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Howe brings green to ballot

With aptly named communities like Notrees, Levelland and Plainview, West Texas has long been noted for its lack of verdancy. Across the oil patch, the reliably conservative political landscape has proved even less fertile for third-party candidates running for office.

But that reality hasn’t stopped one Odessa man from sowing the seeds of a grassroots campaign to change the status quo in his own backyard. As a candidate of the Texas Green Party, Jim Howe, 57, has quietly thrown his hat in the ring to challenge Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, for his District 11 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.