Good afternoon to all of you. This will be a short update for you on my campaign for the 10th District Court in Galveston County.
First of all, thank you to all who helped in this campaign in any way. Whether you made a contribution, put out a yard sign or worked at a poll, you helped, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it. The many people who came out to work for me made me feel very honored.
The good news is I won the race handily, with just under 60% of the vote. The really good news is there is no Democrat opponent in November, so I will be sworn in on January 1 as the new judge of the Court, replacing the retiring Judge David Garner.
I congratulate all the candidates in the run-off, not only for putting themselves forward to serve, but also for just surviving a July 31 run-off date. The heat that day and in the 5 days of early voting the week before was tough on everyone. Let's hope all future elections get back to their normal schedule.
Some people merit further thanks. My long-time assistant, Lori Wilson, pushed me into running for this position, helped every single day in the 14 months of the campaign, was always a positive source of support, and worked every day to make the election run smoothly for us. She definitely earned her title of Campaign Coordinator.
My daughter Erin was one of the first people I talked with about running. She was immediately enthusiastic about it, and was always supportive. Even while off at school in Austin, she stayed involved in the campaign, and made it back for both the primary election results on May 29 and for the run-off results on July 31. I am a lucky dad to have a good kid like her.
I wondered what my wife, Saint Sharon, would say when I broached the subject of running with her. I was not disappointed - she immediately got on board, and was a strong supporter from Day One. She made invaluable suggestions on the campaign literature, got mad at the totally untrue allegations made against me, and laughed with me at the "thorough vetting" described by some. She got a very deep tan during the weeks of early voting in May, and only added to it during the week of early voting in July. And most importantly, we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary on the Saturday before the election. You can see why she is well known as Saint Sharon.
I made some great friends during these many months of campaigning. Henry Trochesset is a great person, and will be an outstanding Sheriff. John and Chris Kinard are two of the finest people I have ever met. Greg Bonnen turned out to be a real delight to be around, and will be a tremendous asset for us in the Legislature in Austin. Many others were equally fun and interesting characters to be around, and I benefited by getting to know them all. They and their families deserve a big round of applause for putting themselves forward and going through this crazy campaign season.
I have made every effort to pick up all my signs. I grew to dislike them as much as all of you did. I believe we have all the 4x8 signs, but if you see one, please let me know and I will go get it. If you have yard signs, bring them to the office or call me and I will come get them.
Thank you again for your support during this long race. I promise I will do everything in my power to make you proud of that support and of your vote for me.