April 26, 2005

Dallas GOP Leader Urges County Chairs
to Voice Dismay over Hutchison Challenge

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

The Dallas County Republican chairman is attempting to enlist the help of his counterparts around the state in an effort designed to pressure U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison into dropping plans for a possible gubernatorial bid in 2006.

Contending that Hutchison's camp has been treating other Republican officials with disrespect, Dallas GOP Chairman Nate Crain circulated an email Tuesday to fellow county chairs in a call to arms to help stave off "a bloody primary" that could have negative repercussions on the Republican Party in Texas.

"In recent weeks, the tone of the Hutchison campaign has changed dramatically," Crain says in the email, adding that Republican county chairs like himself and other GOP elected officials have been treated in "a shameful and disappointing manner."

Crain, who's been a key contributor to Governor Rick Perry in recent years, cites several news stories to illustrate examples what he considers to be mistreatment of GOP officials by the senator's campaign - and he urges other county chairs to share the information with their constituents and reporters. Crain says in one of the stories that he's been banned from attending Hutchison fundraisers. Another report centers on State Senator Bob Deuell, a Greenville Republican who suggested that a top aide to Hutchison made a veiled threat about fielding an opponent to run against him in next year's primary election as a payback for his support for Perry. The conversation between Deuell and veteran press advisor Dave Beckwith took place at an inaugural event in January. Beckwith has characterized the exchange as a misunderstanding and suggested that the Perry campaign was behind the incident.

The Hutchison campaign has characterized the examples mentioned by Crain as events that were manufactured by the Perry campaign then shopped to the press. "It looks like the Governor's office is at it again," said Hutchison campaign strategist Terry Sullivan, adding that the governor is more concerned with playing politics than solving problems with the school finance system, property appraisals and other key issues facing the Legislature. "It's no wonder why he's having so much of a problem getting those things done."

Sullivan said that the Hutchison camp has already received several calls from county chairs in response to the Crain email. But he said they were all made to express support for the senator and disbelief over the email.

Perry's campaign manager, Luis Saenz, said the Hutchison camp had shown disrespect for grassroots supporters by denying statements that Crain and others on the local level have made. "Governor Perry has tremendous support for the grassroots and that's why they're behind him," Saenz said.

The attempt to initiate an organized effort to back Hutchison down from a race for governor is another broadside in an ongoing volley of innuendos, insults and third-party intervention between the Perry and Hutchison camps in anticipation of what has the potential to be the most expensive and most brutal GOP primary campaign ever waged in the state.

In recent months the Hutchison camp has accused Perry's campaign of stalking her after it attempted to hang the albatross of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton around Hutchison by videotaping the two women senators exchanging pleasantries at a joint appearance in Washington in early March. Shortly before that incident, Perry's campaign manager Luis Saenz outed Chad Wilbanks - a former state GOP executive director who now works for Hutchison - as a caller who bragged about Hutchison while questioning Perry's leadership on a radio talk show.

Crain isn't exactly a neutral observer in the Perry-Hutchison fray. While Crain and his wife have each contributed $4,000 to the senator in the past four years, the Dallas GOP chair has given more than $125,000 to Perry since 2001 including a $25,000 donation last summer. Crain also has contributed to Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, but not in the past two years since she began considering her own possible campaign against Perry and criticizing his leadership as governor.

Strayhorn might run for either governor or lieutenant governor if she doesn't seek re-election to a third term. Crain, however, doesn't mention Strayhorn in the email to county chairs about a possible Hutchison race against Perry.

"I have spoken with many of you about your concerns about the effect of the 2006 Primary on your county. These examples are only a few of the negative things that are occurring because of this potential challenge," Crain says in the email.

"I am asking you to help end this destructive conflict by calling Senator Hutchison or writing to her to discourage her from running for Governor," Crain writes before providing contact information for Hutchison in Washington, Austin, Dallas and several other major Texas cities.