One of my professors likes to refer to this period of the political cycle as “the silly season.” But the latest news on the race for Texas’ SD 25 is beyond silly. It’s just ridiculous.

Last month, incumbent Sen. Jeff Wentworth questioned Elizabeth Ames Jones’ eligibility for the race.

When she filed last month to run for the state Senate, Texas Railroad Commission Chairwoman Elizabeth Ames Jones swore she was a resident of San Antonio.

The state Constitution, however, requires that railroad commissioners “reside at the capital of the state during (their) continuance in office.”

Now, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, her opponent in the Republican primary, is accusing Jones of violating the Constitution by holding onto her office while claiming to live in both places at once.

Jones’ response? Desperate to save her political career after a failed shot at the U.S. Senate, she is now arguing that, well, if you really think about it, Austin isn’t actually the capital of Texas.

With all due respect, yeah, right.

If you read the article linked to above, you’ll find four problems with this argument:

• If there’s one thing we can all agree on, wouldn’t it be that Austin has been the capital of Texas since the days of the Republic?
• Doesn’t Attorney General Abbott have better things to do (Redistricting, or maybe ending Obamacare?) than settle a silly squabble like this?
• What does it matter that Wentworth’s lawyer is a Democrat?
• Even if somehow her claim was legitimate, would Jones have supported it if the tables were turned and it was Wentworth making the argument?

The legislature meets here. In the Capitol building. In Austin. As it has for Jones’ entire life, and more.

This is exactly what the American people hate about politics: gamesmanship based on saving careers, not helping constituents. The people we elect to be our representatives should be acting like adults and running on concrete policies and beliefs, not squabbling over obscure legal technicalities that are questionable at best.

To Commissioner Jones: Please stop grasping at straws. The rules apply to everyone.

To everyone reading this: Please vote for Dr. Donna Campbell – a real conservative and political outsider who is busy running on principles, not looking for loopholes.

The state Capitol (in Austin, of course)

More on SD 25:

• Out with Wentworth, in with Dr. Donna Campbell
• Senate spoiler?
• Opportunism or linguistic loophole?

The race for Texas’ SD 25 should have been cut and dry: conservative (Donna Campbell) vs. not (Jeff Wentworth). But now that Elizabeth Ames Jones has joined the race, I don’t know what to expect.

If Jones succeeds at presenting herself as a “proven, prepared constitutional conservative,” she could split the vote with Donna Campbell, and we may as well hand the seat right back to Wentworth. But she lacks the name recognition both other candidates have, especially after Campbell’s high-profile fight with Lloyd Doggett in the last election, as well as the infectious energy, the “fire in her belly” that endears Campbell to her many supporters.

Any way you look at it, Jones is an establishment Republican. It’s more likely – at least, I hope – she’ll split the vote with Wentworth, allowing Campbell to take the win like she should have in 2010.

(Or it could have no effect whatsoever. After all, Jones barely had $300,000 for a national Senate campaign by the end of Q3.)

Jones certainly talks all the right talk. There are a few minor bills she authored or voted for in her time as a state legislator I could take issue with, but I haven’t found anything horrendously un-conservative with her record. If Jones was the only Wentworth alternative, I might have considered voting for her.

But this race-switching move makes me question her commitment. Does it lie with the conservative cause or with personal victory? Holding political office is a privilege, not an entitlement; shopping around for a winnable race rather than identifying one goal and working towards it is the epitome of what’s wrong with our political system. I can’t help but wonder whether her votes will be influenced by the same gamesmanship. In the words of a friend of mine in politics, “I keep giving the party establishment the benefit of the doubt, and they always seem to fall short.”

My support remains solidly with Campbell. Any self-proclaimed conservative who votes for Wentworth in the primary doesn’t understand the meaning of the word. Any conservative who votes for Jones risks allowing political gamesmanship to bog down our political system.

Donna Campbell will be a much-needed breath of fresh air. I have no doubt in my mind that she will always vote with her conscience, regardless of what is politically advantageous.

Here’s to a real conservative – not a politician – in 2012.

If you live in SD 25, expect to see me knocking on your door with a Donna Campbell push card some time soon.

More posts on the SD 25 race:

• Out with Wentworth, in with Dr. Donna Campbell
• Opportunism or linguistic loophole?