Constable position in Odessa -- an interesting race

Challenging an incumbent is always a tough proposition.  A challenger who flies under the radar is probably going to be unable to dislodge the incumbent, so it takes a lot of work on behalf of a challenger to persuade people to vote for the new guy.

We are seeing this played out in Odessa where Jeff Schwende is challenging incumbent Steven Brennan for the Precinct 1 Constable position.

The challenger revealed some information recently about the incumbent, and here's a local news account:

What started as a normal political debate with little or no drama ended Tuesday night with accusations that Precinct 1 Constable Steven Brennan had a criminal record. The accusations came from Jeff Schwende, Brennan’s only opponent, during closing statements.

Scwhende said he was the only person running for Precinct 1 who did not have a criminal record.

Schwende said he discovered Brennan’s “criminal history” using a website that searches public data.

Brennan said Wednesday that he was arrested 30 years ago on a charge of evading arrest, a Class C misdemeanor.

“My brother had just been killed in the oilfield, saving two Odessa residents’ lives,” Brennan said. “I was out on Andrews Highway pretty upset, running up the road.”

Officers stopped Brennan and told him to go home, he said.

“I said I would, and I didn’t,” he said. “They placed me in custody after that.”

Brennan was put on six months probation for the offense in 1978.

Brennan was arrested under the name Steven Cupp, the name he was given when he was adopted.

“When I turned 21, I went to the Ector County Courthouse and took my birth name back, Steven Brennan,” the incumbent constable said.

Here's the link to the story unfortunately titled Constable race gets nasty.  This is information the voters would probably like to know but which the news media failed to uncover.  So the challenger has to be the one to bring it up, and the news media calls it "Nasty."  The odds are really stacked against a challenger.  And a lot of people will be watching this one to see how it turns out.

Updated 3/5/08:  The incumbent won.  See Incumbents in; challengers out.

Comments

[Les]

I was a bit surprised at the lopsided result of this race. Maybe Schwende suffered some major fallout from what was seen as mud-slinging. I must be really out of touch because this was certainly not the only surprise for me in this election.

[Geo]

Les, I was surprised at the lopsidedness, too. I can't explain it.