in Houston, Texas

The rest of the country may be taking a rest from politics, but we're still battling it out down here in Texas.

Democrat Chris Bell and Republican Joan Huffman are running against each other in a special election for the District 17 Senate seat once held by Republican Kyle Janek. His decision to step down this summer, pegged off his moving out of the district to a new home in Austin, left the parties without time to elect nominees -- so six candidates ran for the spot on Nov. 4. No one captured a majority, so top vote-getters Bell and Huffman are now facing off.

The election is Tuesday, Dec. 16, but early voting has already begun in this crowbar-shaped district that includes parts of Harris, Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria and Fort Bend counties. (See a map of all of Texas' Senate districts here.)

Skip to: Where the money comes from | Mp3 audio clips of candidate interviews

About the candidates

Bell is a former U.S. Congressman who was the Democratic nominee for governor two years ago, garnering 30 percent of the statewide vote to Republican incumbent Rick Perry's 39 percent. He's also an attorney, a lobbyist and former journalist. (Check out his campaign Web site at this link.)

Huffman is also an attorney. She's a former prosecutor and judge in the criminal courts in Harris County. (Check out her campaign Web site at this link.)

You can get a more thorough look at the two candidates' backgrounds in this profile piece by The Houston Chronicle's Alan Bernstein. The two candidates also faced off against each other in a chatroom "keyboard debate" for The Chronicle yesterday.

Where the money comes from

Bell has received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from trial lawyers over the course of the campaign. The day after the Nov. 4 election, he also received a $100,000 from San Antonio attorney Mikal Watts, a huge name in behind-the-scenes Texas Democratic fundraising, whom Texas Watchdog recently profiled.

Bell is also getting some shoe-leather help from Austin. The Travis County Democratic Party and Education Austin are rounding up volunteers to make a Saturday bus trip to District 17 for door-to-door campaigning. 

Huffman has accepted at least $162,000 in campaign contributions and in-kind help in the most recent reporting period from the group Texans For Lawsuit Reform. Huffman is also supported by Houston-area homebuilders, such as Bob Perry of Perry Homes. Perry and his wife gave Huffman $125,000 in campaign contributions, while Dick and David Weekley also each gave Huffman $100,000.

One of Huffman's biggest supporters is Huffman. She previously loaned her campaign $500,000, and the most recent report also shows a $40,000 loan. Huffman is doing door-to-door campaigning this Saturday as well.

You can read more details about Bell and Huffman's fundraising and campaign spending in the most recent campaign finance reports they filed. These are the "eight-day" reports -- so called because they have to be filed with the state eight days prior to the election. Bell's is at this link and Huffman's is here.

The total tab for the runoff campaign tops $3.1 million so far, The Chronicle says.

Hear our interviews

Texas Watchdog put a handful of questions to both Bell and Huffman in separate telephone interviews. Here's the best of the audio, which we've broken down by topic for ease of online listening.

Chris Bell: 'We have a responsibility to leave things better than we found them'

What are the top issues for Texas and Senate District 17?

What motivates you to run for this office and the others you've sought?

Bell has said he wants more local control of schools. What should schools be able to do that they can't do now?

A follow-up question: How should Texas finance the education reforms Bell wants?

Another follow-up question: Bell said he supports the expansion of legalized gambling in Texas. What about people who say it preys on the poor and causes other problems?

Bell has called for campaign finance reform in Texas. We asked him more about that, and followed up by asking about a record-setting contribution he received when he was running for governor.

Gov. Rick Perry recently said that limits on greenhouse gases that could be put in place by the new Obama administration would have a devastating impact on Texas' economy. How would Bell balance environmental improvements with the importance of the energy sector to Texas' economy?

The group ACORN, which John McCain and some Republicans sharply criticized during the presidential campaign, endorsed Bell and helped his campaign by distributing flyers. What does Bell think about the controversy?

What questions should the public have for Huffman?

Joan Huffman: 'I care very much about the future of Texas'

What are Huffman's top issues for Texas and District 17? (Note: Due to a phone problem, we got cut off right after Huffman ended this sentence. She elaborates in the next clip.)

A follow-up: What would she specifically do about those issues?

What motivates Huffman to run for the Senate?

As a former judge, would Huffman want to see changes in the courts?

Huffman has said she wants to see state spending held down. What specifically would she want to see cut?

Huffman has called for better evacuation plans during hurricanes. What did she think of the evacuation effort and authorities' response to Hurricane Ike?

What's Huffman's take on the need to protect the environment when the Houston-area economy is so closely intertwined with energy production?

What does she think about employing toll roads as a way to finance new road projects?

Does Huffman support limitations on campaign donations to Texas politicians?

Would Huffman want to see changes in the state open meetings or open records laws?

The six-way race for the District 17 seat in November was hard-fought between the four Republican contenders, with one of Huffman's challengers trumpeting an allegation about her from her days as a judge and then having to admit it was false and, in a bizarre scene, calling Huffman one night to meet her under a streetlight near a Houston police station to apologize to her (addendum: More details on the streetlight apology at this Chronicle link). We asked Huffman, was there anything that got said about her during the primary race that she wanted to address?

What questions should the public have for Bell?

See the candidates speak
Texas Watchdog has created a YouTube playlist featuring nearly a dozen video clips from both the Bell and Huffman campaigns, including their television ads and some speeches. You can check out our playlist below, or over at YouTube (where our signon is "TexasWatchdog") and you can even embed our playlist in your own site.



("I voted/Yo vote" sticker picture by flickr user speed, used via the Creative Commons license.)

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