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'''William David Edwards''', known as '''Davey Edwards''' (born November 10, 1970), is a land surveyor from Decatur in Wise County, [[Texas]], who is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate for state commissioner of the General Land Office in the party [[primary]] scheduled for March 6, 2018. He will face the incumbent commissioner, [[George P. Bush]], son of former [[Governor]] [[Jeb Bush]] of [[Florida]], grandson of former [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], and nephew of former President [[George W. Bush]].  

'''William David Edwards''', known as '''Davey Edwards''' (born November 10, 1970), is a land surveyor from Decatur in Wise County, [[Texas]], who is a [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate for state commissioner of the General Land Office in the party [[primary]] scheduled for March 6, 2018. He will face the incumbent commissioner, [[George P. Bush]], son of former [[Governor]] [[Jeb Bush]] of [[Florida]], grandson of former [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], and nephew of former President [[George W. Bush]]. Also in the running is Bush's predecessor in the office, former three-term Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Republican from [[Houston]] and [[Austin]], Texas, who gave up the office to run in 2014, unsuccessfully, for lieutenant governor in a four-candidate field dominated by conservative [[Dan Patrick]], who went on to win the nomination and the general election.

Edwards received both Bachelor of (1993) and Master of Science degrees from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station and a [[Ph.D.]] in geosciences from the University of Texas at [[Dallas]]. A sixth-generation Texan and a native of [[Fort Worth]], he is the vice president of Edwards Surveying in Decatur. His father, Tommy Troy Edwards (born January 30, 1946), is the company president. Edwards is also an adjunct professor of [[geology]] at Weatherford College in Parker County west of [[Fort Worth]]. He is an authority on boundaries changed by rivers altering their course. He is the chairman of the Decatur Planning and Zoning  Commission, in which capacity he has defended private property rights against involuntary annexation. This was prior to legislative passage in 2017 of the new state annexation law. In 2017, Edwards successfully defended property rights along the Red River in a showdown in [[Washington, D.C.]], with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.<ref name=facebook>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/DrDaveyEdwards/|title=Davey Edwards|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=December 7, 2017}}</ref> 

Edwards received both Bachelor of (1993) and Master of Science degrees from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station and a [[Ph.D.]] in geosciences from the University of Texas at [[Dallas]]. A sixth-generation Texan and a native of [[Fort Worth]], he is the vice president of Edwards Surveying in Decatur. His father, Tommy Troy Edwards (born January 30, 1946), is the company president. Edwards is also an adjunct professor of [[geology]] at Weatherford College in Parker County west of [[Fort Worth]]. He is an authority on boundaries changed by rivers altering their course. He is the chairman of the Decatur Planning and Zoning  Commission, in which capacity he has defended private property rights against involuntary annexation. This was prior to legislative passage in 2017 of the new state annexation law. In 2017, Edwards successfully defended property rights along the Red River in a showdown in [[Washington, D.C.]], with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.<ref name=facebook>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/DrDaveyEdwards/|title=Davey Edwards|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=December 7, 2017}}</ref> 

He has based his campaign not only on his experience in land management but as a defender of Texas history and culture, specifically the [[Alamo]], which will be renovated under the "Reimagine" plans formulated by Commissioner Bush. Those plans include the removal of the cenotaph dedicated to Alamo defenders from the battle on March 6, 1836. (Coincidentally, March 6 is also the day of the Texas primary.) Edwards opposes the Bush plan for the former [[Roman Catholic]] mission in downtown [[San Antonio]] which was toppled by [[Mexico|Mexicans]], with the loss of all 187 defenders. Edwards instead favors only needed maintenance of the structure.<ref name=facebook/>

He has based his campaign not only on his experience in land management but as a defender of Texas history and culture, specifically the [[Alamo]], which will be renovated under the "Reimagine" plans formulated by Commissioner Bush. Those plans include the removal of the cenotaph dedicated to Alamo defenders from the battle on March 6, 1836. (Coincidentally, March 6 is also the day of the Texas primary.) Edwards opposes the Bush plan for the former [[Roman Catholic]] mission in downtown [[San Antonio]] which was toppled by [[Mexico|Mexicans]], with the loss of all 187 defenders. Edwards instead favors only needed maintenance of the structure.<ref name=facebook/>

Edwards announced his candidacy in March 2017, but few Texans apparently know he is running for land commissioner. Edwards has questioned why George P. Bush went to Coral Gables, Florida, for a fund-raiser when he is relying only on Texan donors for his campaign. Edwards said he believes that Bush considers the land commissioner's post a stepping-stone to higher office, whereas Edwards said he would seek to remain land commissioner if he is nominated and elected.<ref name=facebook/>

Edwards announced his candidacy in March 2017, but few Texans apparently know he is running for land commissioner. Edwards has questioned why George P. Bush went to Coral Gables, Florida, for a fund-raiser when he is relying only on Texan donors for his campaign. Edwards said he believes that Bush considers the land commissioner's post a stepping-stone to higher office, whereas Edwards said he would seek to remain land commissioner if he is nominated and elected.<ref name=facebook/> Complicating Edwards' prospects are two other candidates, Patterson and Rick Range, an educator. Like Edwards, Patterson indicated that he will make the status of the Alamo the centerpiece of his campaign.<ref>Peggy Fikac, "Predecessor will challenge Bush, citing Alamo project: GOP primary fight ahead, ''San Antonio Express-News'', December 10, 2017, pp. 1, A4.</ref>

Edwards and his wife, the former Sonja Suzann South (born 1972), who married while both were TAMU students, actually reside in rural Alvord, eleven miles northwest of Decatur, where Edwards was reared. The couple has three sons, the oldest of whom, Ryan, is adopted and is is a student of marine biology at the Texas A&M campus in Galveston.<ref name=facebook/> Edwards is a [[pro-life]] candidate.

Edwards and his wife, the former Sonja Suzann South (born 1972), who married while both were TAMU students, actually reside in rural Alvord, eleven miles northwest of Decatur, where Edwards was reared. The couple has three sons, the oldest of whom, Ryan, is adopted and is is a student of marine biology at the Texas A&M campus in Galveston.<ref name=facebook/> Edwards is a [[pro-life]] candidate.