A few days ago, a suburban Fort Worth-area race was mostly a local contest to determine whether a 14-year incumbent met the conservative purity standards of Republican voters.
But almost overnight, according to eight-day campaign finance reports, a series of PAC donations and the support of homebuilding giant Richard Weekley changed the HD 92 race into one that has not only taken a sensationalized turn but also garnered the attention of the press statewide and vaulted a formerly underfunded challenger to the financial-backing level of the incumbent.
Before the eight-day campaign finance report deadline, Republican candidate Jeff Cason, a former Bedford City Council member, reported about $8,000, but later that sum surged to around $91,000, thanks to the support of the relatively new Citizen Leader PAC and donations from other major donors such as Weekley – rivaling incumbent Todd Smith’s war chest.
Both candidates are backed financially by another homebuilding titan, Bob Perry, but not equally, having contributed $5,000 to Smith (via a late donation this week) and $25,000 to Cason.
In addition to the sudden influx of money, Citizen Leader PAC also levied some seemingly questionable charges against Smith via an attack Web site, DefeatToddSmith.com.
What is ‘Citizen Leader’?
Citizen Leader’s Web site lists Weekley as one of its directors, along with Leo Linbeck III (president), Timothy Dunn, James Hackett, Jeffrey Hildebrand, and Susanna Dokupil. Weekley and Linbeck are among the leaders of Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), a group which became a successful ramrod in the pro-business tort-reform movement in Texas. TLR also tends to favor civil defense- interests, and if they view Smith as a pro-plaintiff candidate, then this may be the sole basis for attack, despite the issues addressed.
The PAC’s DefeatToddSmith.com Web site launched several attacks on the incumbent, many of which seem to Smith supporters shaky in terms of factual backing. That’s not to say that Smith lacks a diversity of critics. After all, he was quoted in a voicemail message obtained by government transparency Web site Texaswatchdog.org calling Republican Women members “too stupid” to understand why he did not continue to push for a tougher Voter ID bill when he was chairman of the House Elections Committee. But Mari Woodlief, president of Allyn Media (which is handling much of Smith’s re-election campaign), said the Web site goes too far.
“They have taken a lot of liberties, and twisted information, to basically mislead voters into thinking that Todd’s positions are different than they are,” said Woodlief. “We spend a lot of time getting correct information out, and convincing voters he’s the same candidate they elected 14 years ago.”
“… We decide whom to support in political campaigns by evaluating which candidate is most faithful to our core principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual liberty. In this particular race, Jeff Cason is more consistent with our principles than Todd Smith,” said Meredith Simonton, CitizenLeader PAC spokesman, adding that as of now the PAC is only engaging in this primary contest.
We look at the accusations below.
Lawsuit reform
DefeatToddSmith.com accused Smith of siding with “fellow personal injury trial lawyers in an effort to overturn a Texas Supreme Court decision protecting us from excessive lawsuits.”
The site said passage of HB 1657 — introduced by Rep. Helen Giddings to clarify the role of contractors for workers compensation purposes following the 2007 Texas Supreme Court decision in Entergy vs. Summers — would have brought high unemployment to the building profession.
The would-be effects of HB 1657 are arguable, of course, but the builder lobby (many of whose members are active in Citizen Leader PAC) supported the Entergy vs. Summers decision.
Smith voted for the trial-lawyer-supported bill. TLR opposed it. The site does not mention, however, Smith’s past support for tort reform bills, including the omnibus civil justice reform bill, which included a $250,000 limit on non-economic damages.
Voter ID
DefeatToddSmith.com said Smith was responsible for the failure of the Voter ID bill. The bill was essentially defeated when the Democratic Caucus launched a “chubbing” tactic to stall it and prevent the bill from ever reaching a vote. The bill would have required a voter to provide a driver license at the polls. Smith voted for a similar bill in 2007.
One of the biggest accusations on the Web site is a fragment of a quote from Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell), appearing to criticize Smith’s handling of the Voter ID bill. The Web site reads:
“In an effort to appease Democrats Todd wanted to delay a Voter ID bill for four years, before it would take effect as a law. What did Betty Brown, a Republican on Todd’s Elections Committee say about Todd’s mishandling of the Voter ID bill? ‘He [Todd Smith] certainly handled it in the worst way possible.’ Though 71 Republicans (excluding Todd himself) publicly supported a strong Voter ID bill and signed a letter stating their commitment to the bill, Todd chose to work with Democrats and delay moving a bill through his committee, causing the bill to die as the clock on session expired.”
On the Web site notes the Fort Worth Star Telegram as the source of the Brown quote. LSR found the wording verbatim in a Feb. 19 op-ed by regional editor Mike Norman. The Web site version of the quote, nevertheless, is partial. Following a comment by Cason accusing Smith of stalling Voter ID intentionally, Norman quotes Brown thus:
“‘I can’t say that,’ says Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell), a member of the Elections Committee and perhaps the staunchest voter ID advocate in the House ‘He certainly handled it in the worst way possible.’” Brown’s full quote suggests she didn’t think Smith deliberately engaged in stalling tactics.
Simonton said Norman’s interviews of Cason and Brown were taken out of context “and deliberately obscured by Mr. Norman.”
Immigration
DefeatToddSmith.com quotes a 2005 letter from Smith in which he supposedly says, “Immigration is not a state issue–I have no say–it is entirely Federal.” The site does not mention any state-level reforms, like workplace enforcement or state cooperation with the E-Verify system.
“… Representative Smith’s campaign literature now says he ‘worked to pass legislation to beef up border security’ – so which of Representative Smith’s contradictions is correct?” Simonton said [though it should be noted that border security and illegal immigration control are not always one in the same]. “Is immigration entirely a federal issue over which Mr. Smith has no say or has Mr. Smith been working on legislation to beef up border security?”
Abortion
DefeatToddSmith.com posts a document where Smith says he favors allowing abortion only in cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother, and says he opposed any public funding for abortion. The major statewide pro-life groups, Texas Alliance for Life and Texas Right to Life, and Kyleen Wright of the Texans for Life Coalition have endorsed him based on his voting record, even though he supports those exceptions to an abortion ban.
“It [support for exceptions] certainly hasn’t been a problem, just as it hasn’t been a problem with Gov. Perry’s record,” Wright said. “We don’t know Jeff Cason — we don’t know where he stands, he has no record, and we don’t know if he has worked with any pro-life group or charity.”
The facts stand up for themselves, according to the site.
“Todd Smith thinks abortion is OK in the case of rape or incest. Jeff Cason believes we must protect the lives of unborn children except when the life of the mother is in danger,” the site reads.
Endorsements and support
“Those who know Todd best support Jeff Cason,” DefeatToddSmith.com reads. “Todd Smith’s own precinct chair, Sue Eubanks, has endorsed his opponent.”
Cason’s official campaign Web site notes the support of the Young Conservatives of Texas, Tarrant County GOP chair Stephanie Klick, the Tarrant County Republican Assembly, and Empower Texans PAC. Smith’s Web site says he’s endorsed by a long list of legislators and elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant and House colleague Vicki Truitt (R-Southlake) as well as the NRA, the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, the Texas Hospital Association, and the Texas Association of Builders.
Woodlief said Smith is endorsed by Bedford Mayor Jim Story and five of the six City Council members. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that they were concerned about the negative nature the campaign has taken on.
“… It would not be shocking for locally elected officials to support a 14 year incumbent – particularly one who advocates for increasing the gasoline tax and distributing that extra tax to local governments — as that’s generally standard political protocol,” Simonton said. O