Face The State Staff Report
In politics things can change overnight, and that is exactly what has happened in Senate District 21. As Face The State previously reported, Republican Vicki Stack was expected to challenge Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, in this November's election. As of Tuesday night, however, Stack had dropped out of the race. A GOP vacancy committee has appointed Amy Attwood to replace Stack. Attwood's intentions have not been made official because she still needs to file papers with the Secretary of State's office.
Even though voter registration numbers in the district are almost evenly split between Republicans (32.81%) and Democrats (33.57%), unions have a history of dumping cash into Democrat coffers here, which has made a big difference in recent years. Boyd already has cash on hand amounting to $20,883.74. She has also been "working hard" all session by running as many bills as possible - 15 to be exact, most of which are health care-related. Rules dictate that lawmakers are only allowed to introduce five bills per session and must gain special permission to exceed that limit. Incumbents regularly attempt to exceed the limit in an attempt to bolster credentials with voters during election seasons.
Boyd was appointed to the Senate in 2006 to replace Sen. Deanna Hanna, who was forced to resign due to an ethics scandal. Under state law, Boyd is now required to defend her seat just two years later, since the district is part of the Senate class due for a regularly-scheduled election.