Burnet County Democrats hosting candidate forum Feb. 6
The Burnet County Democratic Party and Burnet County Democratic Club will co-host an online primary candidate forum for statewide hopefuls at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6. Visit the club’s website at bcdctx.org to join the forum via Zoom or the club’s Facebook page to watch via Facebook Live.
“With our newly drawn voting districts, we have new Democratic candidates in Burnet County,” said Mel Hazlewood, chair of the Burnet County Democratic Party. “We want to give everyone an opportunity to meet these candidates before the March 1 primary election.”
TEXAS SENATE DISTRICT 4
Kathy Jones-Hospod and Jeremy Kohlwes are vying for the Democratic nomination for Senate District 24, which includes Burnet County.
According to a media release from the Burnet County Democratic Club, Jones-Hospod refers to herself an Army brat and is a mother, engineer, businesswoman, and leader. She spent most of her career in telecom infrastructure reliability and hopes to apply this experience in the state Legislature to ensure Texans have a reliable power grid.
Kohlwes retired from the U.S. Army in 2012 after serving 13 years in Germany with two deployments to Iraq. He then earned degrees in criminology and psychology from Texas A&M University and landed a federal job as an investigative analyst in Army law enforcement. He believes a state Senate seat will give him the greatest opportunity to help people and support policies that will ensure a stronger future for Texans.
COURT OF APPEALS
Three Democratic candidates are seeking the nomination for the 3rd Court of Appeals, Place 4, which includes Burnet County: Paula Knippa, Beth Payàn, and Rosa Theofanis.
According to the release, Knippa graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2006. She has 15 years of legal experience serving those who might not otherwise have access to justice and an extensive knowledge of civil trial and appellate procedures. She is also well versed in civil law.
Payàn has served the people of Travis County as a felony prosecutor with the District Attorney’s Office for over 25 years, creating opportunities to collaborate with restorative justice programs and expand diversion and treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration.
Theofanis earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, where she was a Rose Writing Fellow, attended UT Law School, and interned in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. She has worked in the Travis County Attorney’s Office for more than a decade, the past nine years in the appellate division representing Texas in criminal and civil cases.
For more information about the Feb. 6 forum or the Burnet County Democratic Club, follow BCDCTX on Twitter and Instagram and visit bcdctx.org. The group meets monthly and holds social and candidate-related events periodically.