October 24, 2006

Statewide Leaders Go to Bat for Legislative
Hopefuls to Build Support for Potential Bids

Helping Hands for Down-Ballot Races Could Be Signs
of Higher Ambitions and Possible Rematch for Ex-Rivals

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Former Comptroller John Sharp inspired grumbling among some die-hard Democrats when he agreed to lead Republican Governor Rick Perry's special tax committee in the search for a new source of funding for public education. But other Democrats such as State Rep. Chuck Hopson, Texas House hopeful Juan Garcia and congressional challenger Shane Sklar have been happy to have Sharp in their corners to help raise funds for the campaigns they are waging this year.

Across the aisle, State Reps. Gene Seaman and Martha Wong are glad to have a friend in Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst as they battle for survival in the face of tough re-election fights against a pair of Democratic challengers. The state Senate president has given Wong and Seaman and about six dozen other Republican candidates for the Legislature access to donor and voter lists from his campaign database. Dewhurst has traveled the state to appear at fundraisers for candidates in competitive races - and he's contributed thousands of dollars to Republican Party organizations that will be using the money to help elect others.

The 2006 general election is still two weeks away - but Dewhurst and Sharp each appear to have an eye on the future as they build goodwill and political karma among candidates who can use their help for races down the ballot this year. In the waning stages of the fall campaign, the proactive moves that the two former foes appear to be making have raised the specter of a possible showdown in a 2010 governor's race between the same two candidates who locked horns in a fight four years ago for the job that Dewhurst won and expects to keep when voters cast ballots next month.

The amount of help that current and former high-ranking officials have offered to down-ballot contenders could be considered a gauge of their higher ambitions to some degree. The list of potential gubernatorial candidates on the GOP side includes U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who attended a reception in Houston last week for Wong as she tries to keep Democratic challenger Ellen Cohen at bay in one of the races that's attracted the most money and attention this year.

Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs - a prohibitive favorite over Democrat Fred Head in the state comptroller's race - has gone to bat for several Republican state House contenders including Larry Durrett of Jacksonville and Jim Landtroop of Plainview. Combs, who's been mentioned as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor or the U.S. Senate, joined Durrett on Monday for a campaign swing through the five largest towns in House District 11, where he's vying for the East Texas seat that Hopson represents. Durrett, a businessman and former mayor, had help at fundraisers in the district last month from Dewhurst and Perry. Most of the GOP's statewide officials have endorsed Landtroop, who's battling former Crosby County Judge Joe Heflin for the seat that ex-Speaker Pete Laney decided to give up this year.

Combs is scheduled to attend a Wednesday event with Republican Bill Welch, who's dueling Democrat Valinda Bolton in a heated battle for an open Austin seat that State Rep. Terry Keel isn't seeking again. Combs' active support for Welch is significant in light of the fact that she held the seat for three years in the 1990s after defeating him by seven votes in a bitter primary runoff campaign. Combs' involvement on behalf of her former primary foe put an end to speculation that she might not do anything to help Welch as a result of old wounds from their fight 14 years ago.

Another potential contender for higher office - Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott - came to Wong's defense with an appearance in a television advertisement that touted the lawmaker's efforts to stop sexual predators. Abbott, who's heavily favored over Democrat David Van Os as he seeks a second four-year term as the state's top lawyer, is widely considered to be a potential candidate for U.S. senator or lieutenant governor. The attorney general has appeared at fundraisers with legislative candidates such as Landtroop - and he's planning to record automated telephone messages for Republican state House candidate Michael Esparza, who's competing against State Rep. Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles of Alice for the South Texas seat that she won two years ago. Abbott has also been involved with fundraisers for judicial hopefuls including Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, 3rd Court of Appeals Justices Bob Pemberton and David Puryear and 3rd Court candidate Will Wilson. Abbott will appear in a TV spot for Wilson, who's pit against Diane Henson in the general election.

The GOP's stable of potential gubernatorial contenders in 2010 includes Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza and possibly even Perry, who hasn't exactly ruled out another re-election campaign if he wins next month as the polls predict. And don't be surprised if Houston radio personality Dan Patrick's name is in the mix for a potential race for governor in 2010. Patrick made his debut as a political candidate in an open state Senate race this year by steamrolling a GOP primary field that included two powerful state legislators and a Houston city councilman. He might be eager to try to move up after a four-year term in the clubby upper chamber. There appears to be no love lost between Patrick and Dewhurst, the Senate's presiding officer - and it's conceivable that a Republican primary battle for governor in 2010 could get under way on the chamber floor as soon as the talk show host is sworn in, provided he wins a general election race in which he's a huge favorite this fall.

