Tag Archives: David Dewhurst

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Patrick, Dewhurst get personal

Well … there goes civility.

State Sen. Dan Patrick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst engaged in a televised debate this past week in their runoff campaign for Texas lieutenant governor.

It got ugly right off the top and it stayed that way throughout much of the 45-minute joint appearance.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/07/video-lieutenant-governor-runoff-debate/

The Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination for lieutenant governor. The runoff occurs on May 27. The winner will face Democratic nominee state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte this November. The winner of that race will preside over the 2015 Texas Senate and will help shape legislation important to Texans.

I guess Dewhurst’s biggest mistake might have been trying to out-shout a long-time talk radio host. My experience with those individuals is that they don’t get out-shouted by anyone.

Patrick is glib, quick-tongued, articulate and is quite ferocious in his zeal to defeat Dewhurst. For his part, the lieutenant governor is trying to remake himself into someone he hasn’t been for the 15 or so years he’s been in state government, first as land commissioner and now as lieutenant governor. He’s trying to get mean and dirty with his opponent.

The debate this past Friday was supposed to shed more light on the two men’s approaches to state government. Instead, we got more heat that revealed a serious mutual dislike.

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Senate bipartisanship may be on the ropes

Ross Ramsey has written an excellent analysis of what might lie in store for the Texas Senate if Dan Patrick is elected lieutenant governor.

It’s not pretty.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/04/25/analysis-what-patrick-proposes-didnt-work-bullock/

Patrick is locked in a tense Republican Party runoff with the current lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst. If Patrick is nominated in May and then defeats Democrat Leticia Van de Putte this fall, he might abandon the practice of putting minority party senators in charge of key committees.

According to Ramsey, Patrick should perhaps think long and hard before going through with that possibility. The last Democratic lieutenant governor, Bob Bullock, tried it and it didn’t work out too well for him with the 1991 Legislature, Ramsey writes.

Bullock failed to place any of the nine GOP senators in committee chairmanships. Republicans responded by gumming up the legislative works in the Senate. They knew how to tie the process in knots. They did exactly that, Ramsey writes.

Dewhurst has talked about possibility scrapping the Senate’s two-thirds rule if he’s returned to office; the rule requires at least 21 votes out of 31 to bring any measure to a vote on the Senate floor. With just nine Democrats serving in the Senate, the two-thirds rule builds in bipartisan support for any bill to be considered by the full Senate.

That’s as far as Dewhurst has been willing to go. Patrick might take the fight even farther if he declines to put any Democrats in charge of Senate committees. Senate Democrats aren’t without their own legislative experience, much as Senate Republicans weren’t lacking it in 1991 when they hamstrung Lt. Gov. Bullock.

As Ramsey writes: “The Democrats can be a pain in the neck, and like the Republicans of 1991, they are not helpless. Look at what idle hands can do. (Ike) Harris had been in the Senate since 1967 when Bullock handcuffed him. Experience won the day. The dean of the Senate, John Whitmire, D-Houston, has held his seat since 1983 and served for a decade in the House before that; he witnessed Harris’s rebellion and could find himself in the situation that led to it. Other Democrats in the Senate have the chops to cause problems if they have nothing else to do. Patrick has children; he ought to know that people get antsy when they don’t have anything to do.”

Ramsey also notes that Van de Putte won’t be a pushover in the fall election. She’s a savvy legislator herself and she’ll give whoever wins the GOP nomination all he can handle in the fall campaign. If Patrick is the nominee and he wins the election this fall, Van de Putte will return to the Senate ready to give the new lieutenant governor fits.

This will be fun to watch play out … don’t you think?

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Is Seliger going to endorse?

The thought occurred to me recently that the Texas lieutenant governor Republican runoff has a direct impact on every one of the 31 men and women serving in the Texas Senate.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is running against state Sen. Dan Patrick in the GOP runoff set for May 27. The winner will face state Democratic state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte this fall.

So, here’s the question: Who will Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo endorse in the Republican runoff? Maybe there’s another question: Should the Republican endorse anyone?

Here’s what I know — or think I know — about the principals involved.

