State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt resigns

News came late Friday that Gonzales County’s state representative, Tim Kleinschmidt (R) of Lexington, plans to resign his seat in the coming days to take a new job. This would effectively leave the county without an acting state representative or state senator, who also has resigned to take another post (See related story, Page A6)  until the legislature convenes Jan. 13.

Kleinschmidt, who has been representing District 17 since 2009, plans to move on to be the general counsel for Texas Agriculture Commissioner-elect Sid Miller.  

“When I announced the formation of my transition team, I promised that I would be seeking out the best and brightest to help me become the best Agriculture Commissioner in our state’s history,” said Miller. “State Representative Tim Kleinschmidt fits the bill and I am excited that he will be joining my team at TDA.”

Kleinschmidt, coming fresh off of a victory on Nov. 4 for his fourth term, served on the Agriculture & Livestock and the Homeland Security & Public Safety Committees. Last Thursday, when his education specialist Alonzo Wood visited this office, he stated that Kleinschmidt was busy working at his law firm, logging all the “billable hours” he could in advance of the coming session.

Wood was in town to pay a visit to the Gonzales Retired Teacher’s Association, which Kleinschmidt had been invited to address. No mention was made of the representative’s coming move.

Since we are within 60 days of the start of the legislative session, the called special election would be expedited to occur at the earliest possible date to ensure that the new rep can fulfill their role of the office. The governor is awaiting the official resignation letter before a date can be legally set.

For those interested in running for the seat, the filing fee is $750 and must be delivered to the Texas Secretary of State’s office in Austin. Since this is a special election, there will be no primary, so a candidate may run as a Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian or Independent to be listed together on one ballot.

In the event that a single candidate does not receive the majority of the vote, which is 50 percent plus one, a runoff election would be triggered to take place within the month of the special election.

Multiple candidates are expected to file and they will be announced here as they do. District 17 covers Lee, Bastrop, Gonzales, Caldwell and Karnes Counties.

So what does this mean for Gonzales County voters? Starting Dec. 6 with the special election for state senator, there could be a total of four times that local voters are asked to go back to the polls before Jan. 13.