Deuell Challenger Bankrolled by House Candidate's Father

State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, is in a Republican runoff to keep his seat.
State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, is in a Republican runoff to keep his seat.

The father of a legislative candidate has popped up as the main financial backer of Bob Hall, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, in next week’s party primary runoff.

Hall reported raising $298,029 on his runoff report, which covered fundraising from Feb. 23 through May 17. A large chunk of those contributions — $190,000 — came via the Farmers Branch-based North Texas Conservative Coalition.

That group, meanwhile, received most of its money over the same period from a single benefactor. Carl Westcott gave $250,000 in three separate installments. That amounted to 94 percent of the total money raised by the group.

He is also the father of HD-108 Republican candidate Chart Westcott, who is in a runoff contest of his own with Morgan Meyer to succeed Dan Branch to represent the Dallas/Park Cities House seat.

In another curious coincidence, the two legislative districts — SD-2 and HD-108 — overlap slightly. They share some neighborhoods around Abrams Road and Swiss Avenue between downtown Dallas and White Rock Lake.

About 2,400 registered voters call both districts home — hardly enough (probably) to tilt the election in SD-2, which has nearly 413,000 registered voters. The primary runoff election is set for Tuesday with early voting scheduled to end today.

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State Rep. Patricia Harless, R-Spring, has resigned her position on the boards of the Texas Conservative Coalition and the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute in protest over what she believed was "ill advised" testimony before a House committee earlier in the month.

In a May 13 letter to TCC Executive Director John Colyandro, Harless said she was prompted to action by testimony given by the group on May 1 before the House State Affairs Committee. The hearing took a look at the need for requirement to disclose so-called dark money, contributions given to political nonprofit organizations in order to avoid having to identify the donor.

“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the organization to get deeply involved in social issues and feel that offering testimony was ill-advised,” she wrote. “These issues are divisive, polarizing, and in my opinion are squandering our Republican majority. We should be doing everything in our power to solidify and grow our Republican base.”

At issue was testimony given by Russell Withers, general counsel for the TCC’s research institute. The Tribune reported that Withers was critical of mandating disclosure of dark money.

“I don’t think the public is particularly concerned with who paid for the ad,” the Tribune reported Withers as saying. “I think the ultimate issue is in the marketplace of ideas. The public decides for themselves once they hear the message.”

In her resignation letter, Harless said that she understood the TCC’s message to be sole mission “was to cut taxes, reduce regulations and promote policies that create opportunities and incentives for businesses to invest in Texas.”

GOP Contests Dominate Runoff Early Voting

Paper-ballot boxes flood Reliant Center, where Harris County officials convened to count thousands of paper ballots.
Paper-ballot boxes flood Reliant Center, where Harris County officials convened to count thousands of paper ballots.

With three days of early voting tabulated for Tuesday’s party primary runoffs, it’s pretty clear that the attention-grabbing contests at the top of the GOP ticket are drawing most of the action to the Republican side of the ledger.

According to figures kept by the secretary of state, 151,535 votes were cast in the GOP runoff in the state’s 15 largest counties from Monday through Wednesday. That’s nearly three times the ballots cast in the Democratic runoff.

The Democrats have a couple of interesting contests, highlighted by the duel for the U.S. Senate between failed former congressional candidate David Alameel and LaRouche acolyte Kesha Rogers, and the contest for agriculture commissioner between humorist Kinky Friedman and ultimate dark horse Jim Hogan.

Those contests, though, don’t come close to the fireworks thrown off by the GOP races for lieutenant governor between David Dewhurst and Dan Patrick and attorney general between Ken Paxton and Dan Branch.

This is the second cycle in a row where the Republican runoff has featured a hotly contested statewide race. Two years ago, it was the U.S. Senate runoff between Dewhurst and Ted Cruz.

In that race, more than 1.1 million voters went to the polls to cast ballots in the Senate race, a huge number made more incredible by the fact that the contest had been pushed to late July because of legal fights over the state’s electoral maps.

In that race, about 476,000 votes, or about 43 percent, were cast early.

At this point, it’s impossible to compare accurately the turnout in early voting from this year to 2012. That is because the totals kept by the secretary of state are from just 15 counties, albeit the state’s biggest counties. Still, it looks like early voting appears on track to at least be in the neighborhood of the early voting totals from two years ago.

Early voting finishes up today in advance of the runoff elections on Tuesday.

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A vacancy in the state Senate is rare, and a vacancy in the seat representing Lubbock and the South Plains is even rarer. Lubbock Republican Robert Duncan has represented SD-28 since December 1996. But he will soon be leaving for one of the few posts that could tempt him away from the Legislature — chancellor of Texas Tech University, his alma mater.