Dewhurst and Seliger work well together. Dewhurst, as the presiding officer of the Senate, has given Seliger a key committee chairmanship, Higher Education. Seliger would like to chair the Education Committee when the 2015 Legislature convenes. Dewhurst would seem willing to grant Seliger his wish — if he is re-elected this fall.

Seliger and Patrick have a so-so relationship. I don’t think they’re enemies, although I believe Patrick is being pushed along and counseled by individuals and groups who aren’t particularly friendly to Seliger. Patrick would do away with the two-thirds rule in the Senate that requires two-thirds of senators to support a bill before it goes to a full vote; Seliger has told me he supports the two-thirds rule as it helps build a semblance of bipartisanship in the Senate.

The situation gets sticky, though.

Patrick is now considered a near-prohibitive favorite to win the runoff. A lot of pols and political watchers are writing Dewhurst off. He’s toast, they say. Key staffers have left his office, many of whom have returned to the private sector. It’s getting harder to remember that Dewhurst once was considered a shoo-in to be elected to the U.S. Senate seat when Kay Bailey Hutchison announced her retirement; then along came Ted Cruz to burst that bubble.

To whom should Seliger throw his support? Does he back the guy with whom he’s worked in the Senate, but who now looks like the loser in this runoff? Does he swallow hard and back the other guy with whom he’s had an OK relationship?

Or does he just remain silent until the smoke clears on May 27 and endorse whoever finishes first?

I’m thinking Seliger is going to wait this one out.

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Dewhurst is a goner?

Paul Burka thinks Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is dead meat, politically.

The Texas Monthly blogger and editor is reporting that at least two key Dewhurst staffers have jumped ship on the eve of the Texas Republican runoff for lieutenant governor. Dewhurst is facing state Sen. Dan Patrick, who finished first in the GOP primary on March 4, but didn’t get the 50 percent majority he needed for an outright primary victory.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/dewhurst-resignations

Burka said Dewhurst is having trouble connecting with voters. He can’t energize them, speak from his heart.

I know a bit about that. I’ve known Dewhurst since he broke on the Texas political scene by winning the race for land commissioner back in 1998.

You can say what you will about the guy, he is detail-oriented — in the extreme.

I recall interviewing him one time and asking a general question about some legislation under consideration. He launched into the most excruciatingly detailed explanation possible about every little tidbit known to humankind relating to that bill. I suspect that’s how he’s talking to Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Texan out there as he seeks to hold on to his office.

I do hate seeing his career end on such a downer, if that’s what is going to happen in the May 27 runoff. Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, sad to say, is looking like a goner.

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Lt. gov. runoff will tell us plenty about Texas GOP

The upcoming runoff between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick is going to send a stark message about the state of the Texas Republican Party.

If Dewhurst wins the runoff — which is beginning to look unlikely — the so-called “establishment wing” of the state party will have fended off a major uprising with the GOP ranks. If Patrick wins, well, Katy bar the door.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/03/31/analysis-gop-year-hunter/

It still is a bit of a stunner to me that Dewhurst is in this position. He lost the U.S. Senate Republican primary contest in 2012 to Ted Cruz. He then staked out a far more conservative posture during the 2013 Texas legislative session, seeking to avoid another challenge from his right. It didn’t work, as Patrick emerged as the favorite to defeat Dewhurst in the runoff set for May 27.

Dewhurst is an establishment kind of guy. He’s wealthy, well-connected with big-time donors and has shown an ability to work with Texas Senate Democrats as well as Republicans. He’s a conservative, but under the new rules that define conservatism, he isn’t conservative enough.

Patrick is another kind of Republican. He’s thrown down the gauntlet to moderates within his party and to Democrats that, by golly, Texas is a conservative state and he intends to run the state Senate that way. He has blasted Dewhurst for giving key Senate committee chairmanships to Democrats.

It appears to be working. Patrick is a pistol and he’s firing live political ammo at the other guy constantly.

If Dewhurst can hold on to this party’s nomination, he’ll get to face one of his Senate colleagues, Democrat Leticia Van de Putte, in the fall. I am not familiar with their relationship, but something tells me he’ll be a kinder, gentler Republican nominee than Patrick.

If it’s Patrick vs. Van de Putte, look for another kind of fall campaign altogether.

