Fred Dobbs and his daughter Melissa Osborne wait for the arrival of Susan Narvaiz at Casa Maria’s in Kyle. Narvaiz will be challenging long-time U.S. House Represent-ative Lloyd Doggett for his seat in November. (Photo b y Kim Hilsenbeck)
by KIM HILSENBECK
A narrow strip of newly drawn U.S. Congressional District 35, which connects part of east Austin to southeast San Antonio, also includes eastern Hays and western Caldwell counties. Some residents in this corridor – running along Interstate 35 – may not realize they are part of the new district.
This is one reason Susan Narvaiz, a former mayor and current resident of San Marcos, took to the roads around Hays County during the Labor Day weekend for her grassroots “love and labor tour” – to introduce herself to voters, many of whom she said didn’t even realize there was a new congressional district.
“People are confused,” said Narvaiz, who stopped at Casa Maria in Kyle to talk to potential voters. “We have four new seats from Texas because of our population increase, and that’s more representatives to take important issues of Texans to Washington.”
Narvaiz, 53, who beat out two rivals in the Republican primary, is a former San Marcos mayor. In her race for the U.S. House, she is taking on long-time Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who according to campaign finance records, is able to outspend her by more than a million dollars.
Doggett started his political career 40 years ago in the state senate. He outspent his Democratic challengers 20 to 1 in this year’s primary, as reported in the Houston Chronicle.
Melissa Osborne and her father, Fred Dobbs, were dining at the time Narvaiz was scheduled to arrive at Casa Maria. Dobbs said he got a call from a friend telling him about the “love and labor” tour.
“I don’t know much about her,” said Dobbs, referring to candidate Narvaiz, “but I wanted to wish her success.”