So it’s not surprising that at least one Senate hopeful has already made his intents known. Two-term state representative Charles Perry, who represents a large chunk of Lubbock County as well as a handful of counties south and southwest of Lubbock, sent word through his consultant that he’ll run for the seat.

"Rep. Perry has shown the ability to win elections and by large margins," said Perry's political consultant, Jordan Berry. "He's a solid conservative who has South Plains values."

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Gov. Rick Perry offered up his only endorsement of a statewide candidate this election cycle, giving his stamp of approval to Sid Miller of Stephenville for agriculture commissioner.

The endorsement was made via a video made by Perry in Austin, who called Miller a “proven conservative” and “the real deal.”

Newsreel: Runoff Debate, Wallace Hall, Tech Chancellor Finalist

This week in the Texas Weekly Newsreel: The Republican candidates for lieutenant governor got together for one final public forum before the runoffs are over – they were civil to each other. Gov. Rick Perry weighs in on behalf of embattled UT regent Wallace Hall. State Sen. Robert Duncan is the sole finalist for chancellor of the Texas Tech University System.

Inside Intelligence: About the Runoffs...

If our government and politics insiders are right, the statewide candidates who finished second in the March 5 primaries but made it into runoffs are not in for a good week. None of those candidates has convinced a majority of the insiders they will win the May 27 runoff. Republican Dan Branch, with 41 percent, and Democrat Kinky Friedman, with 33 percent, came the closest. Most, however, are betting on the first-place finishers to remain in front.

Do the nasty fights for some of those nominations open the door for Democrats? Mostly not, but 60 percent of the insiders think the Republican lieutenant governor’s runoff between incumbent David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick could put that contest into play in November. Nearly a third said none of the runoffs will increase Democratic chances.

We also rechecked to see whether the insiders think the Democrats — who haven’t won a statewide election in Texas since 1994 — will win one this year. Nearly half said no to all of them, but 41 percent said the lieutenant governor’s race is a possibility. No other contest broke 15 percent.

We collected comments along the way and a full set of those is attached. Here is a sampling:

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Each of these candidates finished second in March, but made the runoff. Which ones do you think will win their runoff?

• "None and it does defy conventional political wisdom that the second place in the first round has the advantage in the run-off. Political Science professors will be scratching their heads to explain this one."

• "Rare year in the R primary that none of the 'second place with a bullet' guys is going to win. Look what they all have in common and how much things have changed in 4 years.... the insurgents are becoming the establishment (that ought to scare the hell out of them!)."

• "Dan Branch, Mr. Ethics, will learn a lesson in republican primary politics."

• "Paxton's ethical baggage should be enough to knock him off, but just barely. Sitton is emerging as the most qualified of the 2 RRC candidates left on the ballot."

• "That'll make it an incredibly fun ticket to watch."

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Do any of the primary runoff battles on the Republican side of the ballot create an opening for Democrats in the general election?

• "If the smoke in the Paxton story is real fire, then that could be an upset."

• "The Democrats only win when they run as Republicans. The Democrats only have power when they co-opt Republicans. The Democrats are a dead party among Texans."

• "Van De Putte over Patrick is all the buzz, but its not going to happen. Sen. Van De Putte's platform and views do not represent mainstream Texas and she's been trash talking to the left wing for so long, she probably doesn't even know it."

• "An opening doesn't mean they can win. Just allows gap to close some. GOP candidate would have to stumble."

• "If it is Mr. Patrick versus Ms. Van de Putte, lots of switch over vote in November. Not nearly enough, though."

• "The Lite Gov food fight leaves the GOP nominee tarnished, but Democrats aren't going to win any statewide race in Texas anytime soon."

• "Don't be silly."

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At this point in the election cycle, do you think the Democrats can beat the Republicans in any statewide non-judicial races?

• "Minor chance."

• "Slight chance."

• "No chance."

• "'Can' is the operative word . . . not ready by any stretch to say 'will'. November is a lifetime away at this juncture."

• "Virtually every race will have a ten-point advantage for the Republican candidate."

• "Sorry, Dems. Reality bites."