My choice in this runoff? I’m going to pull for Dewhurst.

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Who will also-rans endorse for lt. gov.?

Jerry Patterson and Todd Staples are feeling a bit stung these days.

Patterson, the state land commissioner, and Staples, the Texas agriculture commissioner, finished out of the running in the four-man race for Texas lieutenant governor. But they both still might have something to say about who Texas Republicans should nominate in the May 27 runoff.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/03/12/patterson-staples-talk-the-past-present-and-future/

They talked to the Texas Tribune about their campaigns and their futures.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is facing state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston in the runoff to see who will run this fall against Democratic nominee state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.

It’s going to be a bitter fight all the way to runoff voting day.

How might Patterson and/or Staples affect the outcome? They could endorse one of the two runoff foes.

My guess is that Dewhurst would get the nod, given that Patrick managed to anger Patterson and Staples with some pretty mean-spirited campaign ads during the primary.

What’s more, both the land commissioner and the agriculture commissioner have worked with Dewhurst as statewide elected officials. It’s kind of a clubby atmosphere among statewide officeholders.

Patrick could be seen as the fiery outsider in this foursome.

I don’t know what Patterson and Staples will do. I don’t know either of them well enough to predict how or whether they’ll make endorsements in this contest.

They’ll wait a suitable length of time before making their decisions, either because they don’t yet know what they’ll do or because they want to generate maximum political impact on this important contest.

Stay tuned.

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Dewhurst about to take a huge fall … maybe

If the Texas Monthly blogger and editor Paul Burka is right, Texas is about to witness one of the more stunning political collapses in recent memory.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is in a runoff for his job with state Sen. Dan Patrick. The two Republicans finished at the top of a four-man primary field earlier this month. The runoff is set for May 27.

Burka thinks Dewhurst is toast.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/lost-causes

If it comes to pass and Patrick wins the runoff, Dewhurst’s fall from the pinnacle will be felt and heard all across the state.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

Dewhurst burst onto the state political scene when he was elected land commissioner in 1998. He parlayed that victory into a successful campaign for lieutenant governor in 2002. He then was going to bide his time while awaiting the retirement of one of our state’s U.S. senators. That opportunity came in 2012 when Kay Bailey Hutchison stepped aside.

Dewhurst then had his head handed to him by a young upstart named Ted Cruz, who took him to a runoff in the 2012 Republican primary and then defeated Dewhurst in the runoff. Cruz managed to outflank Dewhurst on the right and won the hearts and minds of the conservative wing of the GOP, which was enough to carry him to victory in the 2012 fall election.

Now, Dewhurst is in trouble again.

He has governed as a moderate. I guess, though, he took a vow never to be “Cruzed” again, so he’s staked out some tough positions on immigration, on public education funding, on the Affordable Care Act — and has looked totally uncomfortable trying to sell himself as a new incarnation.

The Dewhurst I’ve known and covered for years has been extremely detail-oriented and has managed to outwork just about everyone in state government. That was his big selling point.

Patrick then came along, finishing first in the primary and apparently is poised to win the GOP nomination.

I’m not sure how Dewhurst is going to pull this runoff out. The other two GOP primary candidates, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, haven’t endorsed anyone yet. Maybe their endorsement of Dewhurst could pull a few thousand votes into the incumbent’s column. Neither Patterson or Staples seem all that enamored of Patrick, who’s the fiery one of the bunch.

The mighty do fall hard in Texas. It’s looking as though the next big hitter just might be about to hit the deck.

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Primary deals tea party a setback in Texas

What’s the big takeaway from the Texas primary election?

It well might be that the tea party, which claims all kinds of strength in Texas, had its head handed to it by voters all across the state.

Good deal.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn brushed aside what had been thought to be a stern test in his Republican primary victory. U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, the Gulf Coast goofball who challenged Cornyn, was trampled by the incumbent.

Other veteran members of Congress survived challenges, including Rep. Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, who was renominated in a three-person race in the GOP primary here at home.

The Texas Legislature primary also saw some setbacks dealt the tea party wing of the GOP. The District 31 primary out here in West Texas produced a win by the incumbent, Republican Kel Seliger of Amarillo — although his margin was far closer than I ever imagined it would be.

