First Independent To Win Texas House Seat In Decades
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AUSTIN (AP) - An Independent has won a special election for a San Antonio based Texas House seat, and will be the first non Republican nor Democrat in the Legislature in decades.
But Laura Thompson's term only lasts through December. She won't be serving while the Legislature is in session beginning January 10, unless a special session is convened, which is unlikely.
A writer and poet, Thompson won Tuesday's special election against Democrat Lou Miller by 50 votes out of around 1,200 total. She replaces retiring Democratic Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon.
Thompson isn't running in November's election to fill McClendon's seat for a two-year term beginning next year.
Thompson is believed to be the first non-party-affiliated Texas state lawmaker since Fort Worth Rep. Howard Green, who switched from Democrat to Independent between 1959 and 1961.
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