14-year Baytown legislator upset; Gonzalez advances in sheriff race
Lawyer Briscoe Cain defeated Republican state Rep. Wayne Smith by a razor-thin margin in Baytown’s District 128 on Tuesday, according to complete but unofficial runoff results, having leveraged an anti-establishment mood to oust the 14-year incumbent.
Former City Councilman Ed Gonzalez eclipsed Constable Lt. Jerome Moore in the Democratic runoff for Harris County sheriff, while Harris County Republican Party Chair Paul Simpson fended off challenger Rick Ramos after finishing second in Super Tuesday’s GOP primary.
Smith, a lieutenant of House Speaker Joe Straus first elected in 2002, was one of several Republican incumbents challenged from the right this year.
His battle with Cain turned increasingly ugly and personal following the March primary, when Cain earned 48 percent of the vote to Smith’s 43 percent, surprising some political observers who saw Smith’s seat as relatively safe.
Cain campaigned on boosting border security, improving the economy and focusing on faith and family issues, including a pro-life agenda.
“I don’t think the reality of it has settled in yet,” Cain said from his watch party at Waller County Line BBQ. “I was blessed by the outpouring of support and the courage of voters in our district, the ones who looked past the onslaught of negative attacks.”
Cain spent $137,000 on the race from January through midMay, compared with Smith’s $789,000 outlay.
Smith, in conceding, thanked voters for the opportunity to serve.
“It has been my distinct honor and high privilege to have served the hardworking men and women of District 128. Mr. Cain will now enjoy that same honor,” he
said in a statement. “For the past 14 years, I have worked on the issues that really impact the voters most. I have no regrets.”
Cain is set to face Libertarian Ken Lowder in the general election.
Repeat of ’08?
In the sheriff’s race, Gonzalez’s victory set the stage for a potential replay of 2008, when former Sheriff Adrian Garcia, a mentor to Gonzalez, unseated longtime Republican Sheriff Tommy Thomas amid a Democratic resurgence led by Barack Obama.
Garcia resigned last May to run for Houston mayor, prompting members of the county’s Commissioners Court to tap Ron Hickman as his replacement.
Gonzalez, who has called on the sheriff ’s office to help reduce recidivism through correctional education, to boost transparency and to increase jail inspections, distanced his leadership style from Hickman’s.
“I think we can do much better,” Gonzalez said. “He’s had about a year to kind of make his mark on the agency, and I think there’s been some questionable decisions that have been made, so I’m looking forward to a very contested general election battle.”
Hickman, who sailed through the March 1 GOP primary, has touted improvements to agency morale and cost-savings initiatives. However, he has come under fire in recent months for understaffing and overcrowding at the jail, as well as the death of four inmates who were assaulted or suffered head trauma while incarcerated.
Gonzalez, for his part, is likely to face renewed scrutiny for taking home six homicide case files when he left the Houston Police Department in 2009. Police charged a suspect in one of those murder cases within two weeks of receiving the file years later.
Hickman starts with a sizable financial advantage over Gonzalez, with $227,000 in the bank in February, compared to Gonza- lez’s $43,000 as of mid-May.
Yet Rice University political scientist Bob Stein said an anticipated increase in split-ticket voting in November — when a voter backs candidates from different political parties for various offices — could hurt the incumbent.
“There are people who simply can’t vote for (Republican presidential candidate Donald) Trump,” Stein said.
Turner’s seat decided
In another contest, Harris County Republican Party Chair Simpson defeated political newcomer Ramos by a wide margin in early results, having spent roughly $364,000 to Ramos’ $73,000.
“This is a victory of the conservative grass roots over the old, corrupt establishment trying to reassert control over the party, embodied in the pay-for-play slates,” said Simpson, who was first elected in 2014.
Ramos, a family lawyer who had not played an active role in the county party, was backed by three socially conservative GOP kingmakers who produce widely distributed endorsement mailers.
Meanwhile, former Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson bested former legislative aide Kimberly Willis in the Democratic runoff for Mayor Sylvester Turner’s District 139 state House seat. Johnson will be unopposed in November.
Incumbent Democratic Constable Chris Diaz trounced former Galveston sheriff ’s deputy George Goffney Jr. in Precinct 2, which covers portions of southeast Harris County. He faces Republican Daniel Vela in the general election.
Constable’s Sgt. Sherman Eagleton beat former Houston police officer Michel Pappillion in the Democratic primary for constable in neighboring Precinct 3, which runs from Baytown to Kingwood.
Eagleton is up against Republican retired Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Dan Webb in November.
Republican Lori Bartley defeated Reggie Gonzales in Houston’s 18th Congressional District, to ultimately square off against Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in November.