Voter Alert: Gene Kelly died (ten years ago)

The name you'll see on the ballot for the Democratic Senate runoff election on April 11 does not belong to the beloved singer and dancer you visualize when you hear the name. The Gene Kelly you'll see on the ballot belongs to an 80 year-old former lawyer named Eugine Kelly who has run unsuccessfully for state office 10 times in the last 14 years. He has no credentials, runs no campaigns, participates in no debates, and gives very few interviews. He simply relies on name recognition - that of the Hollywood icon - to get him on the ballot in the general election.

Then he loses miserably, as he did in the 2002 Senate election against Kay Bailey Hutchison and three time previously, causing a loss to Texas Democrats that is felt all the way down the ballot. Those who might have voted the straight-party ticket (as is the wont of the typical Republican voter) break the pattern at the top of the ballot when they see his name, and don't carry through to vote for worthy Democratic candidates for other offices within their state and county.

So what can a voter do who's tired of the corruption and apathy that's rampant in the current crop of elected representatives? He or she can start by learning about Kelly's runoff opponent, Barbara Radnofsky, and going out and voting for her on April 11.

Unlike Kelly, Radnofsky is not afraid to tell you where she stands on the issues. And where she stands looks pretty good. She has strong positions on education, immigration, veterans rights, health care and the war in Iraq. Kelly, on the other hand, has expressed opinions on very few of these issues; though we do know, via ontheissues.org, that he supports organized prayer in schools, the death penalty, the "Star Wars" missile defense system, the war on drugs, and subsidizing a church-controlled welfare system.

Barbara Radnofsky is smart (she entered U of H at age 16), she's a partner at Vinson & Elkins (Houston's premier law partnership), and a mother of three with a strong history in health-care legal circles. She has spoken out against the Republican incumbent, Kay Bailey Hutchison, with valid arguments as to why Hutchison is ambivalent to the plight of middle class Texans and beholden to special interests.

Barbara Radnofsky has also been endorsed by the Dallas Morning News, . the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and the Houston Chronicle as the best candidate to oppose Hutchison in the 2006 Senatorial race.

This is the kind of candidate we need in the upcoming elections. If you really want to cast off the yoke of the ethically-challenged Republicans in our state leadership, this is your best opportunity. By knocking Kelly out of the runoff election, you'll help pave the way for someone with some brass cojones to run for the U.S. Senate and make headway in our quest for honest and forthright leadership in Texas.

Visit her website at www.radnofsky.com and learn about her. If you like what you see, vote for her. If you really like what you see, send her some money, because the run against Hutchison, the Republican incumbent, will not be cheap, and without big money from special interests behind her, she'll need all the financial help she can get.