Down the home stretch

Five days of early voting.

One 12-hour election day.

It's all come down to the home stretch.

This is it: Early voting in the runoff for the District 81 state representative race kicks off Monday.

And, yet, the Buddy West camp remains conspicuously silent.

Since the March 4 primary, West has declined all invitations to speak at forums or debates.

Even more, since March 13, West hasn't returned calls to the OA and only spoke once at a news conference March 17. All other contact with West's office has been through his chief of staff, Erin C. Tresner, or media spokesman Mark Sanders.

"I think the best evidence ... that we're not getting the kind of leadership we need is that our representative is not here, will not attend forums and will not talk about the issues," West's opponent, Tryon Lewis, said last week. "That's a lot about what leadership should be."

While West has been steering clear of public appearances and media interviews, Lewis has had two news conferences and issued multiple news releases on various issues.

As early voting kicks off, Lewis is ramped up in campaign mode.

 "The first thing I'm doing - and volunteers are doing - is getting out and meeting people, looking people in the eye, meeting them and finding out what their concerns are and sharing with them what I think I can do in the Legislature," Lewis said.

"The second prong is to telephone people, call people," he said. "And, the third thing is media - newspaper, television and radio - to get our positions out and let them know what those positions are. It's all out there every day."

West did not respond last week to repeated daily phone calls to his home, office or cell phone. E-mails to West, as well as his chief of staff, Tresner, also were not answered.

Sanders, who spoke on behalf of West in regard to his campaign plan, said West was in meetings in Austin last week and wasn't available for interviews.

"He's just in Austin and covered up in meetings," Sanders said Thursday. "... He's there through all of this week and a portion of next week, too."

Although West didn't respond to questions last week, Sanders said West's campaign is mounting a similar "three-pronged approach."

"We have a very heavy TV buy ... that will run through the end of the election," Sanders said. "We also have a massive direct mail campaign, where we're dropping direct mail every other day between now and the end of the election."

Sanders said West's campaign has been doing some polling to target voters.

"Our estimation from looking at voter history in runoffs, we're talking about a small turn out - like 2,500 to maybe 3,000 voters," he said. "We think we've ID'd our voters, and starting next week, we'll have teams of block walkers out going to homes where we hope we know, through our polling people, who are favorable to Rep. West and get them out to vote."

Furthermore, Sanders said West is manning telephones and making calls to targeted voters, reminding them there's early voting and telling them to go vote.

"That'll continue after early voting through election day," Sanders said. "We're looking at such a small universe of voters, we really do believe the representative's time is most effective just calling these people."

Ector County Elections Administrator Mitzi Scheible said turnout for runoff elections is typically low.

"People just don't get out and vote in a runoff," she said.

However, with this particular runoff, there could be a few more hit the polls.

"This one's a little heated," she said. "I'm predicting between 5,000 and 8,000, but I may be wrong."

In the four-way District 81 primary race, there were 10,703 Ector County residents who voted.

"This is a hard call," Scheible said.

Neither Winkler County nor Andrews County expect big turnouts. Both counties have one early voting location. Andrews also has only one election-day location, while Winkler County has one location each in Kermit and Wink.

Meanwhile, Lewis said he's heavily campaigning for the seat "because we need new leadership."

"We need leadership in Austin," he said. "We need to get working now on a long-term legislative plan, just like we have plans for anything. We need to think about where these communities in these three counties need to be and how that plays a role. We need to get action going on that and on the three institutions - UTPB, Odessa College and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center - where we want them to go and what it will take to get them there."

West issued a statement through Sanders about his qualifications for the job.

"I am hopeful that the constituency that has placed their faith in me for the last 15 years will continue to trust in me as the conservative and experienced voice for this district," West said through Sanders. "As we move into the next legislative session I am confident that I will continue to deliver on the issues and programs important to West Texas."

Efforts to reach West for comments on whether he supports Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, R-Midland, were not successful last week.

In some talking points released from Craddick's office, the speaker said, "I have not endorsed Buddy West, and as speaker, I do not endorse in primaries. I also did not give him permission to use my photo in his campaign materials."

West included a candid shot of he and Craddick shaking hands in his campaign material. However, Sanders said that photo "in no way implied that the speaker had endorsed Rep. West."

"In fact, it's well known the speaker recruited Mr. Lewis and is supporting Mr. Lewis," Sanders said. "But we did want voters to know that over the years, Rep. West has worked closely with the speakers for issues important to West Texas. That's why we used the photo."

Lewis pointed out that he supports Craddick as a representative and for speaker of the House.

"I think the one and essential thing for West Texas is for our representatives to cooperate," Lewis said. "Regional cooperation is absolutely vital, and the most important component of that right now is the fact that the most powerful position in the state - the speaker of the House position - is out here in the Permian Basin.

"We can do so much if someone in the Permian Basin is speaker of the House," he said. "It's a wonderful thing. Of course, I support keeping the speakership in the Permian Basin."

Craddick's office said the speaker considers Lewis a friend.

"Tryon Lewis has been a Republican activist and a strong conservative judge for more than two decades. I have known him a long time, and I consider him a good friend," read the talking points released by Craddick's office.

WANT TO VOTE?

Early voting in the District 81 state representative seat runoff begins Monday and continues through Friday. Election day is April 8.

Early voting times and locations are as follows:

ECTOR COUNTY

>> 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Ector County Annex, 1010 E. Eighth St.

>> 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Presidential Museum, 4919 E. University Blvd.

>> 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Odessa College SportsCenter, 201 W. University Blvd.

ANDREWS COUNTY

>> 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. James Roberts Center, 855 E. Broadway St.

WINKLER COUNTY

>> 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Winkler County Clerk's Office, 112 N. Poplar St.

WHAT'S HAPPENED?

>> In the March 4 primary race for the District 81 state representative, no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

>> The top two vote-getters move into a runoff - in this case challenger Tryon Lewis and incumbent Buddy West. Challengers Randy Rives and Jesse Gore were defeated March 4.

>> The April 8 runoff will effectively decide the race because there is no Democrat on the ballot in November. The winner will face Elmo Hockman, a Libertarian candidate, in November.