Hopson keeps seat after Nov. election recount

It appears incumbent State Rep. Chuck Hopson, R-Jacksonville, will keep his seat following a recount of the Nov. 4 election ballots.

Though the final numbers have not been posted on the Secretary of State's Web site, Hopson said his poll watchers have confirmed he is still the winner of the District 11 spot in the House of Representatives. Hopson carried a narrow 103-vote lead immediately after the November count.

His opponent, Democrat Brian K. Walker of Tatum called for a recount, which was completed Tuesday afternoon in Cherokee County, the last of four counties in the district to finish its recount. Walker won over voters in Panola and Rusk counties while Cherokee and Houston counties went to Hopson.

The incumbent said he had net gain of votes after the recount, though he declined to say how many, pending certification from the SOS office.

"It's an honor for me to go down to Austin and serve my fifth term and I appreciate their votes," Hopson said.

Several issues face lawmakers in the coming session, which begins at high noon on the second Tuesday of January 2009.

Some of the issues Hopson said are important to East Texans include:

— Water, water, water. "Right now, water is going to be huge and we've got to protect our water rights in East Texas because Houston and Dallas are going to try to get access to them," Hopson said.

— Education. "We've got to tweak it a little bit," Hopson said regarding the funding formula, adding the state simply doesn't provide enough money for some of school districts.

— Higher education. "Some of the rich districts in Texas are trying to do away with the top 10 percent rule, where the brightest kids from each district get automatic entry into UT and A&M (that doesn't include tuition and board)," Hopson said. "That rule really helps kids from small schools. I think our colleges and universities are set up to education our kids, but some want to get ore National Merit Scholars from other states. I think we should educate our own in our schools.

"I think for rural Texas that's something we need to keep," Hopson said.