2010: One Election, Ten Candidates

Ten candidates signed up to run for Edmund Kuempel's seat in the Texas House, a group that includes seven Republicans, two Democrats and a Libertarian.

There's no primary this time, so the 10 will run in a pack, and if nobody breaks 50 percent in the first round, the top two finishers will have a runoff.

Kuempel died of a heart attack earlier this month, and Gov. Rick Perry called a special election to replace him in HD-44, to be held on Dec. 14. A runoff, if one is needed, would presumably be held before the Legislature convenes on Jan. 11.

Tony Gergely, a Seguin business owner, is the Libertarian in the race.

The Democrats are Daniel Rodriguez Andrade of Seguin, who lists his occupation as "real estate/business owner," and Cheryl Dees Patterson, a Seguin realtor.

The Republican list consists of Ron Avery, a Seguin architect; Chris Burchell, who's in law enforcement in Adkins; Jim Fish, a small business owner from Cibolo; Gary Inmon, an attorney and school board member in Schertz (and the incoming president of the Texas Association of School Boards); John Kuempel, a Seguin salesman who's running for the seat left open by his father's death; Myrna McLeroy of Gonzales, who's in petroleum land services; and Robin Walker, a self-employed business manager from Seguin who challenged the late representative in the March primary, gathering just 25.4 percent of the vote.