A win is a win, however.

Some races still need to be decided. The lieutenant governor’s race is heading to a runoff with state Sen. Dan Patrick in the catbird seat against the incumbent, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst has been stung once already, the Senate primary in 2012 that saw him upset by tea party upstart Ted Cruz. He’s been leaning farther and farther to the right ever since. To be honest, he doesn’t seem comfortable in this new role as a newfound ultraconservative and he’s now in danger of losing his party’s nomination to what once was considered the most powerful office in Texas.

The attorney general’s GOP primary featured three guys cut from the same far-right-wing cloth.

The tea party wing of the GOP had hoped for a much bigger night than it got. Instead, it has seen its influence diluted.

All this Republican in-fighting is going to lead the party somewhere, but the destination remains unknown.

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Tea party Ted makes no apologies

This might be the least surprising development of the year-end review of all things political.

It is that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, makes no apologies for his first year in office.

Imagine that. The guy who stormed into the Senate at the start of the year and began immediately to hog the limelight and TV time from virtually all his more senior colleagues, men and women who’ve worked hard to earn the respect of their colleagues.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/12/19/ted-cruz-ends-year-he-began-it-no-apologies/

Cruz sat down with the Texas Tribune and said, in effect, he’d do it all over again if given the chance.

Why in the name of all that is holy am I not surprised at that?

Cruz’s brashness preceded him to the Senate. He had knocked off the presumptive Republican favorite for the Senate, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. They were vying to win the seat occupied for nearly 20 years by Kay Bailey Hutchison, who retired from public life.

Cruz polled enough votes in the primary to force a runoff, and then beat Dewhurst to win his party’s nomination. He then swamped Democratic nominee Paul Sadler in November 2012.

It took him no time at all to make a name for himself in the Senate. He flouted tradition by spouting off about this and that. He impugned the integrity of two Vietnam War heroes — Chuck Hagel and John Kerry. He led a fake filibuster on the Senate floor to try to derail the Affordable Care Act. He has been virtually everywhere — seemingly at once. Turn on TV lights and there he has been.

This is my favorite: He has blamed all that he believes is wrong with the country on — get ready — his fellow Republicans who he has suggested don’t have the courage to join him in his fierce objections to virtually all legislation.

Cruz probably will run for the presidency in 2016. Heck, someone who stormed to the front row in the Senate so quickly likely feels it is his destiny to go for the next big prize. That’s his shtick.

This Texan is tired of him already.

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Creationism vs. Evolution: Where’s the conflict?

Three of the four Republicans running for lieutenant governor are tripping over each other in the rush to pander to the extreme right wing of their party.

The issue this time is creationism. Should it be taught in our state’s public schools? Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and state Sen. Dan Patrick say “yes.” Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson stopped short of that declaration.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/12/12/texas-lt-gov-hopefuls-voice-support-creationism/

They traveled to Waco the other day to debate among themselves. By golly, three-fourths of them are creationists. They believe in the biblical version of Earth’s creation and they want it taught in public schools.

Me? I think creationism should be taught in Sunday school, in church where people worship their faith — where I worship my faith.

Even though Patterson didn’t jump on the creationism bandwagon directly in Waco, he said this: “Show me where that’s in the Constitution, because it’s not in the Constitution. I see nothing wrong with standing up at least for a moment of silence, let those who wish to pray pray in their own faith. I see nothing wrong with having a prayer before a high school football game.”

Well, I believe the First Amendment is pretty clear that Congress shall make no laws establishing a state religion. I do agree with him, however, that prayer before a high school football game doesn’t violate the Constitution, if someone other than a public school administration calls for it.

Creationism is a tenet of one’s faith. Evolution is science, backed up by mountains of empirical evidence. One should be taught in church, the other should be taught in publicly funded school classrooms.

Here’s where it gets sticky, in my view. I do not see any contradiction in the two notions.

Creationism, according to my reading of the Bible, does not stipulate that God created the Universe in six calendar days.

Therefore, I do not see the contradiction between what Scripture tells us and what scientists have uncovered relating to the evolution of the universe.

Am I less of a believer in God than my friends who interpret Scripture differently? I think not.

Amen.