Republican blogger Sonja Harris is calling on her readers to contact Governor Rick Perry to show support for Charlie Garza as the new Texas Education Commissioner. SBOE Member Charlie Garza Needs Our Help!, Sonja Harris, Texas GOP Vote blog, June 26, 2012.
Carlos “Charlie” Garza currently represents District 1 (El Paso and West Texas) on the Texas State Board of Education. Here’s his official website and his campaign website. In the November 6 general election he will face Democrat Martha Dominguez, unless she tries to quit. Again. Martha Dominguez, Democratic State Board of Education candidate, plans to run in Nov. elections, Aaron Bracamontes, El Paso Times, June 19, 2012.
Harris says the list of contenders includes the following:
- Robert Durón, former San Antonio ISD superintendent, currently at the Texas Education Agency
- Rob Eissler, Texas State Representative for District 15 (The Woodlands) and chair of the Public Education committee — for now: he lost to tea party challenger Steve Toth in the May 29 Republican primary
- Barnett A. “Sandy” Kress, an Austin lawyer known for working on accountability standards (i.e., standardized testing)
As mentioned earlier, Robert Scott is resigning as Texas Education Commissioner effective July 2.
