The portion of District 1 west of Lavon Hwy has been represented in the Texas House of Representatives by Fred Hill since 1988, according to an article in this week's The Garland News. Mr Hill is retiring and four people have filed for his seat, three from Garland and one from Richardson.
 
On the Republican side, Angie Chen Button, District 1 resident and Garland's DART Board representative, Randall Dunning, former Garland council member, and Jim Shepherd, former Richardson council member, have each filed and already posted their first campaign statements. On the Democratic side, Sandra VuLe is the only candidate. Primaries for both parties are March 4.
 
From what I know of each individual or from what I've heard, each is a good person and seeks the position to serve our district.
 
Angie has been a personal friend for many years, she has helped me on transportation issues, and we've served together on the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition. She is currently serving on the DART Board and I've asked her, from my perspective, to not resign yet. As you've probably been reading in the newspaper or hearing on the evening news, DART is facing strong financial challenges. It is, of course, some sacrifice for Angie, but I think Garland is best served having someone there that has years of experience and is a CPA, rather than bringing in someone new.
 
Randy is also a good friend and was a faithful ally when he served on the council, particularly fighting the dark forces to allow an election when a majority of the council wanted to cancel it for personal benefit. We both work in the same industry, telecom, and might be two of only a handful of people in the city that know what acronyms like CDMA, GSM, and WiMax mean.
 
I've met Jim and Sandra but don't know either well. I do know that both are attorneys.
 
As the tenth largest city in the state, it would be wonderful if Garland were to have another representative in Austin. Since the legislative district about evenly falls on Richardson and Garland, the advantage goes to Richardson unless Garland voters get to the polls in record numbers and the Garland candidates are able to attract Richardson voters.
 
Choices are easier when you don't have multiple friends in the race but I have endorsed Angie Button for a number of reasons. She is very professional with a strong business background as a marketing manager at Texas Instruments. She knows and is part of the global economy—she has already helped our region economically and can do more from Austin. She works with people easily and knows everybody. She is intimately familiar with North Texas transportation, the number one issue affecting the long-range economic and physical health of our region. She is an organizer and an achiever.
 
The latter is most apparent looking at the financial statements filed about a week ago. Her contributions more than doubled the combined contributions of her opponents. Her money on hand was a staggering 3x multiple of their combined treasuries. She has launched a grassroots, but professional, campaign. Her endorsements are far more extensive, coming from all over the county and North Texas, including four Garland Council members: Rick Williams, Barbara Chick, Larry Jeffus, and myself.
 
I invite you to read the story in The Garland News for much more on the particulars between the candidates' campaigns. It should be on newsstands for about a week.
 
I encourage you to consider each of the candidates and to study their platforms. I mostly encourage you to vote March 4 and I hope you will support the candidate from District 1, Angie Chen Button. At least go to her website and watch the video—it is well worth it. I would be very comfortable having Angie (on the west side) and Joe Driver (on the east) representing our district in Austin.