Although essentially a one-candidate affair, this year’s race for state Senate District 22 has provided more twists and turns than most contested races.

SD-22 covers 10 counties, including Johnson County.

State Sen. Kip Averitt, R-McGregor, filed for re-election in December, seeking his third term. Averitt withdrew from the race in January citing undisclosed health reasons.

Averitt’s name remains on the March 2 Republican primary ballot because he withdrew after the date to have his name removed. Libertarian candidate Tim Ballard also withdrew from the race in January.

No Democratic candidates entered the race, which left Burleson Republican candidate Darren Yancy as the race’s sole candidate.

Yancy originally planned to enter the U.S. Congressional District 17 race, a seat held by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

Yancy changed course in October. He removed himself from the CD-17 race and filed for the SD-22 race.

Involvement in a lawsuit against XTO Energy  concerning eminent domain matters placed uncertainty on Yancy’s ability to “compete in the federal campaign circuit,” he said at the time.

The ongoing legal battle would probably affect his ability to sell his home were he to win the congressional race, Yancy said.

After entering the SD-22 race, Yancy said Averitt calls himself a conservative, but his “votes given and bills drafted” are far from conservative.

Despite Averitt’s withdrawal, several McLennan County Republicans have urged voters to vote for Averitt in the primary.

Such efforts rest solely on concerns about possible changes to SD-22 under redistricting, said Chris DeCluitt, a Waco lawyer who sits on the state Republican Executive Committee.

“This isn’t a McLennan County versus other counties in the district,” DeCluitt said.

DeCluitt said he and other Republicans think it is imperative to maintain the boundaries of SD-22.

“For someone going in as a freshman senator, that’s going to be hard to do,” DeCluitt said.

Yancy said he has no intentions of breaking up McLennan County or SD-22 boundaries, and he is capable of fighting to maintain the district as it is.

Yancy said his drive and skills set will be an effective fit for the needs of the district.

Should voters choose Averitt on March 2, several possibilities arise.

The Republican and Democratic party chairmen from SD-22 counties could nominate a candidate, or a special election to fill Averitt’s seat could be held, or Averitt could change his mind and accept the nomination.

To avoid such scenarios, Yancy has been urging voters to “skip Kip and vote Yancy.”

The push to elect Averitt, Yancy said, involves a “select few” in McLennan County.

“I certainly don’t want to paint McLennan County with a broad-based brush,” Yancy said. “Because it’s not everyone, and we have a lot of support there and throughout the district. I have the support of the majority of the county chairs so that, in the event this charade is successful, I’m still going to be the nominee.”

The push to re-elect Averitt is fizzling out, Yancy said.

He said he plans to campaign intensively throughout the district between now and March 2 to secure the nomination.

Although a newcomer in some ways, Yancy said he became familiar with many of the counties and voters in the districts during his travels through the area when he was contemplating entry into the CD-17 race.

“If I had my druthers, I would rather have had a straight up fight with Kip, which would have forced a side-by-side comparison of our candidacies,” Yancy said. “ I know some of Kip’s legislation doesn’t sit well with many in the district.”



Real estate license

suspended

The Texas Real Estate Commission handed Yancy a 12-month suspension of his real estate license in August 2009.

Yancy served three months of the suspension and the remaining nine were probated.

“I represented a seller in 2006,” Yancy said. “I brought a Hispanic buyer with credit and money and was told in racist terms [by the seller] that the seller was not going to sell to a Mexican and to punt the deal. I refused. I’m a principled individual. I don’t discriminate, and I would hope others wouldn’t. I’m going to stand on principal even when it’s not in my benefit.”

Yancy said he believes the TREC’s ruling was based on an “over aggressive” interpretation of Texas real estate law.



Goals if elected

Yancy said he intends to focus on several big issues if elected.

One involves the protection of state’s rights, especially in regards to the Second, Ninth and 10th Amendments, and a nullification resolution to address what he called unconstitutional federal laws.

Yancy said he would also fight to revise the state’s franchise tax to change it so it’s based on profitability, not revenue.

He said he is pro energy and believes Texas can become the nation’s energy leader.

Yancy also said he is a strong opponent of private property rights and would fight to strengthen eminent domain protections for property owners and address the method by which property is appraised.

“And finally, you have to look at those issues that are important in the district on a county-by-county level,” Yancy said. “For Johnson County, some of those would be eminent domain, because of the Barnett Shale activity, and Texas 121.”