May 22, 2020      11:15 AM

Very different candidates face off in Central Texas GOP runoff for a shot at regaining a newly Democratic House seat

Republican Voters in western Travis County have a choice between a longtime activist who’s passionate about social issues, specifically sex ed, or an Austin police officer interested in a range of things including tax policy, infrastructure, and public safety

AUSTIN – As restrictions on movement and commerce are lifted across Texas and people begin to make individual decisions about how to once again interact with the outside world during a pandemic, candidates for the Texas House are similarly making choices about how to communicate with voters ahead of the July 14 runoffs and the general election in November.

One fundamental aspect of campaigning – block walking – highlights just one of many sharp differences between the candidates vying now to be the GOP nominee to take on Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, this fall. One of them, social conservative activist Jennifer Fleck, has resumed knocking on voters’ doors as of Mother’s Day weekend while Austin Police Department Senior Officer Justin Berry is taking a more reserved approach.

The candidates could perhaps not be more dissimilar, with Fleck taking heat recently for arguing the coronavirus is part of a divine plan to prevent public school students from learning about gender identity and Berry making headlines by talking a suicidal man off the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin. But the one who wins the runoff in western Travis County may be part of a larger GOP effort to regain territory lost in the 2018 cycle to Democrats.

By Scott Braddock

Copyright May 22, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved