It's a tough time to be a congressional challenger in Texas. As if trying to knock off incumbent lawmakers were not hard enough, candidates have been struggling to get noticed in a mid-term election year in which there is no U.S. Senate race and the outcome of the state's top race is already a foregone conclusion. Republican Gov. George W. Bush was leading his Democratic challenger, Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, by 45 points in a recent poll.
Voters are bored, cynical, or apathetic.
During the first weekend of flooding, voting booths in one county were forced to close several hours early because of the rising waters. Depends on who's talking. Forget the governor's race, they say. But remember that the hot race for lieutenant governor is more important because it will decide who will replace Bush as governor if he decides to run for president in 2000. This congressional district overlaps with a state Senate district that was represented by John Sharp.