Democrats campaign for State House seat

Loretta Haldenwang and Kim Limberg had their first and only showdown in Dr. Gabriel Bach’s government class before the March 2010 Primaries. Both are running for District 5.

This is a seat Democrats are expected to win this November, but not without a fight in the Democratic Primaries in March and one in the General elections in November. A hotly contested seat, to say the least.  As to the Libertarian candidate, Cecil Anthony Ince, he does not seem to have a chance.

Campaign finance reports show Linda Harper-Brown ahead with $75,000, Loretta Haldenwang with $60,000 and Kim Limberg with $3,260. If campaign finances were the key factor in an election, Haldenwang would be the winner in the Democratic primaries. Yet, this is not always the case.

The Haldenwang-Limberg showdown took off with an exciting debate between the two candidates, moderated by Dr. Bach, who was assisted by Grace Kaldavi timing the answers.  To most students, this was a wonderful eye-opener in the world of ‘real politics’ and the importance of voting to make a difference, since  they never witnessed an election debate or actively participated by asking relevant and pointed questions.

The energy of both speakers was vibrant, open, and positive. Early on, age became an issue, when Limberg seemed to have equated Haldenwang’s youth with her lack of real experience. And yet, Haldenwang had hands-on experience as a Democratic policy analyst in the Texas Legislature and as a senior executive for the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Limberg had a successful career with TXDot, was promoted to design manager for the Dallas High Five, and became involved in Irving neighborhood organizations.

Limberg’s focus was on environmental and transportation issues, Haldenwang’s focus on education, uninsured children, and the overall economic slowdown. Both criticized the non-issues debated in Austin and promised, once elected, to focus on real Texan issues like public high school student dropouts and lack of overall education.

Both stated at the end of the debate that this was also a first for them, that it was not easy to answer a question in two minutes time, and that the questions from students dealt with critical Texans issue.

—Tanya Mousa is a Government student in Dr. Gabriel Bach’s class.