Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, January 13, 2006 Page: 13 of 60
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regionalnews
Gay Austin Republican to run
write-in campaign for Congress
Mokrzy suspects Republican Party leaders reneged on promise to fund
his campaign against Democrat incumbent because he is gay
By David Webb Staff Writer
A gay Austin resident claims Republican Party
leaders reneged on a promise of financial sup-
port, forcing him to run as a write-in candidate in
the Republican primary election for the 25th con-
gressional district of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Edward Mokrzy, 24, a former Dallas resident,
said he had planned to file for a place on the bal-
lot in the primary before the National Republican
Congressional Committee cancelled a pledge to
provide his $3,125 filing fee. The group pulled its
support after he announced he would run as
openly gay and on a government reform plat-
form, he said.
"I think what happened was that the Texas
Republican Party got scared because they saw
me as actually having a chance of winning Austin
and of winning the election," Mokrzy said.
Mokrzy said he suspects Republican Party
leaders would prefer not to see an openly gay
Republican elected to office. Austin is so liberal
that a gay candidate with progressive ideas about
government reform would stand a good chance
of winning, he said.
"That's speculation, but I do truly believe
that," Mokrzy said.
Mokrzy said for a win in that congressional
district, the candidate must carry Austin.
Mokrzy said Republican leaders originally
planned to pay his filing fee because of the
absence of a Republican in the race.
"They decided they would do it just to have a
Republican running for the seat," Mokrzy said.
Incumbent U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett
and Libertarian Party candidate Meagan Barclay
are the only other candidates to announce their
candidacy for the 25th congressional district.
The congressional district runs from Austin
south to McAllen in the Lower Rio Grande
Valley. Doggett was elected to Congress in 1994.
Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National
Republican Congressional Committee said he
was unaware of such a pledge being made to
Mokrzy. "I don't know if there was a specific
pledge to him or not," Forti said.
"If you look, we haven't paid for anybody's
filing fee in Texas at all," Forti said. "That's not
something we typically do."
Mokrzy said that although he is young with a
limited education, he believes it is possible to win
the election. Some people have asked him why
he would start his political career by seeking a
congressional office, rather than a local or region-
al one, he said.
"I feel I'm qualified based on the fact that I'm
an American, and that I see our country going
down the wrong path," Mokrzy said. "My rights
and the rights of every other American are being
infringed upon. I might be a Republican, but I'm
not stupid. I see what's going on."
Carla Halbrook, a spokeswoman for Log
Cabin Republicans who lives in Dallas, said she
is unfamiliar with Mokrzy or any support for him
from gay Republicans in Texas.
"I don't know anything about him, and I
haven't heard anything about him," Halbrook
said.
Mokrzy said he has support from a few indi-
vidual members of Log Cabin Republicans.
Mokrzy said he decided to enter politics after a
"little college" and a short career of working for
large retail stores.
"I got to thinking I've got to change some-
thing," Mokrzy said. "I started studying up on my
interests. Politics has interested me since before
George W. Bush ever entered the presidential
race."
Mokrzy said he has savings to finance his cam-
paign and is seeking contributions from others.
Mokrzy grew up in Illinois and lived in Dallas for
two years before going to Austin six months ago.
E-mail webb@dallasvoice.com
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01.13.06 I da I las voice I 13
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 22, No. 35, Ed. 1 Friday, January 13, 2006, newspaper, January 13, 2006; Dallas, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth238891/m1/13/?rotate=270: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.