Tom Craddick was in El Paso recently, and apparently he found a challenger for Pat Haggerty. Two sources, one R, one D, say that Dee Margo, who lost a Senate race to Eliot Shapleigh, will take on Haggerty. (Margo told me earlier in the fall that he would not run.) Rick Perry also wants to see Haggerty defeated, and his El Paso allies, Woody Hunt and Paul Foster, are said to be on the Margo team.
Margo would have unlimited resources in this race. El Paso has wacky politics, and I’m hestitant to venture a prediction, but I’d give Margo the edge in a Republican primary. Some believe that a Democrat can win this seat, and Haggerty would have the option of switching parties. (At the same gathering where Margo told me he wouldn’t run, Haggerty told me he wouldn’t switch parties.) If he doesn’t, you can bet that Shapleigh would make sure that the Ds field a candidate. I placed calls to Haggerty and Shapleigh; neither has been returned as of this moment (3:42 p.m.)
