2010: No Replacement

David Swinford's seat in the Texas House will apparently remain empty for the next four months.

Swinford, a Republican state representative from Dumas for almost 20 years, resigned Tuesday — the end of the state's fiscal year — from his post in House District 87.

Ordinarily, that would prompt the governor to call a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. But Aug. 24 was the last day to put the seat on the November ballot. Since that's passed, and there's no real emergency — the Legislature isn't meeting until January, by which time Swinford's full-term replacement will be ready to be sworn in — a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry says the governor isn't likely to call a special election.

Another West Texas seat will be filled in a Nov. 2 special election. State Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, resigned earlier this summer and is already registered as a lobbyist. Since he quit before the Aug. 24 date, the governor went ahead and set a special election for his spot on the day voters go to the polls anyway. Republican John Frullo and Democrat Carol Morgan will be on the special election ballot for what's left of his term; they're also both on the general election ballot for a full two-year term in that HD-84 seat.

There are three candidates for a full term in Swinford's seat: Republican Walter "Four" Price, Democrat Abel Bosquez and Libertarian James Hudspeth.