The Athens Review published a piece yesterday in which Wade Gent, Forney resident, announced his intention to run for the office of State Representative for District 4, which represents Kaufman County as well as Henderson County. He will be competing in the March Republican Primary against incumbent representative, Betty Brown.

In the Athens Review article, Mr. Gent outlines some of the issues important to him, including a complete overhaul of the school finance system in Texas, moving school finance from property tax to a new sales tax on non-food items.

In what will prove to be a hot issue among voters in district 4, he also mentions Betty Brown’s continuing loyalty to Texas Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, even after Mr. Craddick declared his power “absolute” in the last session and refused to allow a bipartisan vote that would have removed him from his position as Speaker.

A quick check of Google shows that Mr. Gent appears to be establishing a campaign website which lists his qualifications and other information, but is still under construction.

The primary isn’t until March 2008, but things are already heating up in what I’m sure will be an interesting race – these two met in the 2006 Republican Primary, where Wade Gent came within a very small margin of beating Betty Brown.

I’ve created this thread in the Forney discussion forums to discuss this story. Stay tuned – more updates coming soon, including some new restaurant news. In the meantime, if you have any Forney news or rumors you want to pass on, feel free to email me at Josh@TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com.