Last Tuesday evening Cedar Park City Councilman Tony Dale kicked-off his campaign for Texas House District 149. The event at El Patron's in Cedar Park was attended by approximately 200 members of the local community. By the time Dale addressed the group, the crowd was overflowing out into the dining area, where attendees were straining to hear the speeches from Dale and other community leaders.
What is particularly remarkable about this event, was that the campaign effort had only been in existence for 6 days. In fact, campaign signs were not delivered until after the event began, and many supporters had brought their own hand-made signs expressing support for Dale's candidacy. The crowd was pretty animated and responsive to Tony Dale's rousing campaign speech, and one attendee remarked to me that he had not heard such a great "conservative speech since Ronald Reagan."
Those in attendance included County Commissioners Cynthia Long and Lisa Birkman, both of whom spoke on Tony Dale's behalf. Texas HD 149 includes portions of both Long and Birkman's respective County precincts, and support from these two leaders is essential. Others present included State Representative Larry Gonzales, Williamson County Attorney Jana Duty, Cedar Park City Councilmen Matt Powell, Don Tracy, and Mitch Fuller, elected leaders from the City of Leander and Brushy Creek MUD, County Constable Robert Chody, members of both the Leander and Round Rock School Boards, and many, many others. In fact, just about everyone previously mentioned as a potential candidate for the HD 149 seat, was on hand to help launch the campaign.
Councilman Tony Dale is well-known in the community, having resided in Williamson County for over a decade. Prior to serving on the Cedar Park City Council, Dale had served on several local boards regarding planning & zoning and transportation, and last year was appointed by State Senator Florence Shapiro to a task force to ban 'designer' drugs K-2 and 'spice.' In 2009 the Railroad Commission of Texas appointed Tony to the board of the Alternative Fuels Research Education Division. He was a delegate on the VI Texas Trade Mission to Mexico sponsored by the Office of the Texas Governor in 2005. In 2004 he was a member of the State Textbook Review Panel for the Texas Education Agency.
Along with his wife Mary and their two daughters, Dale's parents were on hand. Like his father and grandfather, Tony Dale is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. (and a decorated former Army Captain.) Mary Lopez Dale was also a former Army Captain.
In the 2012 Republican Primary, Tony Dale will face Corbin Van Arsdale, a lobbyist who has been leasing a house in Cedar Park since last Spring and who first registered to vote in Williamson County June 30 of 2011. Van Arsdale announced his campaign with a press release and had listed a few local supporters, but when Tony Dale announced, Williamson County Constable Rick Coffman immediately removed his name from the Van Arsdale campaign.
Update: Corbin Van Arsdale sent his supporters an email last Friday, September 16, saying he would withdraw. He made the official announcment Monday, September 19.
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