January 7, 2005

Perry in Position for Rare Triple Play
as Board Taps Matthews for Top Post

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Governor Rick Perry is on the verge of pulling off a rare triple play with the opportunities created with a tentative decision by the Texas State University System governing board to hire Texas Railroad Commissioner Charles Matthews for the chancellor's post. Matthews won on a preliminary victory Thursday in the competition for the university system's top post after the Republican governor reportedly intervened to help break a deadlock among regents who'd been split between the statewide officeholder and another finalist for chancellor.

The board must wait at least three weeks before taking a final vote to confirm Matthews as the new chancellor. Barring any unforeseen shifts of support among the system's nine regents - including six who were appointed by Perry - Matthews will be switching state jobs after 10 years as a railroad commissioner in a move that will give Perry his second appointment to the three-member RRC in the past two years.

All signs so far point to Republican State Rep. Elizabeth Ames Jones as the frontrunner for the RRC opening once Matthews resigns to take the TSU system post - assuming he gets the offer and takes it as expected. In the event that Jones takes the governor up on an invitation to serve in a statewide capacity on the RRC, Perry will have the ability to time a special election for Jones' House seat in a way that gives the candidate of his choice an advantage in the race.

Jones won the House District 121 seat when she unseated ex-House member Bill Seibert in the 2000 Republican primary election amid questions about business he had as a lobbyist while still in the House. Jones' district is heavily Republican with a swath of northeast Bexar County and the more affluent north central San Antonio communities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park and Terrell Hills. While Democrats predict that they will field a viable candidate for a possible special election in HD 121, a candidate backed by Perry would be expected to enter such as a contest as the favorite.

The potential chain of events will be a master political stroke for the Texas governor if all goes as expected. Perry for starters will be appeasing utility companies who have been unhappy with Matthews' rulings against them in natural gas rate cases and other disputes before the RRC. Matthews, a Republican, would be happy because he has wanted the chancellor's post and appears to have been angling for it or one like it for some time. Matthews received his masters degree in public administration from Texas State University - the system's flagship campus in San Marcos - when it was still known as Southwest Texas State University. He's remained close to the university, delivering the keynote speech at commencement ceremonies there in 2002 and speaking to graduates of the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service last June. The RRC's senior member is currently in the final stages of work on a doctoral degree in higher education administration at the University of Texas at Austin. Matthews has been a member of the Railroad Commission since ousting incumbent Jim Nugent in a close race in 1994.

“My goal will be to justify the confidence that the Board of Regents has placed in me,” Matthews said in a statement Friday. The TSUS oversees nine state universities including Angelo State University, Lamar University, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College - Orange, Lamar State College - Port Arthur, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University and TSU in San Marcos.

Matthews was the board of regents' first choice out of three finalists to replace Lamar G. Urbanovsky, who's retiring after 28 years in the chancellor's post. The winner of the competition at the end of a yearlong search was apparently still up in the air until Perry weighed in. Matthews won the support of seven out of the nine regents when the board finally voted this week.

Jones, who appears to be in line to get the call from Perry for the expected RRC vacancy, would get a free pass to a statewide office that she would have the inside track to win as an incumbent when it's on the ballot again in 2006. She could use the RRC job as a stepping stone to higher office like others such as former State Comptroller John Sharp and current Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who served on the commission before moving up the statewide ladder. A Jones appointment to the RRC would presumably score points with influential business leaders such as car dealer and pro football team owner B.J. "Red" McCombs, communications magnate Lowry Mays and Jones' father, Gene Ames, a major player in oil and gas exploration in South Texas.

Perry would also be in position to have a major say in who Jones' replacement would be in the lower chamber of the Legislature. Carol Shubert, who's raised substantial sums of money as a candidate for San Antonio mayor in this year's city election, is reportedly interested in a special House contest if it transpires as expected.

In appointing Jones to the RRC, Perry would be giving himself an opportunity to have a statewide officeholder who's a woman campaigning alongside him when he seeks re-election next year. The governor's allies think that would help mitigate support among women that potential Republican challengers like U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison or Strayhorn might bring to a race for the job Perry holds now. Jones, 48, accompanied Perry last year on a tour across Texas to promote his plan to cap property tax increases.

Perry appointed Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo to the commission in 2003. Carrillo was easily elected to a full term last year.