Tag Archives: Todd Staples

Dewhurst throws weight around

If you’re a police officer and someone calls you and then declares he’s the lieutenant governor of the state, then you’re going to give that person a little extra attention.

Such was the case recently when Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst placed a call to the Allen Police Department on behalf of a member of his family who had gotten into a little scrape with the law.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/08/bad-call-lt-gov-dewhurst.html/

The family member was a step-sister’s daughter-in-law who had been accused of shoplighting from a local Kroger grocery store.

Really bad call, Gov. Dewhurst.

There’s an intimidation factor that needs to considered here. When you’re a police sergeant and the lieutenant governor calls and then introduces himself as the state’s second-highest-ranking elected official, you’re going to be rendered a bit skittish. You won’t necessarily act with all the cool and detached professionalism we should expect from law enforcement officers.

Dewhurst demanded to speak to the sergeant’s supervisor and then sought the cellphone number of the Collin County judge. The call, by the way, was made at 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Dewhurst’s opponents in next year’s lieutenant governor’s race — Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston — all have pounced on Dewhurst for this apparent abuse of authority.

Dallas Morning News blogger Ralph De La Cruz said it well. The call showed bad judgment “because a high-profile politician should never make that call. For one, it’s recorded. But more importantly, any self-respecting pol knows: you call a supporter or agency appointee, and have THEM call Allen PD.”

Dewhurst puts on brass knuckles

Texas’s most interesting political contest in 2014 is going to be for lieutenant governor.

Bet on it.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has announced his plans to seek re-election for a fourth term to what used to be considered the state’s most powerful office. Rick Perry’s forever-long tenure as governor took care of that, as the Pride of Paint Creek redefined the governor’s office and made it No. 1 on the state’s political pecking order.

http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2013/08/12/dewhurst-announces-reelection-campaign-for-texas-lt-governor/

Dewhurst, though, wants to take back that role … or so it seems. He’ll have a crowded field of Republican primary challengers to fend off. Land Commissioner Jerry “The Gun Guy” Patterson is in the field; so is Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples; and the most recent participant is state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston.

It occurs to me that three of them — Dewhurst, Patterson and Patrick — all hail from the greater Houston area. Just sayin’.

In Dewhurst’s vision of a perfect world, he wouldn’t be there. He’d be in the U.S. Senate. He ran into a right-wing attack dog in Ted Cruz in the 2012 GOP primary, who then beat Dewhurst in the runoff, spoiling the odds-on favorite’s chances to join to the Senate “club.”

Dewhurst became the victim of what’s become a newly coined verb. He was “Cruzed” in the primary. I’m betting he won’t let that happen again as he runs for re-election.

The lieutenant governor’s contest race is going to be fun to watch.