If there was any single thing that stood out in this forum, it was the personal growth of Mrs. Huls as a political candidate. When I first met her many months ago, it was apparent that she was a political novice and that she had no chance against an entrenched incumbent such as Rep. Davis. While the last part of that is probably still true, the first part has been put aside. Mrs. Huls showed poise that was heretofore lacking and was also much better equipped to answer questions.
This was a forum and as such, there were no follow-up questions, which is unfortunate because without proper follow-up, the candidates can get away with broad, sweeping comments or, as in Rep. Davis’ case, not have to answer questions about their record. But it is better than nothing, which is often what voters are left to deal with.
On to the questions. I picked a few out that I thought voters in 129, of which I am one, might be interested in. The rest of you can skip this part! In some cases the questions are difficult to hear – the CLRC doesn’t seem to like using microphones, preferring a more informal setting. That is all well and good but it also makes it difficult to hear (and record) what is going on, as evidenced by some of the regular seniors nodding off at times.
The first clip is on education. A voter asks what each candidate will do to increase funding so that class sizes are smaller and the quality of education will improve. I thought it was a good question on a couple of fronts. First off, we have to face the facts that on an aggregate level, Texas public education lags behind the nation, and that does not bode well for our future. Secondly, I’m not sure that a lack of funding is the problem so much as an equitable distribution of funding is. Think Cy-Fair Palace and laptops for students versus used textbooks and lack of teachers in South and West Texas.
Mary Huls and John Davis on Education (click here to download )
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Obviously not a strong answer for Mrs. Huls. But, after six terms and striving for a seventh, do you think that was a strong answer from Rep. Davis?
The second clip is on a question about NASA. The questioner asked what the candidates thought of the recent announcement about reduced funding for the Johnson Space Center.
John Davis and Mary Huls on NASA (click here to download )
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I think you can see a clear difference there. Rep. Davis responded as a politician, seemingly exasperated by the decision. Mrs. Huls was informed and optimistic.
The last clip from the questions is one about the Tea Parties. Actually, the question wasn’t about the Tea Parties, but Rep. Davis answered it that way and Mrs. Huls, followed suit, although she did note that there were two parts to it.
John Davis and Mary Huls on Should we focus on electing Republicans or on changing the Republican Party? (click here to download )
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Rep. Davis noted that in the recent Houston Tea Party Society Straw Poll (he called it the Texas Tea Party), he received 72{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the votes. That is true, in fact, I was one of the votes in his favor. There were 11 of us that voted, with Rep. Davis winning 8-3. But on the actual question asked, I think that Mrs. Huls’ answer was far better and much more in tune with what is happening in today’s political climate.
And lastly, their closing statements.
Mary Huls and John Davis Closing Statements (click here to download )
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As a voter in 129, I would like to thank the Clear Lake Republicans for holding this forum. And I suspect that Mrs. Huls would like to thank you as well because it convinced this longtime Davis voter to switch and vote for her.
This is not a protest vote on my part, it will be a positive vote for someone that earned it. Rep. Davis has been, in general, a good, conservative leaning representative. But he is lacking in several areas. If you meet him and discuss something, he is engaging and you think he listens. But when you follow up, he never seems to remember the conversation and rarely, if ever, returns an email (just ask my wife). If you phone or write his office, you will eventually get a form letter acknowledging it. And, while he is generally conservative, he is not a leader in the House – after six full terms, I expect more than a solid vote, I expect leadership to forge ahead with a smaller government agenda.
So there you go. I expect that Rep. Davis will win the primary easily and that I will once again vote for him in the fall. But for now, in the primary, I’ll be voting for Mary Huls because she earned my vote with her hard work over the last several months.
