Paul Simpson claimed that he would eliminate pay for play slates. And he would use new technology for his GOTV campaign. The Simpson campaign was based on the bad pay for play slates. Simpson created and branded his own slates: Spring Branch Republicans, the Conservative View, and the Kingwood Tea Party. There were other minor slates too, Houston Realty Business Coalition (HRBC) and the C-Club, presumably the Conservative Club. The last two, HRBC and The C-Club, have been around a long time and have always been the Big Government Republican trough feeder slates.
“Beware – These for profit and dubious voter guides have a track record of supporting Democrats and taking money from and supporting unqualified candidates.”
Spring Branch Republicans
All of these slates new and old came together to battle the so called “bad” slates who were pay for play. The opponents were the Conservative Republicans of Harris County (Hotze), The Link Letter (Lowry), and The Texas Conservative Review (Polland). The Hotze, Lowry, and Polland slates have not lost an election when all three endorsed the same candidate in Harris County until Tuesday and their candidate was Rick Ramos. Rick is a former associate judge in the family law court of James Lombardino.
Now, if you look at the funding for these new slates, you see people like Dick Weekley and Norm Adams. Both men have fought efforts to oppose illegal immigration and have backed some of the most establishment Republicans in our area. This was the battle between Briscoe Cain and Wayne Smith in Pasadena and Baytown. Smith is an engineer and the darling of the Stephen Costello types. Smith contributors are a who’s who of Big Government pork barrel spending.
Let’s take a look at who the Spring Branch Republicans endorsed; Paul Simpson, Mary Lou Keel, Wayne Smith, Gary Gates, and Brent Webster. First, why were the Spring Branch Republicans even involved in a race in Crosby, Texas? Let’s be clear, Wayne Smith is the quintessential establishment Republican. Smith is a Straus henchman working behind the scenes in the legislature to feed the Republican, Big Government trough. Somehow, the McReynolds brothers forgot all about the fight with Metro where Smith worked to kill all of the bills concerning Metro’s rail on Richmond. As we fought to stop the Metro light rail funding on Richmond Avenue, Smith sought to line the pockets of his engineering buddies with indifference to Houston’s worsening road conditions. The Spring Branch Republicans took Smith’s money to propagate their slate. What do you think Joe Bob in Crosby, Texas did with a mail piece from the Spring Branch Republicans? If there was a question on whether this was a pay for play slate let’s put this to bed right now, of course it was. Look at the money transfers from the Mammoth Group, Simpson and Straus’ consultant to the Spring Branch Republicans. This is pay to play Joe Straus style.
The mailer accusing Smith’s opponent, Briscoe Cain, of being gay is a very typical Allen Blakemore hit piece. Senator Joan Huffman can explain all of this to you. Any slate that did not immediately repudiate Smith’s gay bashing hit piece and pull their endorsement speaks volumes about their credibility. Even Steve Hotze dropped Allen Blakemore in the grease. Hat tip to the Log Cabin Republicans who immediately withdrew their support of Smith and endorsed Cain, Hotze’s guy. Everyone needs to think real carefully about that. Paul did not disavow the mail piece. How could the party chair not speak out against this injustice? Was that because Simpson and Smith were on all of the same slates?
Unbelievably, the Texas Conservative View endorsed “Scott” Walker over Brent Webster. Walker’s candidacy is widely considered a joke. Walker ran for this statewide position in an attempt to exploit his name, which he happens to share with the Wisconsin governor, a former presidential candidate. Walker is a Dallas-based attorney specializing in veteran disability cases and his real name is Richard. He knows nothing of criminal appellate law. You don’t get to call yourself a criminal lawyer for pleading someone to a parking ticket.
Mary Jane Smith knows better. Her husband is a member of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yet, the Conservative View endorsed Walker for this important position. Walker’s opponent, Brent Webster, is a longtime prosecutor with years of criminal appellate experience. The Conservative View is taking thousands of dollars from Austin insiders to get their folks elected. Worse, Mary Jane Smith paid herself $15,000 out of The Texas Conservative View PAC. So, The Conservative View is the shoo-in for the Pinhead Slate Award for this primary season.
My friends at the Kingwood Tea Party endorsed Mary Lou Keel. They did so knowing Keel’s culpability in extending her grand jury that indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt and not releasing the names of these grand jurors. It was a great disappointment because Robin and Jim Lennon stood with me on the courthouse steps on the day of Daleiden’s surrender. I know the Lennons deeply care about this injustice and the pro-life movement.
Paul chose to battle Hotze, Lowry, and Polland with more slates and funding from the Big Government establishment. As I stood at the polls for Briscoe Cain and watched many of Straus’ top lieutenants trying to protect Smith, I wondered about the impact on the Harris County Republican Party. You have to ask yourself whether Paul’s pay for play, Big Government, RINO style slates is worse than what we had before. Congratulations to Briscoe Cain who won his race by 23 votes and will be in court this morning defending David Daleiden against Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson.
Foolme says
Case should be dismissed, if not, Pandora’s box will be opened.
Mainstream says
I met Walker at the state GOP convention, and he stated he had tried four capital murder cases to jury, had handled a few hundred criminal cases. Others have told me he argued past appeals before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and both Dallas and Houston newspapers endorsed him. He may be sufficiently qualified despite that his victory has more to do with his name than his bio.
Don Hooper says
Mainstream, Walker does not say he has ever conducted a criminal trial, or written a criminal appeal, not even on his bio?
I will pull his cases when I have time and look for a criminal proceeding.
You should know Webster has both an impressive trial and appellate record in criminal law. Webster was also part of the group who cleaned up Williamson County. Both Michael Morton and Rusty Hardin can explain the importance better than me.