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Brandon Aghamalian, Jenny Aghamalian, Victor Alcorta, Brandon Alderete, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Doc Arnold, Jay Arnold, Louis Bacarisse, Tom Banning, Dave Beckwith, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Chris Britton, David Cabrales, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Thure Cannon, Snapper Carr, Janis Carter, William Chapman, Elizabeth Christian, Elna Christopher, Harold Cook, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Curtis Culwell, Denise Davis, Hector De Leon, June Deadrick, Nora Del Bosque, Glenn Deshields, Holly DeShields, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, Jon Fisher, Wil Galloway, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Kinnan Golemon, Daniel Gonzalez, Jim Grace, Thomas Graham, John Greytok, Clint Hackney, Anthony Haley, Wayne Hamilton, Bill Hammond, John Heasley, Ken Hodges, Steve Holzheauser, Billy Howe, Richie Jackson, Cal Jillson, Bill Jones, Mark Jones, Lisa Kaufman, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Tim Lambert, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, James LeBas, Donald Lee, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Myra Leo, Richard Levy, Ruben Longoria, Vilma Luna, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Dan McClung, Steve Minick, Mike Moses, Keir Murray, Richard Murray, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Todd Olsen, Gardner Pate, Jerod Patterson, Robert Peeler, Jerry Philips, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Richard Pineda, Allen Place, Kraege Polan, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Jay Propes, Ted Melina Raab, Tim Reeves, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, Grant Ruckel, Jason Sabo, Luis Saenz, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Ben Sebree, Christopher Shields, Julie Shields, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Larry Soward, Leonard Spearman, Dennis Speight, Tom Spilman, Jason Stanford, Bill Stevens, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Sherry Sylvester, Sara Tays, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, Corbin Van Arsdale, John Weaver, Ware Wendell, Ken Whalen, David White, Seth Winick, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.

The Calendar

Friday, May 23

  • Last day of early voting for the primary runoffs

Tuseday, May 27

  • Primary runoff Election Day

Thursday, May 29

  • TribLive: A Conversation With Sen. Glenn Hegar, Candidate for State Comptroller; The Austin Club, Austin (8 a.m.)
  • Fundraiser for state Senate candidate Libby Willis; 1300 Mistletoe Drive, Fort Worth (6:30-8 p.m.)
 

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

As a House panel set to work on drafting articles of impeachment against UT System Regent Wallace Hall, Gov. Rick Perry launched his fiercest defense yet of his appointee.

The University of Texas System board of regents voted not to raise tuition for in-state students at all of its academic institutions.

After the GOP contest for lieutenant governor hit a new height for controversy late last week with the release of Dan Patrick's medical records detailing his treatment for depression and exhaustion in the 1980s, the candidates did an about-face and were on their best behavior Tuesday at their final debate before the primary runoffs.

State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, was named the sole finalist for the job of chancellor at Texas Tech University. His departure could lead to a lively election contest to choose a successor, with one challenger, state Rep. Charles Perry, already announcing his intention to run.

San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro was offered the Cabinet position of housing and urban development secretary in the Obama administration. The news quickly led to speculation as to what this means for the Texas Democrat's future on the national stage.

Longtime Perry adviser Jay Kimbrough suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident late last week. He underwent surgery on Monday, which a family friend said went well.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Political People and their Moves

Cathleen Parsley of Austin was reappointed as chief administrative law judge for the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings by Gov. Rick Perry  for a term to expire May 15, 2016.

Former state Rep. Kent Grusendorf has joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation as a senior fellow for education. The Arlington Republican was chairman of the House Public Education Committee for the 2003 and 2005 legislative sessions.

Public education advocacy group Texas Parent PAC released its slate of runoff endorsements: SD-2 — Republican Bob Deuell; HD-10 — Republican John Wray; HD-66 — Republican Glenn Callison; HD-76 — Democrat César Blanco; and SBOE 11 — Republican Pat Hardy

FreedomWorks PAC announded a trio of legislative endorsements to coincide with the start of early voting for the runoff elections: HD-10 — Republican T.J. Fabby; HD-58 — Republican Philip Eby; and HD-66 — Republican Matt Shaheen

State Reps. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, and Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, have endorsed Dan Branch for attorney general in the May 27 primary runoff.

Democratic HD 76 candidate Norma Chávez announced three new endorsements from the political arms of the Texas Chiropractic Association, the Texas Independent Automobile Dealers Association (TIADA), and the El Paso Independent Auto Dealers Association.

Quotes of the Week

I do not believe you have violated current board rules or policy, and I do not believe a vote on your service is appropriate. However, something must change, and I urge you to take the selfless step to benefit the UT system and to resign immediately.

Paul Foster, chairman of the UT System board of regents, asking embattled Regent Wallace Hall to step down

Texans should be outraged by his treatment, and deeply concerned it will have a chilling effect on those who are tasked with the oversight of state agencies and institutions that they are responsible for.

Gov. Rick Perry, defending Hall against his critics 

I’ll leave it in the hands of God – he’s handled our planet very well for a long time.

GOP lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick on his approach to climate change

My heart goes out to Dan and his family for what they've endured while coping with his condition.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in a widely panned statement in the immediate aftermath of the release of medical records on his opponent Dan Patrick's treatment for depression and exhaustion in the 1980s

I'm appalled that he didn't take the time to read them and study them and find out what documents if any were relevant to today.

Dewhurst, expressing his displeasure a few days later with his former rival Jerry Patterson for releasing the Patrick medical records.