Demos eye 2008 election chances
Dave McNeely

Several Democrats are looking at a run for the nomination in 2008 to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

One who filed the paperwork to run Friday, June 1, and has already started raising money is wealthy plaintiff's attorney Mikal Watts, 39, of San Antonio. He moved there last year from his native Corpus Christi so his eldest daughter could attend a private school.

Although Republicans hold every statewide office since 1998, Democrats are encouraged by dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war and a lot more. A recent Washington Post poll showed almost 60 percent of Americans think Bush's sending additional troops to Iraq has made no difference, and 73 percent say the country is on the wrong track.

Cornyn, especially in his first three or four years, has been almost like Bush's shadow on most issues, though not all. Cornyn's Web site notes that he got an 87 percent rating in 2006 from The Club for Growth, a group that favors things like making Bush's tax cuts permanent. (Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison got 58 percent.)

Democratic Senate Campaign Committee spokesman Matthew Miller called Cornyn "a partisan bomb-thrower and explainer-in-chief for everything that has failed in the last few years in Washington."

A potential boost to a Democratic challenge is that Democratic gains in the Texas House and countywide offices in places like Dallas and Hays Counties in the 2006 elections may help other qualified candidates for local office in 2008.

If the presidential ticket is palatable and spends more than token amounts in Texas, it could help Democrats up and down the ballot - including for the Senate.

Watts, a plaintiff's attorney whose firm has scored more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements against Ford, Firestone and other companies, has been a prodigious giver to Democratic candidates and political action committees.

He recently hosted a reception that raised more than $1 million for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and since has had a couple fundraisers for himself.

He says he doesn't plan to self-fund his race, and there's reason. Under federal campaign law, the more a candidate contributes to his own campaign gradually raises the limit on how much opponents can accept from each donor beyond the $2,300 limit. Still, Watts' wealth gives him a reserve to boost his campaign if necessary.

Watts says a big reason he might run is his strong disagreement with Cornyn's lock-step support of Bush's war policies.

Cornyn's name identification and re-election percentages in polls have not been overwhelming. But, he plans to raise several million dollars to add to the $4 million-plus currently in his campaign coffe rs, and is expected to spend or have spent on his behalf at least $20 million.

Others Democrats mentioned as potential candidates include:

+ Former Texas Comptroller John Sharp, who still has name identification from five statewide races in 20 years, has been getting encouragement to run. But there's more buzz about a run for governor in 2010.

+ Barbara Ann Radnofsky of Houston, the 2006 Democratic Senate nominee who got about 36 percent against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

+ Former U.S. Rep. and Houston City Councilman Chris Bell, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2006. Bell is more likely to wait and seek statewide office in 2010.

Two mentioned who say they're not running are State Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo, the Democratic nominee for land commissioner in 1998, and 22nd District U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, who holds Republican Tom Delay's former seat. Both are seeking re-election.

Former Texas Secretary of State and Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who got 43.3 percent against Cornyn in 2002, also seems to be sitting this one out.

Cornyn, who has been helped in his elections to the Texas Supreme Court, the attorney general's office, and then the Senate by President Bush's political guru Karl Rove, doesn't seem rattled by a Democratic challenger -- including Watts.

"What he's going to find out," Cornyn predicted, "is that Texas is a big state."

Reach McNeely at dmcneely@austin. rr.com or (512) 323-0248.