Lack of voter education is the greatest April Fool's prank of all

There's no need to play an April Fool's prank on our Tracker readers. We're living through a joke right now.

One of the candidates speaking at the Travis GOP's Runoff Roundtable Thursday night was Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5, contender Brent Webster. Webster, a Williamson County prosecutor with a long history of conservative activism, has much in common with the moderator of the forum, Travis GOP Chairman James Dickey. Dickey and Webster both woke up March 2 to some surreal electoral conclusions: that they had come in second against opponents who had barely lifted a finger to campaign.

We'll have some coverage on this all-too-rare forum for our runoff candidates soon. But for now, we post this analysis from our Friday, March 4 posting, followed by Dickey's thoughts on the matter via a flyer he distributed Thursday night.

Every so often a long-shot candidate with a famous name will make a run for public office. Sometimes they win nomination, such as Sam Houston, the Democratic nominee for Attorney General in 2014. In all honesty, this has been going on in America since at least John Quincy Adams. 

On this year's primary ballot, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 5 candidate Scott Walker ended up with a whopping 41 percent in a four-way race. No, not the Wisconsin Governor and former presidential hopeful, but a mystery candidate. According to the Dallas Morning News editorial board, Sid Harle and Brent Webster were the two serious contenders, while "the fourth candidate in the race, Mansfield lawyer Scott Walker, appears not to be actively campaigning. He declined to fill out a candidate questionnaire or meet with the editorial board."

But with a name like Scott Walker, and in a race few voters know much about, it's entirely possible that voters would pick based on name-recognition alone. Walker has since put up a website and rolled out his credentials for a runoff with Webster.

James Dickey and Brent Webster on Thursday, March 31.

From Dickey's flyer:

• “Scott” Walker – His real first name is Richard. He did not answer a single editorial board questionnaire or have a web site during the primary. Lost the lawsuit he filed to get out of credit card debt. 

• Brent Webster – Assistant District Attorney and General Counsel for the Williamson County District Attorney’s office. Actually campaigned for the job. Long history of involvement in the Republican Party.

"To be fair," Webster said at the event, "Walker's name appeared in his high school yearbook as Scott Walker." Perhaps this was a formal name, but this does not discount the fact that he did not launch a formal campaign until making the runoff.