Tomball man files to run as Democrat against Kevin Brady, while Madisonville man to run as Independent

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, talks with a reporter at Corner Bakery, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in The Woodlands. Brady is also chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, talks with a reporter at Corner Bakery, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in The Woodlands. Brady is also chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Tomball man files to run as Democrat against Kevin Brady, while Madisonville man to run as Independent 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Kevin Brady, who heads up the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and has represented The Woodlands and the surrounding 8th congressional district since 1997, will be having at least a couple of challengers in the upcoming election.

A Tomball man has announced his plans to seek election to the seat that Brady has held since 1997. Steven David filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission electronically Saturday saying he would be running as a Democrat against Brady, who is a Republican.

The 32-year-old David, who works as an internal business consultant for the City of Houston, has served as a director on a MUD board, but otherwise has no political experience. He faults Brady for his support of the Republican healthcare plan, saying the proposal was the "straw that broke the camel's back." He also claims Brady hasn't spent enough time in the district.

"Kevin Brady has been an absentee congressman from his district," David said.

Brady's office said because of the holiday, he could not immediately be reached for comment, but a Brady spokeswoman disputed David's comments.

"Congressman Brady lives in The Woodlands and commutes to Washington," Tracee Evans said.

Brady, who has long been a critic of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has argued that it has hurt more people than it has helped.

"We had to unravel a current law that, frankly, is collapsing and put in place the first steps of a new law," Brady told The Courier in an interview last month. Also with his hat in the ring to challenge Brady is Todd Carlton, a 32-year-old crop consultant from Madisonville. Carlton had filed paperwork to challenge Brady in last fall's election, but says because of a paperwork issue with his filing, he did not proceed in his challenge and his name was never placed on the ballot.

Carlton, a 32-year-old crop consultant from Madisonville, is running as an Independent and as a fiscal conservative.

"If we're not financially responsible, we're going to be in a lot worse shape," Carlton told The Courier. "I want a balanced budget and more conservative financial moves."

Carlton says except for some Facebook Live events likely held this summer, he has no formal campaign plans. He has not previously held office before, and so far has not raised any money for mounting an election campaign.

"I'm really not about raising any money," he said. "I don't want to feel obligated to anybody."

Both David, who also has not raised any campaign money yet, and Carlton are facing uphill challenges in their attempts to unseat Brady. Besides being a veteran and powerful politician who holds a key position in Congress, Brady also has the advantage of having represented what is traditionally a conservative district in Congress for nearly two decades.

Former Texas Rep. Steve Toth had challenged Brady in the March 2016 Republican primary, but Brady prevailed in a tight race, winning 53 percent of the vote. In the fall, Brady won re-election to the district seat without any Democratic challengers.