2 Democrats looking to flip state legislative seat
Retiree association director Elaina Fowler and real estate business owner Vikki Goodwin are headed to the May 22 Democratic runoff for a chance to flip the only Republican-held Texas House seat in Travis County.
House District 47, which encompasses western Travis County, including parts of West Austin, Bee Cave, Lakeway and Lago Vista, is represented by Paul Workman of Austin, who won the Republican nomination in March. The district is among 15 Republican-held seats statewide vulnerable to a Democratic pickup, according to Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University.
President Donald Trump won 46.7 percent of the vote in the district; Hillary Clinton won 46.6 percent. About 16,000 people voted in the March Democratic primary in the district, compared with about 15,000 in the Republican primary.
“The district makeup is not as conservative as it used to be, and the conservatives who are there are upset over the issues ... including traffic and being ignored when it comes to quality of life issues,” Fowler said.
Fowler, a former chief of staff for state Rep. Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, has earned endorsements from Education Austin, the Texas AFL-CIO, Liberal Austin Democrats, University Democrats and the National Women’s Political Caucus. Goodwin’s notable endorsements include South Austin Democrats and Central Austin Democrats, and she has raised more than $50,000, four times what Fowler has raised.
Goodwin received 33.6 percent of the votes in March, and Fowler received 29.1 percent.
Early voting will begin next Monday and run through May 18.
If elected, Fowler said she would remove “loopholes” that she said commercial property owners are using to get smaller property tax bills. She also wants counties to have greater commercial zoning authority to ensure that the environment is protected. In addition, she said she wants officials from all counties in Central