Republican Bill Keffer, who lost his District 107 seat to Democrat Allen Vaught last fall, is already raising money for another shot at Vaught in 2008. Vaught beat the incumbent Keffer by 3 1/2 points in 2006 in a bit of a surprise, even given the Democratic successes in November.
Keffer certainly has some strengths in District 107, which covers parts of Lake Highlands and East Dallas. He was a two-term incumbent who didn’t even have an opponent in 2004. In addition, a Libertarian candidate got three percent of the vote in 2006, which probably hurt Keffer more than Vaught. Plus, Vaught is probably tarred by the foolishness that went on in Austin this year, even if he kept a low profile.
But Vaught has his share of strengths. He is an Iraq war hero, which should cut into Keffer’s well-known national security stance. He also has tremendous support from a variety of education groups, who see Keffer as public education’s mortal enemy. That support probably was the difference for Vaught in 2006.
Plus, Vaught’s brother isn’t state Rep. Jim Keffer, a key player in last session’s attempt to unseat House speaker Tom Craddick, another Republican. As near as I can tell, the Craddick imbroglio didn’t cover anyone with glory, and left voters wondering why the House was doing that instead of doing something useful, like passing electricity rate relief. (Though, to be fair, Bill and Jim often disagree on matters poltical.)
One other point: Keffer was a columnist for our Lake Highlands magazine for a couple of years in the 1990s. How that will affect the race is anyone’s guess.
