Taking an 'oath' of office
Mas triste is the way a Republican challenger described an East Austin state rep's decision not to step down as promised; his plans to celebrate the beginning of a special election for the Texas House District 46 seat postponed indefinitely.
At the same time, Gabriel Nila is not one to mope about eastern Travis following this and another setback on election night in November. Rather, he has his chin up and is looking at Rep. Dawnna Dukes' recalcitrance as an opportunity to build the community.
"With the recent decision of our State Representative to become 'unretired,' our team will be holding off on our Special Election Kick Off," Nila wrote earlier this week at the 85th Legislature convened. "We will be monitoring upcoming situations that have become known as 'The Dukes Chronicles.' The Campaign will continue to be an active participant in our communities. More to come."
Rep. Dukes appeared after the opening prayer in time to be sworn in to the 85th Texas Legislature. According to sources, a House colleague pressed her desk voting button to signify that she was present -- a classic move for the House member with notoriously spotty attendance.
Dukes had announced that she would resign at the onset of the new legislative session back in September, citing health reasons, but also during the investigation of alleged criminal conduct. By holding off on a resignation until after the 85th Legislature began, Dukes would have triggered a special election by vacating the seat during session. There was also speculation that she would roll the odometer forward by one additional session, thus fattening her retirement pension significantly.
Whatever her reasons, this leaves many speculative candidates in the lurch, including Mr. Nila; some of whom have already hosted campaign kickoff events and dropped some money on the gambit.
While the silence from the Travis County Democratic Party on this incident is deafening, the Travis County Republican Party's chairman James Dickey released the following statement in advance of Dukes' appearance on the House floor -- calling out an action that both major parties should find as reprehensible as her misuse of staff time and holding charitable events hostage:
“Dawnna Dukes is under a very serious criminal investigation. When she appeared mere days away from being indicted, she announced she would ‘resign’ on the first day of the new legislative session, thereby increasing her pension by thousands of dollars each year. Now, with a new Democratic District Attorney in office (Margaret Moore), State Rep. Dukes appears to be violating the promise she made to the voters of HD-46 that she would resign. This raises very serious questions. Was a corrupt deal cut with the District Attorney? Is the District Attorney dropping the criminal investigation, and if so, why? Why did State Rep. Dukes blatantly lie to the voters? Will honest and ethical Travis County Democrats stand by this corrupt Democrat and allow her to break her promise to the voters?”
Will the local Democratic party discipline its ranks by calling out Dukes' dishonesty? We'll be tracking that. Meanwhile ...
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Photo credit: Facebook.com, Adella Fernandez.
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