Tuesday, March 22, 2011

House Dem thanks colleagues, slams election contest

House Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, took a few moments on the House floor today to thank her colleagues for their support through an effort by her failed election opponent, Dan Neil, to overturn his November loss.

More than 52,000 votes were cast in the Western Travis County district, and the election contest that dragged on over several months finally determined that Howard had won by only four votes.

Four.

Neil pressed on with his election contest right up until last week, when he gave up the ghost on Friday and conceded - after months of accusing the county and everyone else of basically making so many mistakes that it changed the outcome of the election. His supporters went so far as to fling fraud accusations:

(RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri: "In the words of John Paul Jones - "We have not yet begun to fight!" I want to make it clear that the RPT will not sit by quietly and allow one of its candidates to have his election stolen away. .... We will also be calling on the Travis County DA to open an investigation of the Travis County Elections Office as a result of these numerous abuses.")

In a personal privilege speech on the House floor Tuesday, Howard denounced his push to toss out her victory - and the subsequent grilling of voters who were forced to give their names and votes.

"The sacredness of the vote is apparently not so sacred after all," she said.

Then she thanked her colleagues in the House, including Dallas Republican Will Hartnett as Master of Discovery, for their diligence and decision in her favor.

"Contrary to what some may believe, we are, by and large, good people who are here bec we care about our communities and want to help make Texas better," Howard said. "We share the same core values of strong communiites, healthy familiesa and economic prosperity for our state. I am grateful to work with each of you."

Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/house-dem-thanks-colleagues-sl.html

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