March 3, 2006
Dozen House Candidates Make Clean Sweep
with Endorsements from Conservative Groups
By
Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
Twelve Texas House candidates went four for four
when several high-profile conservative organizations
posted their endorsements
for next week's primary election together on Thursday.
No candidates for the state Senate or statewide
office managed to run the table when the political
action committees for Heritage Alliance, the Texas
Eagle Forum, the Texas Home School Coalition and
the Young Conservatives of Texas listed their
recommendations side-by-side for comparative analysis.
Eight of a dozen candidates who won the support
of all four groups are state House incumbents
defending their seats in the face of primary opposition.
Two of the House hopefuls endorsed by all of the
conservative organizations are challenging incumbent
Republicans while another is competing in a contested
primary race for the right to take on a Democratic
member this fall. One of the candidates who claimed
endorsements from all four conservative groups
is vying for an open House seat in Houston. Every
candidate endorsed by all four groups is running
as a Republican this year.
The four groups all endorsed State Reps. Leo
Berman of Tyler, Betty Brown
of Terrell, Joe Crabb of Atascocita,
Dan Flynn of Van, Kent Grusendorf
of Arlington, Charlie Howard
of Sugar Land, Larry Phillips
of Sherman and David Swinford of
Dumas. All eight incumbents are considered to
be potentially vulnerable as a result of their
support for the Republican House leadership during
last year's debate on school reform and taxes.
Several have been under attack from primary challengers
who are current or former school board members
running for the House as part of a coordinated
campaign by educators protesting the leadership's
positions on school funding.
The conservative PACs are all backing former
House member Wayne Christian of
Center and retired military officer Nathan Macias
of Bulverde in their bids to oust Republican State
Reps. Roy Blake Jr. of Nacogdoches
and Carter Casteel of New Braunfels
respectively in Tuesday's primary vote. But the
Heritage Alliance, Eagle Forum, home school association
and YCT PACs didn't take the same exact positions
in races involving three other targeted Republican
House members. While three of the four groups
endorsed challenger ex-Army officer Chris Hatley
and two backed Lubbock developer Van Wilson, the
Heritage Alliance simply recommended that voters
replace the incumbents those candidates are trying
to knock off - State Reps. Charlie Geren
of Fort Worth and Delwin Jones
of Lubbock. While the Home School Coalition, the
Eagle Forum and YCT all endorsed Mark Williams
of Longview in race against State Rep. Tommy
Merritt, the Heritage Alliance PAC said
it was awaiting the return of a questionnaire
before taking an official position in that particular
contest.
Former State District Judge John Devine
and Tatum attorney Brian Keith Walker,
who has two primary opponents in an East Texas
district currently represented by Democratic State
Rep. Chuck Hopson, both won the
support of all four conservative organizations.
Governor Rick Perry, Texas Supreme
Court Justice Don Willett and
State Senator Bob Deuell of Greenville
each picked up support from three of the four
conservative groups. The Young Conservatives skipped
on the governor's race while siding with former
Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith
over Willett in the high court battle. The Heritage
Alliance PAC didn't recommend either candidate
in the Senate fight between Deuell and Rockwall
City Councilman Tim McCallum.
Nine Texas House candidate received endorsements
from three of the four conservative organizations
while state Senate candidates Frank Denton
of Conroe, Robert Nichols of
Jacksonville and Dan Patrick of
Houston each picked up support from two of the
groups.
None of the groups endorsed any of the candidates
running for the HD 106 and HD 118 seats.
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