September 18, 2013 | Updated: September 19, 2013 12:06pm
AUSTIN — Dan Boone, a former Democratic congressional candidate now campaigning for state Senate District 25, slammed incumbent Donna Campbell’s record Wednesday and challenged her to a debate “anytime, anywhere and anyplace.”
Boone, a psychologist, business owner and former U.S. Air Force colonel, said he decided to “take a stand against Campbell” because her year in the Legislature was spent “trampling women’s rights,” “attempting to obliterate the separation of church and state” and not adequately “representing the people she was elected to serve.”
“Would Donna like to debate him? No doubt. If he is the Democrat nominee, I’m sure we will be doing things like that,” Blakemore said. “That would be a post-primary event, he would have to win his party’s nomination and we’ll have to win ours, first.”
Campbell, a tea party favorite, served for the first time as an elected official in the past legislative session after defeating seven-term Sen. Jeff Wentworth in a primary runoff in July 2012. She then crushed her Democratic opponent, John Courage, in November with nearly 66 percent of the vote.
Boone was beaten in the 2012 Democratic primary for Congressional District 21, a seat still held by Republican Lamar Smith. Boone received 39 percent of the vote.
Campbell, a New Braunfels Republican, co-sponsored a controversial package of regulations and restrictions on women’s health clinics. She is a vocal supporter of school vouchers, passed a law reducing concealed handgun license training requirements by half, and was one of three senators to vote against the state budget.
Boone of Canyon Lake said he would focus on infrastructure issues, including transportation and water funding; veterans benefits; and individual and equal rights for all, including women, the LGBT community and Latinos. He also said he would push for health care and immigration reform.
“I believe Ms. Campbell does not understand or fathom the implications of her votes in the Legislature,” Boone wrote on his website announcing his candidacy. “Further, she avoids public debate to allow the people to evaluate her position on important issues.”
On Wednesday, Boone said, “I challenge Donna Campbell to an open debate on the issues. There are many things that are important for the people of our district to hear about and make judgments about, and an open debate is the ideal forum.”
Senate District 25, which represents about 815,000 Texans, is made up of Kendall and Comal counties and south Travis, north Bexar, west Guadalupe and west Hays counties.
View original article here: http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/politics/article/Campbell-draws-Democratic-challenger-in-District-4825212.php