chairs in the district on both sides have until Aug. 24 to make a final decision on nominees.

Aguilar said given the late August deadline, his party’s leaders “don’t want to show their cards yet.”

Still, several names have been mentioned by people in Democratic circles in recent weeks.

They include former state Rep. John Mabry, though Mabry has said he is focused on a bid to retake his old seat, now held by Waco veterinarian and Republican state Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson.

Kris Olson, the executive director of the Waco chapter of Parents for Public Schools, also has been mentioned as a potential candidate.

Olson is the sister-in-law of Lyndon Olson Jr., a former state lawmaker and U.S. ambassador to Sweden from 1998 to 2001.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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