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By: GARY SCHARRER
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Labor leader Linda Chavez-Thompson, retired Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, and restaurant owner Marc Katz come from vastly different backgrounds.
The winner of the March 2 primary will head to a fall election against Republican incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
The three Democrats agree that Texans face a vexing school dropout problem, high home insurance and utility rates, ever-increasing property tax bills, soaring college tuition, intolerable traffic congestion — and millions of them remain without health insurance.
They blame it on Republican leadership and special-interest groups that finance their campaigns.
“We have been lulled into a feeling that the status quo is fine when really, I think, we are at the brink of disaster,” said Katz, longtime owner of a popular Austin restaurant.
“I find the situation — as a Texan, as a taxpayer, as a citizen, as a parent — to be unbearable. We're not in good times. Things are terrible.”
But the odds remain long that a Democrat will knock off Dewhurst in the fall, said Cal Jillson, a Southern Methodist University political science professor who studies state and national politics.
Katz still will be selling sandwiches next year, Jillson predicted.
“Ronnie Earle and Linda Chavez-Thompson have visible strengths,” he said. “Earle is a Texas populist in the (Ralph) Yarborough/(Jim) Hightower tradition, and Chavez-Thompson is a national Hispanic activist.
Neither is terribly well-known. Hard to tell who wins the primary, but neither is likely to have the money to stand in against Dewhurst.”
Union executive
A San Antonian, Chavez-Thompson spent her childhood in Lubbock-area cotton fields and became executive vice president of the AFL-CIO and a player in national Democratic Party politics.
She is a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Texas Democrats will start winning statewide races again, she said, by running candidates such as herself who can generate enthusiasm among Latino, labor and women voters.
“It's time for new leadership that works as hard for us as we work for our families. That's not what's happening in our state government right now,” Chavez-Thompson said.
“The new leadership in Austin will do what is right instead of doing business with the special interests.”
‘Squeaky clean' DA
Earle, who grew up on a small ranch outside Fort Worth, retired last year after 32 years as the Travis County district attorney, during which he made himself a thorn in the side of Democrats and Republicans alike in high-profile prosecutions.
He also is a former state representative and a former municipal judge.
“I have a reputation for problem solving, which is the most important thing you can do as a people, and I also have a reputation for attacking corruption in government and politics,” he said.
During his career, Earle brought charges against 18 politicians, including former House Speaker Gib Lewis and former Attorney General Jim Mattox — both Democrats — as well as against former U.S.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison — both Republicans. Earle also once filed charges against himself for missing a campaign finance report deadline and ended up paying a $200 fine.
“He was squeaky clean and did what had to be done,” said former state Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, who served in the Legislature with Earle.
“He wasn't shy about prosecuting — first come, first served. Pick a number. Next?” Moreno said, chuckling.
But Moreno said he is supporting Chavez-Thompson because of his affinity for organized labor and working Texans and because Chavez-Thompson is better positioned to attract Latino voters.
All three Democrats say they will stay focused on Republican policies and not turn on one another.
Earle noted that he pioneered “community prosecution” by including community groups, not only in policing neighborhoods but in the punishment phase, as well.
The number of homicides in Austin dropped from 49 in 1991 to 23 in 2008, he said.
“It's easy to be tough on crime,” Earle said. “Anybody can do that. But to be both tough and smart takes a little thinking.”
Chavez-Thompson is emphasizing education and skilled jobs development. Texans are working hard and not getting enough return, she said.
“They are running and running and standing still in the same place every single day. We are not getting ahead and Texas gets further behind. We're always No. 48 or 49, or No. 50,” Chavez-Thompson lamented.
“We are always in the back instead of being in the front.”
Restaurateur, raconteur
Katz figures he can both educate and motivate voters.
“Those are the two things necessary to win the election,” he said.
He blames the Democrats' long Texas losing string on fielding too many well-qualified candidates with intellectual power that does not connect with voters.
“We need to talk to the people — not at the people,” Katz said.
“I've worked the streets of Austin for more than 30 years. I talk to everybody; everybody talks to me,” he said. “The reason people like me is because I like them.
The reason they trust me is because I trust them.”
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