Vo wins District 149 seat by 31 votes
Incumbent Heflin expected to contest results
By KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
With the last votes finally counted late Monday, Democratic newcomer Hubert Vo nudged Republican incumbent Talmadge Heflin out of the Texas House of Representatives seat he has held for 22 years by a 31-vote margin.
According to the official canvass, Vo garnered 20,693 votes, compared with 20,662 for Heflin.
Heflin supporters, however, immediately indicated the powerful Republican would challenge the results of the two-day canvass by the Harris County Clerk's office.
"There's no confidence in these results at this point," said Andy Taylor, a Republican legal troubleshooter with expertise in election law, who was on hand to represent Heflin. "The outcome can't be trusted because the process was flawed."
Taylor said poll watchers cited a discrepancy in the way votes were being counted and excluded. The difference of 31 votes is so small that any slight irregularity could change the race, he said.
Heflin's camp is expected to meet this morning to make a decision about what to do next.
Barring a successful challenge, Vo's victory gives Democrats their first net gain one seat in the Texas House in more than 30 years.
"We've tried to make this as complete and inclusive as we can," said County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, whose office oversaw the two-day countywide canvass of ballots.
With more than 41,000 votes cast in last week's general election, Vo entered the canvass Sunday clinging to a 38-vote lead over Heflin and then sweated out hundreds of absentee and provisional ballots Monday night to claim the District 149 seat.
But the count is far from over.
Heflin still can request a recount of electronic votes. He also could contest the election, which would throw the jurisdiction to the state House to make a ruling. If it comes to that, Heflin would appear to have an advantage, with the House consisting of 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats.
. "We go out and celebrate a victory for Vo," said Larry Veselka, a former Harris County Democratic chair and one of Vo's representatives at the canvass. "We want to let Vo focus on his new district because they are looking forward to new leadership."
Veselka said he was confident Vo would take office and added that he did not want to see a "power grab" by House Speaker Tom Craddick to save his "endangered share"
Count began Sunday
The count of the absentee and provisional ballots began Sunday and ended just before midnight Monday.
There were 27 valid provisional votes counted in the district race. Fourteen went to Vo and 9 to Heflin. The other four did not cast a vote in the district contest.
Neither of the candidates appeared at a county election office in north Houston where the count took place.
Vo's campaign admittedly was sweating the outcome of the mail-in ballots, which historically have favored Republicans. Seventy-five percent of the early vote went to Heflin.
Poll watchers for both parties oversaw the process.
Heflin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was instrumental in putting through spending cuts that enabled Republican leaders to balance the state budget last year without raising state taxes.
Population is changing
That made him a target of Democrats and gave Vo an issue on which to run. The district includes a growing population of minorities, many of whom value the children's health insurance and social service programs cut by the Legislature.
Heflin also received unfavorable attention this summer when he unsuccessfully tried to take custody of a 20-month-old boy from his mother, an immigrant from Uganda.
Should Vo hang on to win, it would be the first Democratic gain in the House since 1972, when Democrats still had a strong majority. Republicans won a majority in 2002.
kristen.mack@chron.com
