Best Activist

When District 51 Rep. Glen Maxey retired from the Legislature after 10 years, the reason was practical: "I've got to earn a living." His departure says more about our state's parsimonious government – only the rich can afford to endure – than it does about the man. Maxey hit the organizing bricks so quickly he was presidential candidate Howard Dean's state chairman before Dean knew who he was. Using the Web, a tidal wave of volunteers, and his own inexhaustible energy, in a couple of months Maxey has made the Dean campaign an immediate and growing presence in Texas, spooking both enervated Democrats and smug Republicans. He promises he won't just take back Texas and the White House, he'll take back Scholz's too! We wouldn't put it past him … and the next round's on us!