The 2014 Pro-Taxpayer Team Endorsements for TEXAS!

A timely post about from www.empowertexans.com about endorsements for TEXAS. This follows this post about the IRS targeting political opponents of the current president. This follows this post about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.

The 2014 Pro-Taxpayer Team

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is pleased to announce the following endorsements for the 2014 election cycle.

Endorsement Process

Last update: February 12, 2014.

More endorsements will be made in advance of the 2014 Primary.

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STATEWIDE OFFICES…
Download a .PDF copy of the statewide TFR slate.

GOVERNOR: Greg Abbott	LT. GOVERNOR: Dan Patrick
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Ken Paxton	COMPTROLLER: Glenn Hegar
AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER: Sid Miller	LAND COMMISSIONER: TBD
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER: TBD

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SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS
Place 1: Nathan Hecht
Place 6: Jeff Brown
Place 8: Phil Johnson

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TEXAS SENATE

District	Endorsee	Candidate / Race
2	Hall, Bob	Challenger to Bob Deuell
7	Bettencourt, Paul	Open-Seat
8	Taylor, Van	Open-Seat
10	Burton, Konni	Open-Seat
16	Huffines, Don	Challenger to John Carona
25	Campbell, Donna	Incumbent
31	Canon, Mike	Challenger to Kel Seliger

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TEXAS HOUSE

District	Endorsee	Candidate / Race
5	Hughes, Bryan	Incumbent
6	Schaefer, Matt	Incumbent
7	Simpson, David	Incumbent
8	Vickery, Bobby	Challenger to Byron Cook
10	Fabby, T.J.	Open-Seat
15	Keough, Mark	Open-Seat
16	Seago, Ted	Open-Seat
18	Holcomb, Terry	Challenger to John Otto
19	White, James	Incumbent
23	Faircloth, Wayne	Open-Seat
29	Thompson, Ed	Incumbent
33	Turner, Scott	Incumbent
53	Harris, Karen	Open-Seat
55	White, Molly	Challenger to Ralph Sheffield
58	Eby, Philip	Open-Seat
59	Pelton, Danny	Challenger to J.D. Sheffield
60	Crisp, Cullen	Challenger to Jim Keffer
64	King, Read	Challenger to Myra Crownover
65	Simmons, Ron	Incumbent
66	Shaheen, Matt	Open-Seat
67	Leach, Jeff	Incumbent
68	Springer, Drew	Incumbent
70	Sanford, Scott	Incumbent
71	Castro, Isaac	Challenger to Susan King
81	Landgraf, Brooks	Open-Seat
83	Perry, Charles	Incumbent
89	Laubenberg, Jodie	Incumbent
91	Klick, Stephanie	Incumbent
92	Stickland, Jonathan	Incumbent
93	Krause, Matt	Incumbent
94	Tinderholt, Tony	Challenger to Diane Patrick
96	Zedler, William	Incumbent
97	Goldman, Craig	Incumbent
98	Capriglione, Giovanni	Incumbent
102	Carter, Stefani	Incumbent
105	Anderson, Rodney	Challenger to Linda Harper-Brown
106	Fallon, Pat	Incumbent
108	Alley, Court	Open-Seat
112	Patterson, Jared	Challenger to Angie Button
115	Rinaldi, Matt	Challenger to Bennett Ratliff
121	Beebe, Matt	Challenger to Joe Straus
130	Fletcher, Allen	Incumbent
134	Parker, Bonnie	Challenger to Sarah Davis

Editorial: Will Texas turn Blue NOW?

Editorial


This week begins the primary season in what is the last GOP stronghold of the U.S. How long that will continue is an interesting question as there is a concerted effort to "Turn Texas Blue." If THAT ever happens, the GOP would be finished as you can see by looking at the electoral map with Texas added to California, New York, and other large "Blue States." Do consider this when watching the Texas primaries and general elections!

Worse than Wendy (Davis)!!

A timely post about from www.empowertexans.com about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  This follows this post about immigration's affect on the U.S.  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.

Worse than Wendy

by Morgan Williamson

Thanks to several media blitzes, Republican voters all over Texas—and honestly, all over America—are well aware of Democratic Senator turned Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, and everything she stands for.
Whether it’s being unabashedly pro-abortion, or doubling and tripling down on “inconsistencies” in her supposed rags-to-riches life story, you can be sure Wendy is not standing for any principles that conservatives are looking for in their elected representatives.
(Well, aside from swapping in her formerly NRA F-rated stance on Second Amendment issues for a pro-open-carry stance. We can only assume she defied the party’s stance on the issue in order to have some perceived grounds to compete with Greg Abbott, and not to actually assist conservative Republicans during primary season…)
Texans know Wendy Davis is the liberal bastion to which Battleground Texas and Team Obama have pinned their hopes and dreams for a “blue”—or at least purple—Texas.
So, one might assume that getting to the ballot box in November and ensuring Republicans are elected is the answer to defeating that Wendy Davis, Battleground Texas, “Turn Texas Blue” dream.
But, many might be shocked to know that on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for the 83^rd Texas Legislative Session, Senator Wendy Davis actually out-performed a number of House Republicans when it came to taxpayer issues.
Wendy certainly has nothing to be proud of with her failing score of 43.6 on our index; however, the following Republican House members scored even lower.
When it comes to fiscal issues, these liberal Republicans are worse than Wendy Davis, and voters have the opportunity to begin stripping the purple from our Texas Capitol come March 4^th.