Democrat Chris Bell and independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman would all expect to run again in four years if any one of them can find a way to emerge victorious from a jam-packed field of challengers attempting to unseat Perry this fall. Former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson is believed to have higher ambitions than the state Senate seat he's on track to win easily in next month's general election - and a governor's race could be in the cards for him eventually if not in 2010. Watson was the Democratic nominee for attorney general when he lost to Abbott in 2002.

Two other former mayors - Henry Cisneros of San Antonio and Ron Kirk of Dallas - already have celebrity status among Democratic voters in the event one of them decides to run. Houston Mayor Bill White might be the favorite among Democrats in a race for governor or U.S. Senate if he tries to make such a leap anytime soon. White is a political rarity - a former Texas Democratic Party chairman who has bipartisan support, a record of consensus building and personal wealth to tap if needed if he's a candidate for higher office in the next few years. White's ultimate goal could be the White House.

Dewhurst already appears to be laying the groundwork for a possible gubernatorial bid with the relationships he's been cultivating with candidates for the Legislature, the children protection platform that he's put together and the concerted media campaign that he's under taken in recent weeks to promote it to the public. Sharp's involvement as a donor and fundraiser for Democratic contenders in some of the most competitive races seems to suggest that he may be contemplating a potential comeback that could put him in direct competition with Dewhurst for the state's top job the next time it's up for grabs four years from now.

Dewhurst currently is seeking re-election to a second four-year term as lieutenant governor - the job he's held since capturing almost 52 percent of the vote in his battle with Sharp in 2002. But Dewhurst has been campaigning more vigorously than one might expect for a statewide officeholder with an opponent who's relatively unknown and financially hamstrung with only one dollar to spend for every $180 that the incumbent has had for the race. Democratic challenger Maria Luisa Alvarado will need a combination of strong straight-ticket voting and a miracle to pull off the monumental upset that she apparently envisions in the lieutenant governor's race.

Without much cause for fear of defeat this time around, Dewhurst has been able to spend time and resources helping other Republicans including some of the party's contenders in tight legislative races. He's appeared at fundraisers for George Antuna of San Antonio, Jim Murphy of Houston and Durrett. Antuna and Murphy are running for open seats.

Dewhurst also has carved time into his schedule for a series of press conferences on a five-point plan to make Texas a safer place for children and families. The package that Dewhurst has rolled out so far includes proposals to crack down on sexual offenders, to end the use of performance-enhancing steroids by Texas high school athletes and to make defibrillators mandatory and affordable at every school in the state. Dewhurst has received a windfall of positive press for his efforts in the past few weeks.

Sharp had a successful election year without ever appearing on the ballot in 2006. The former state legislator, railroad commissioner and two-term comptroller accepted Perry's invitation to lead the special committee that recommended a sweeping overhaul of the state business tax as the cornerstone proposal for a school funding plan that legislators finally passed in special session this spring after failing repeatedly in previous attempts. Sharp's role as the select panel's chairman brought him accolades in circles where bipartisanship is celebrated and criticism within the Democratic Party's more liberal ranks. Some Democrats complained that Sharp had sold out while others saw his work as a way to help the Democratic Party get its foot back into the door of competition for statewide offices in future election years.

But Sharp hasn't let the arm-chair quarterbacking stop him from trying to help Democrats in some of the most fiercely contested races - and he says he plans to vote for Bell for governor in the general election - dousing speculation that he might be helping Perry as a debt of gratitude for the tax commission post. While the political action committee run by Sharp's employer, Ryan & Company, has been one of Strayhorn's biggest contributors in the governor's race, the current comptroller's predecessor has arranged for his portion of the PAC to give only to Democratic candidates. That's an additional $40,000 for Democrats battling Republicans in close races this fall.

In addition to hosting fundraisers for some Democratic contenders and appearing at events with others such as State Rep. David Leibowitz, Sharp has donated money to State Senators Eliot Shapleigh and John Whitmire and State Reps. Robby Cook, Patrick Rose, David Farabee and Mark Homer. He's been advising Austin State Reps. Donna Howard and Mark Strama and contributing to their campaigns as well this year.