After I read the article entitled “Judge Collier- consistency in applying the law” in your Friday, January 22 edition, I was moved to write you.  I am a practicing attorney in Denton County and I am very familiar with all of the candidates in this race.  For some reason your article only focused on Judge Collier and one of his opponents, Steve Burgess.  Did you know that there is a third candidate in this race? David Moraine’s name was published along with all the other candidates who filed for election this year. Why didn't you mention this in your article?  Mr. Moraine filed his candidate paperwork entering the race for the 158th Judicial District Court immediately after Steve Burgess announced that he was running against Judge Collier. Steve Burgess has very good name recognition in our county, and not because he shares a last name with our local US Representative.  Mr. Burgess' father Vic has been active in local politics for several decades. The third candidate could force a runoff. Runoff elections are very different from general primary elections. 

     How much money has Mr. Moraine raised for his campaign?  How many fundraisers has he held?  How many yard signs has he printed and put up?  How many doors has he knocked on?  How many candidate forums has he attended?  How many mailers have gone out?  Has anybody received a phone call from the David Moraine phone bank?  Does he have a campaign website?  I doubt he has done any of these things that all candidates must do to have a chance at being competitive in the election. Why didn't you ask Jake Collier about David Moraine?  Why did you just let him go on and on about Steve Burgess?  I am not a supporter of Steve Burgess; I am just an ordinary citizen who happens to work at the courthouse. There are several candidate forums coming up; I hope your publication and others like it will have some hard hitting questions for the candidates in this race.

- Matt Shovlin, Argyle