Published: December 21, 2005 09:18 am      

Davis to seek Texas House seat

Boasting more than 35 years as an educator, Palestine’s Sharon Cade Davis has formally announced her candidacy for the District 8 spot in the Texas House of Representatives.

The 57-year-old Davis will run as a Democrat and could face incumbent Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, in the November general election.

Candidates have until Jan. 2 to file their paperwork and pay the appropriate fee.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Cook and Davis were the only candidates to have filed for the District 8 post with their respective state political parties.

Improving public education would be among Davis’ top priorities if elected. She is currently employed by the Region VII Education Service Center as education coordinator for the Head Start Program.

Davis pointed out almost 180,000 Texas children have been “cut out” of the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) program due to a reduction in funding. These cuts put some Texas children at a distinct disadvantage which she called unacceptable.

“Increasingly, the resources to deal with these problems are becoming scarcer and scarcer,” Davis said. “...They have to come to school ready to learn.

“I am dedicated to cutting property taxes, while establishing an equitable system of funding that adequately supports quality public education for all Texas children,” she continued. “I also support guaranteeing access to quality health care, promoting economic development, providing sufficient resources to maintain our infrastructure and protecting public safety.”

Davis also said she generally opposes the privatization of state services and stated she is dedicated to improving disaster preparedness to allow East Texans to be better equipped for such events as hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Democratic candidate said tax dollars should be spent wisely, but not at the expense of providing services for the state’s citizens.

“It’s one thing to spend dollars conservatively,” Davis said, “but it’s another thing to do government on the cheap and I think we’re moving in that direction.”

Davis currently serves as board president for Anderson County Champions for Children and is public policy chairperson for the Tyler Association for the Education of Young Children.

The Democratic candidate also belongs to a number of other civic and professional organizations, including the Palestine Anderson County Amateur Radio Club; Alpha Phi Kappa chapter of Beta Sigma Phi; and the Harvey Women’s Club.

She and her husband, Larry Davis, have a daughter who is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.