State representatives, judges, commissioners and the sheriff gathered at the Hilton Hotel for lunch Monday afternoon to rally support for the Republican candidates running in the March 15 primary elections.
The Brazos County Republican Club hosted a forum focusing on the District 17 U.S. Congressional candidates and the Court of Appeals candidates.
Each candidate was given three minutes to explain why he was best-suited for his respective office.
The candidate who wins the Congressional primary elections will then proceed to challenge Democrat Chet Edwards, the 14-year incumbent.
“I am running on the principles that I believe define being a conservative, which are limited government, individual liberties, free enterprise and traditional family values,” said Republican representative Arlene Wohlgemuth.
Wohlgemuth is currently the representative for the state district that is encompassed by District 17.
She said campaigning for multiple years from the same geographical area that the incumbent Edwards has run from will give her an edge over the other candidates.
In addition to this, after authoring a bill that saved Texas $1.1 billion last session, Wohlgemuth said she is best-suited to handle the national debt crisis, which continues to surface as one of the hot issues in this race.
Retired Col. Dave McIntyre said he is the best qualified to handle issues on the national level because he has experience in the field. McIntyre said all of the other candidates have only worked on the state level.
McIntyre graduated from West Point Military Academy with a B.S. in engineering, has received his masters in English and American literature from Auburn University, and received his doctorate in political science from the University of Maryland.
“I’m a strategist. My background is not in politics. I think of longterm issues and how to bring them to bear in the forefront,” McIntyre said. “If these issues were easy to solve, then the politicians would have already solved them.”
With this philosophy and past experiences, McIntyre said he is prepared to tackle the issues of veteran affairs, military spending and the national debt.
Dot Snyder said she would address the educational issues that plague the United States. As president of the Waco Independent School District school board, Snyder implemented a plan that ended the social promotions policy in Waco.
Snyder said President George W. Bush used her social promotion policy. Snyder said she is the best candidate to beat Edwards because she has run against Edwards previously in the old Congressional District 11.
Justices Felipe Reyna and Lynnan Kendrick are running against each other for justice in the 10th Court of Appeals.
Reyna appealed to his childhood, where he rose from a child who didn’t speak English, to being a janitor in the 10th Court, and now running for justice to preside in the same room that he once swept.
Kendrick said she had the experience to fulfill the seat of justice. She has spent the past five years as a justice, whereas Reyna has not tried a case in more than 21 years.
The Brazos Country Republican Club will meet again next month.