The media are beginning to peel back the mystery surrounding a political action group that calls itself Empower Texans.
What are we seeing now? It ain’t pretty, folks.
Empower Texans is pouring lots of money into campaigns around the state. It has targeted a couple of seats in the Panhandle with a reprehensible smear campaign.
The group’s actions have been noticed by the media, which are reporting on them with the kind of gusto one saw during other hot political disputes. Watergate comes to mind. So does the Lewinsky scandal.
Let’s take a gander at Michael Quinn Sullivan, the guy who detests state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and is backing former Midland Mayor Mike Canon’s bid to unseat Seliger.
Sen. Seliger has not hidden his dislike of Sullivan, who runs the ultra-right-wing organization. Sullivan has returned the favor by pouring lots of money into Canon’s campaign. Texas Monthly’s R.G. Ratcliffe takes particular note of an essay that Amarillo Globe-News columnist Jon Mark Beilue wrote in which he compared Empower Texans to Netflix’s “House of Cards.”
Read Ratcliffe’s essay here. Ratcliffe contends that Empower Texans is subverting democracy by falsifying incumbents’ records, as it has done with Seliger.
Empower Texans also has glommed onto something called the Granny Tax in its effort to unseat state Rep. Four Price, another Amarillo Republican.
Price’s challenger, Fritch City Manager Drew Brassfield, has campaign contributions from wealthy downstate interests that comprise 61 percent of his total campaign intake. Empower Texans has its mitts on that race, too, having endorsed Brassfield over Price.
Empower Texans has fabricated an issue, contending that Texas House members intended to raise taxes on nursing homes, thus penalizing elderly residents of those facilities. Thus, the “Granny Tax” was born.
It didn’t exist.
Scott Braddock of the Houston Chronicle lays out Empower Texans’ deception here.
We are witnessing a despicable display of demagoguery perpetrated by interests who have zero interest in the Texas Panhandle or in West Texas. They are seeking to unseat individuals who don’t grovel at the feet of powerful interests.
Sen. Kel Seliger and Rep. Four Price must not fall victim to this kind of defamation.
As Beilue noted in his column: “They (Empower Texans) are using their typical campaign playbook—paint their guy as the conservative choice, and the other guy as basically a Democrat by distorting and taking facts out of context to make them seem soft on abortion and a patsy for big government. Their hope is enough voters are gullible and naïve to believe it all.”
Man, I certainly hope West Texas Republican primary voters are smarter than that.
I tip my hat, moreover, to the Texas political media for revealing this lie to a voting public that needs to see it.
Thank you for this article in support of what and who is trying to buy Texas!
Thank you for reading and sharing.
Seliger is a RINO sellout, no doubt. He needs ro go.
No. He needs to stay.
RINO sellout is why Seliger needs to go. It’s also why establishment and liberals are throwing darts at groups like Empower promoting challenger candidates. They know Seliger is more liberal and want the more liberal guy to win. How dare they challenge the good-ol-boy network! God forbid you have a real conservative and not the most liberal Republican in the caucus! … as for “despicable display of demagoguery” that would apply to those going out of their way to impugn, attack and malign a conservative group for the ‘crime’ of politicking for conservatives. “They (Empower Texans) are using their typical campaign playbook—paint their guy as the conservative choice” Duh, because 10 times out of 10 their candidate IS MORE CONSERVATIVE. And the liberals are all clutching their pearls over this – give me a break!
Who is funding Cody Harris? Thomas McNutt? Byron cook gave Cody 5k, Timmerman 10K… Cooke and Strauss founded RealEstate or land PAC TI SUPPORT Harris.
Ector County Republican Party is endorsing in the Primary. So it is happening here!