So why did Al Edwards (D-Houston) vote for the tax bill?

[carpetbagger]

Only democrat to do so. Maybe someone ought to send him a line on his site and ask him.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/email.php?dist=146&rep=al.edwards

[NoPasaran]

1. Maybe he wants an opponent

In the 2006 primary.

[sonias]

2. He abstained on HB2 also

Al Edwards just doesn't want to represent his district, I think. His vote has been noticed and Al will certainly have to answer to his voters. I've heard the grumblings of some constituents in his district even as he sat out HB2.

What surprised me is Mike Villareal, D-San Antonio. Early indications had Mike actively engaging the enemy in a surrender movement. He then voted no on the bill. I guess his constituency when informed of his actions, took him to task and he remembered who he represented. Good move Mike.


From the Save Texas Reps mailing on 3/14
(snip)
Democratic State Rep. Mike Villareal approached Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick’s staff a couple of weeks ago to let them know that he was willing to help pass the GOP-sponsored tax bill under discussion this week.

Villareal was the only Democrat to vote for HB3 in committee, a massive tax plan that would raise the sales tax to the highest in the nation while giving some of the GOP’s biggest corporate donors a tax break.

Voters in Villareal's low-to-middle income district have taken note. Potential challengers are beginning to come out of the woodwork. Villareal today tried to defend HB 3, the most massive tax shift legislation since the 1980's. Villareal quickly showed himself to be out of his depth, as Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) took him apart during debate on the House floor.

Back home on San Antonio’s West Side, potential primary challengers lick their chops. With your help, Villareal will be held accountable for his decision to assist the GOP effort to raise taxes on the middle-class families and small businesses who sent him to Austin.
(/snip)


Sonia