Don Zimmerman makes run for Austin-area Senate seat official

Republican Don Zimmerman, a former member of the Austin City Council, made his run for Texas’ 14th Senate District official Monday.

Zimmerman filed paperwork to be placed on the ballot to run for the seat that former state Sen. Kirk Watson vacated at the end of April to become the first dean of University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs. The Senate district includes the northern half of Travis County, most of Austin and all of Bastrop County.

Watson’s announcement set off a political frenzy among prominent Central Texas Democrats envisioning a more prominent role at the state Legislature’s upper chamber.

Zimmerman could benefit from what might be a crowded field of Democrats by attracting a large slice of the region’s conservative vote. The special election is July 14, the same day as runoffs from the March primary. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the election will head to a runoff.

“Way too often, we see the taxpayers see government bureaucrats 'breaking bad,’ going from trustworthy public servants wanting to make a difference but soon transforming into the proverbial 'swamp creatures' notorious for inhabiting state offices,” Zimmerman said in a news release. “When elected, I will do everything in my power to bring the bureaucracy accountable by restraining executive authority to its constitutional boundaries and standing up for greater transparency and accountability.”

Zimmerman served on the Austin City Council for two years after being elected in the city’s first 10-1 district election. While on the council, Zimmerman often found himself outnumbered in party line votes. He often grated against his fellow council members and sometimes brought a certain brand of pugilism to debates, including attempting to inject language from a Satanic website into a resolution to prove a point.

Zimmerman lost a bid for reelection in 2016 to Jimmy Flannigan, who now represents Northwest Austin’s District 6.

Among Democrats, state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, the longest serving Austin Democrat in the Texas House, is running for Watson’s seat. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has also said she will run. Eckhardt resigned from her position to run, but soon jumped back into her role at the Travis County Commissioner’s Court to continue helping with the county’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Other hopefuls include local immigration attorney Jose “Chito” Vela III and Pflugerville City Council Member Rudy Metayer.

The field of potential Democrat candidates shrank last week with Austin City Council Member Greg Casar announcing that he would seek reelection to the council instead of running for Senate. Local attorney Adam Loewy also announced last week he was no longer considering a run.

Rodriguez is the only Democrat so far to file for the seat. Republican Waller Thomas Burns II and former Lago Vista City Council Member Pat Dixon, a Libertarian, have also filed. Political consultant Adryana Aldeen, a self-described center-right Republican, said she will make an announcement about the election Tuesday.

The prospects for a Republican winning Watson’s vacated seat appear slim. But Republicans did win what was seen as a safely Democratic seat in 2018 after Sen. Pete Flores upset Democrat Pete Gallego in a similar special election for a vacated seat.

The filing deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday.