Neil Durrance for Congress

It looks as though the Democratic Party in North Texas may at last be getting serious about the 26th Congressional District.

Neil Durrance, a former Denton City Council member and the current chairman of the Denton County Democratic Party, has announced that he's filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission preparatory to seek the party's nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 26th District.We can say without reservation that Durrance will be a serious candidate.

Whether he will be a formidable one remains to be seen.The Democrats have fielded a serious candidate or two for Congress in recent years, but none that were formidable. They have also fielded a few that were neither serious nor formidable.The one that sticks in our memory was Lico Reyes, whose day job was imitating Father Guido Sarducci, a fictional priest created by a comedian far more gifted than Reyes. Reyes'candidacy brought new meaning to the question, "What clown have they nominated this time?"

Neil Durrance is no Lico Reyes. He is a lawyer by training, a veteran of governance by virtue of his service on the Denton City Council and a political animal right down to the bone.

Serious candidate? He's as serious as Cotton Mather, and about as much fun to be around,which might be a serious drawback were it not for the fact that the man he hopes to run against, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, is not known for his scintillating personality, either. Hearing either of these two honest, capable and earnest public servants as they unload a speech makes us yearn momentarily for the days when entertaining scoundrels hollered outrageous lies from flatbed trailers before handing out thimbles, wooden nickels and funeral home fans. We have already heard one reporter threaten to shoot himself rather than cover a debate between these two candidates, should one be forthcoming.

Still, Durrance has some things going for him. He has invigorated a loyal but miniscule Democratic Party in Denton County. His name recognition is high within the county, particularly among Democrats, and, like Denton County Republican Party Chairwoman Dianne Edmondson said in Saturday's front-page story, he's the odds-on favorite to capture the Democratic Party nomination. Moreover, we cannot envision Durrance embarking upon a quixotic congressional race just to fly the Party flag. If he gets the nomination, he'll run like the dickens to win. His problem - well one of his problems - is that the 26th District is in solidly Republican Denton County. It is more than solidly Republican; it is solidly conservative Republican.

The last Democrat to hold elective office in Denton County was Constable Mike Ballard, and he held on longer than the other Democrats because he was an outstanding constable, and people figured, correctly, that there wasn't really a Republican or Democratic way to serve a warrant or a civil court paper.Even that didn't save Ballard in the end; he finally got beat by a Republican when voters decided it was easier to vote the straight GOP ticket than search the ballot for the few Democrats for whom they might otherwise wish to vote.The man who vanquished Ballard, by the way, is now under indictment for destroying private property, which doesn't have anything to do with the 26th District congressional race, but mights serve as a reminder about the perils of voting a straight ticket, no matter the party.