WACO – By a vote of 8-0, state Sen. Brian Birdwell has been nominated by the Senate District 22 executive committee to appear as the Republican Party’s nominee on the November ballot.  Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri called Friday’s meeting in Waco.

“We took a vote and it was a unanimous vote,” said Johnson County GOP Chairman and SD 22 executive committee chairman Henry Teich. “The groundswell of the district’s voters drove today’s action.  In my county alone, Sen. Birdwell earned more than 85% of the vote, and in his home county of Hood County he earned over 90%, so it was the consensus of the group that he’s the proper nominee for the time and the job. It was a proud moment for me to be able to do this.”

Sen. Birdwell defeated former state Sen. David Sibley in a June 22 run-off election, which was triggered by state Sen. Kip Averitt’s resignation from the ballot after winning the March primary, allowing Birdwell to serve out the balance of Averitt’s unexpired term.  Friday’s vote makes Birdwell the GOP nominee in November’s election as well, in this heavily Republican district.

Those in attendance at the Friday vote include Bosque County GOP Chairman Tom Bratcher, Coryell County Chairman Ed Thompson, Ellis County Chairman Dan Davis, Hill County Chairman Mel Bryant, Hood County Chairman Randy Shelton, Johnson County Chairman Henry Teich, McClennan County Chairman Joe Hinton, Navarro County Chairman Frank Steed, and Somervell County Chairman DeeDee Jones.

State Senator Birdwell retired from the US Army as a Lt Col, and was wounded in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.