More than 4,500 early voters have already cast their ballot to find a replacement for Todd Baxter's vacated northwest Austin state representative seat, according to Travis County voting records released Friday.
The winner of today's special election in House District 48, which also includes parts of Travis County, will serve until Baxter's term expires later this year and will likely take part in the special legislative session on public school finance expected to be called by Gov. Rick Perry later this spring.
Last fall the Texas Supreme Court ordered lawmakers to re-craft the state's school finance system by June 1.
Lawmakers were deadlocked on the issue last year after disagreements over the amount of funding needed to run the Texas education system.
Democrats Donna Howard and Kathy Rider, Republican Ben Bentzin and Libertarian Ben Easton are running for the position that also will give the incumbent an early advantage in the approaching regular elections next December.
Howard said her experience in education is the largest thing she can bring to the table, boasting three years on the Eanes school board and active participation in the Texas Education Crisis Committee, a group dedicated to addressing problems in public education in Texas through forums. If elected, Howard said she plans to cut property taxes and devise a fair funding system that will close holes in the current franchise tax to include service industries, which are currently exempt from the tax.
"Donna Howard has practical experience working in public education. She knows what the problems are and what needs to be done to fix it," said Education Austin President Louis Malfaro. "This is a competition between those who have knowledge of the public school-funding challenge and those who don't."
Rider also benefits from experience in education after spending 10 years on the Austin school board, serving as president for eight years until 2002. She describes herself as a social worker and says she has more to offer District 48 than her Republican opponent.
"The biggest tragedy would be allowing public schools to continue working without sufficient funds," said Rider. "Currently, Texas education is lagging along at 38th in the country. This time in Legislature is crucial for the future of education in Texas."
Rider said she opposes simply increasing the general sales tax and favors a more broad-based general business tax with cuts in property taxes. The proposed tax will affect the growing service industry which in the passed has received tax-breaks.
Bentzin said his technology background working as a former Dell Inc. marketing executive and CEO of the World Conference of Information Technology should bring a unique perspective to the House.
"I met with every superintendant and a majority of the school board members so that I could better address this problem," Bentzin said. "I think I bring a unique blend of understanding and business know-how."
Bentzin's plan for the new school-financing solution contains the largest property tax cuts among his competitors, and he favors using state taxes as a new source of funds. Bentzin said he would like to use the new money in more specified ways to address specific problems such as increasing drop-out rates and overcoming the eighth-grade reading level challenge.
"He is familiar with the House seat and is very active in the community," said Reggie Basher, a spokesman for Texas Agricultural Commissioner Susan Combs, who endorses Bentzin. "He wants to bring more jobs and technology into Austin."
Bentzin is a member of the Travis County Center for Child Protection and served four years as chairman of the board of trustees of ARTS Center Stage, a nonprofit organization created for local community-based performing arts organizations and artists.
Easton, a teacher for 17 years, said he learned where the real problem with public education lies after working at both public and private schools.
"I've seen up close that the problem is not the teachers," said Easton. "The problem is not with the administrators or principals or secretaries. I know what isn't the problem. The state-run aspect is what is the problem. Government is just not designed to be in the education business."
To solve this problem, he suggests that public school be phased out over a period of 15 to 20 years.
"It is in my view that we privatize education slowly, carefully and compassionately. I think I would provide a breath of fresh air in the House. Shake things up a little."
Easton is the only candidate that expressed clear approval of a private-school voucher program, though Bentzin said he supports a different pilot program that helps under-performing children attend private school without taking money away from public school education.
Preliminary election results will be available Tuesday evening, with official word who wins coming in about a week, election officials said. If no candidate receives the majority, the top two will compete in a run-off later next month.
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