from the
Associated Press
Becky Whetstone has something to say to people who think they know why she's running for Congress: Enough already with the jilted-wife-hellbent-on-revenge theory.
It's true that her former husband holds the congressional seat she is seeking. It's also true that last year she announced she was writing a tell-much book titled "The Congressman's Wife." Yes, she says on her campaign Web site that she's angry about his "cruelty and selfishness within the marriage, and then the one-sided injustice of the divorce."
Despite all that, she insists, she's not running to get even with her ex, Democratic Rep. Charlie Gonzalez.
"I'm telling people that it's not the vengeful wife scenario," said Whetstone, "and if people choose not to believe what I'm saying, then I can't do anything about that."
Texans will nominate candidates in 32 congressional districts in Tuesday's primary â" the first test of a redistricting plan drawn up by a Republican-controlled House over Democratic protests. The process that led to the redistricting was so contentious that 51 House Democrats fled to Ardmore, Okla., in May to bust a quorum, and 11 Senate Democrats went to Albuquerque, N.M., during the summer to block votes in their chamber.
Gonzalez, 58, has no opponents in the Democratic primary for the 20th District and Whetstone is running as an independent, so she does not compete in a primary. They'll face each other and Republican Roger Scott, who also is unopposed, in the November general election.
This is not the first time Whetstone has had her name in print.
When they met in the mid-90s, he was a county judge and Whetstone was a features columnist at the San Antonio Express-News. Both were divorced.
Her journalistic turf included relationships â" the singles scene, marriage, divorce and, as she said in her final column, "how life is too short to allow people to stomp on your soul." She was forced to give up that job after they eloped in May 1998 because of concerns about conflicts of interest.â¦
The San Antonio newspaper has called Whetstone's candidacy "a sad soap opera." And one of her nephews wrote a letter to the newspaper saying she was embarrassing herself and the rest of the family.