Getting Out In Front Of The Pack
In light of the passing of former State Representative Buddy West, Governor Perry has called for a special election to fill his seat in the Legislature, even though a successor is already in line to be sworn in next January. The likely man to take the prize, Tyron Lewis, will now have to pack his bags for Austin two months early.
Now, is it absolutely imperative that District 81 get that seat filled by November instead of January? No. Calling for a Special Election tomorrow would make more sense (though still not that much sense at all) because at least then Mr. Lewis can assume some committee assignments and work on some interim charges. That will not be the case in November. And besides, unless I am mistaken, even though that seat is empty, it can still employ a person to work in the office and handle constituent affairs, meaning the constituency’s needs should not go overlooked.
I’ll tell you what this really means. It means that instead of drawing for seniority amongst the other freshmen elected in ‘08, Mr. Lewis will come in infront of them. Basically it all boils down to he won the seniority lottery. By the time the other freshmen get their shot, Mr. Lewis will already have picked his office, picked his parking spaces, hired staff, have gotten settled into his office, and (depending on how good his staff is) submitted bill drafting requests. Plus, down the line this could come in handy when picking committee assignments, though his seniority actually factoring in those decisions is several sessions away.
I mean no ill will toward Mr. Lewis, but if I were in his freshman class right now, I’d be pretty darn jelous. Especially if I were the one that got stuck holding the black ball.