The runoff is now over and one of the nastiest elections I have ever been a part of is past us, and I know I am not alone when I say I am sure glad it is done.

Aside from the fact that I believe the right man prevailed, what sticks out to me, and many others is the level of depravity that was reached during this race.

Now be assured, I am not pointing fingers at either of the actual candidates. In my eyes, if either of the candidates had wrongdoing, that is for them to answer for, with the only judge that really matters.

What burns me is the process. I might be fooling myself to think that this is the first election around here that has been influenced by outside interests and outside dollars, but I can say with some measure of certainty that there has never been one with the level of outside influence than the one we all just lived through.

When rich folks with personal agendas get it in their heads that they can “buy” an election, things are bound to get ugly, and so it did. This election and its runoff created a proliferation of mailers, digital ads and other assorted campaign advertising that was fraught with misleading information.

One might say with a good level of assurance that it went way beyond misleading, and in fact, was just downright lies.

I will say this again, like I have said all along, this election for Texas House District 1 Representative was about school vouchers. I believe that now and I will continue to believe that forevermore. Our District 1 State Rep for the last decade, Gary VanDeaver, took a brave stand in the last legislative session against school vouchers, in direct opposition to our governor. So did other state representatives, all who did so with the belief that vouchers were not a good thing for public education, or their district. These representatives did what they were elected to do, and that is represent the will of their constituents. They put a bullseye on their backs by opposing a governor that had once supported each and every one of them. They put themselves in a position to be ridiculed, defamed, labeled “RINO” and ultimately face an opponent in their district race simply because of vouchers. Each one drew an opponent that was heavily funded by those outside interests and supported by the governor.

Sadly, the majority of those representatives lost their bid to hold their seat.

So now the question is, since so many of those who were opposed to vouchers lost, is it a sure thing that we will see a voucher system put into play soon? I hope not. For the sake of every schoolteacher in our area, I truly hope not. The answer to that question lies in the hands of our legislature, and those who control things like Calendars and appropriations. One can only hope that those who are opposed to vouchers still have enough clout, and votes, to keep it from happening.

One thing is for certain. I believe a gateway has been opened and the dirty politics we have seen on the national level for quite a while has now made its way to Northeast Texas. I doubt very seriously that the ugliness of this past race will go away in the future now that it has made its way in.

I have said for many years that when you break down any subject these days, at the root of it you will find money. Former President Ronald Reagan once said, “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” Big money and outside influencers definitely made their mark on statewide elections in Texas this year, and will probably do so from now on. One can hope that it doesn’t seep down to our local level politics, but we have seen some of that happen already, so who knows.

But let me finish with this. President John F. Kennedy said in Profiles in Courage, “Mothers may still want their sons to grow up to be President, but according to a Gallup poll some years ago, some 73 percent do not want them to become politicians in the process.” What we need is more leaders with character. Office holders, like Gary VanDeaver, who vow to represent the people they serve despite outside influences, greed, or political opposition. Men like Barry Telford, who served his district with wholehearted devotion. At least in House District 1, that meant something in this recent runoff.

It needs to always mean something.