As for those incumbents running unopposed this primary season, it will be the people’s job to hold them accountable to taxpayer interests during the next session. 


“Worse Than Wendy” State Representatives:
With a March 4th Primary Challenger:
Cook, Byron 42.0
Ratliff, Bennett 41.6
Patrick, Diane 36.7
Darby, Drew 35.7
Otto, John 35.5
Keffer, Jim 35.3
Kacal, Kyle 33.6
Sheffield, J.D. 27.5
Without a Primary Challenger:
Price, Four 41.6
Stephenson, Phil 39.7
Farney, Marsha 39.6
Larson, Lyle 39.0
Geren, Charlie 37.0
King, Ken        38.6
Raney, John 36.3
Aycock, Jimmie Don 36.2
Lozano, J.M. 32.9
Smith, Wayne 31.4
Zerwas, John 25.3
Announced retirement after the 83^rd Legislative Session:
Callegari, William 39.0
Ritter, Allan 37.0
Pitts, Jim 29.7
Davis, John 29.7

 

Morgan Williamson

Morgan is our Communications Coordinator, monitoring our media presence, including social media, and community and media relations. She is a Texas native, Texas State graduate, and veteran staffer of the 83rd Texas Legislature. Aside from constantly monitoring the Twittersphere, Morgan enjoys proper grammar usage, a lot of coffee, and good company.

Is Purple the New Red in Texas Legislation?

A timely post about from www.EmpowerTexans.com about Texas lawmakers being a lot less conservative than the media portrays it. This follows this post about Eric Holder having the state of Texas in his crosshairs. In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.

Is Purple the New Red?


by Dustin Matocha
http://www.empowertexans.com/features/is-purple-the-new-red/
If Texas is such a red state, why was so much “purple” legislation passed this session? Perhaps it’s because so many Republicans in the Legislature voted so much like their Democratic counterparts, they forgot the color of the team they were on.

Professor Mark Jones, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Rice University, offered his statistical analysis of the 83rd session in the Texas Tribune not too long ago, explaining what he described as “purple legislation” passing despite having such a “red state” mentality among voters in Texas.

Sadly, his analysis confirms what conservatives have felt all throughout the 83rd Legislature. Good conservative legislation was left in the parliamentary waste-basket, while “bi-partisan” legislation was pushed through.



This session, too many legislators were willing to go along with moderate establishment “leadership” than stand on conservative convictions.

Why? Because so many were willing to go along with moderate establishment “leadership” rather than stand on conservative convictions.

Despite having a near 2/3 majority in both chambers of the Legislature, it often felt like taxpayers could only rely on about 1/3 of the House (if that) to stand with principle, and only a handful of senators to do the same at any given time.

Some of the worst Republicans in fact voted more like Democrats than Republicans. Out of 95 Republicans in the House, 46 of them scored below a 60 on our Fiscal Responsibility Index. Reps. J.D. Sheffield (R – Gatesville) and John Zerwas (R – Simonton) were so bad, they literally scored worse than a Democrat!

In the Senate, 7 of 19 Republicans scored below a 60, with Sens. Bob Deuell (R – Greenville), Kel Seliger (R – Amarillo) and Robert Duncan (R – Lubbock) scoring worst than the top-rated Democrat.

Considering the fact that there are more Republican failures in the Legislature than Republicans scoring an 80 or above (38 to 34 respectively), it’s no wonder the Legislature produced such poor outcomes.

Here’s a list of all the Republicans below 60 on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. Taxpayers should study it closely between now and next March.

HOUSE

District Legislator Party 2013 Rating

56 Anderson, Charles

R 58.9

108 Branch, Dan

R 58.2

30 Morrison, Geanie

R 56.1

9 Paddie, Chris

R 55.5

47 Workman, Paul

R 52.9

150 Riddle, Debbie

R 52.9

55 Sheffield, Ralph

R 52.3

44 Kuempel, John

R 52.2

32 Hunter, Todd

R 51.0

133 Murphy, Jim

R 50.6

52 Gonzales, Larry

R 50.5

126 Harless, Patricia

R 50.2

127 Huberty, Dan

R 49.4

11 Clardy, Travis

R 49.3

58 Orr, Rob

R 49.1

57 Ashby, Trent

R 48.9

64 Crownover, Myra

R 48.7

114 Villalba, Jason

R 48.1

73 Miller, Doug

R 46.9

71 King, Susan

R 46.4

81 Lewis, Tryon

R 45.1

134 Davis, Sarah

R 44.7

8 Cook, Byron

R 42.0

87 Price, Four

R 41.6

115 Ratliff, Bennett

R 41.6

85 Stephenson, Phil

R 39.7

20 Farney, Marsha

R 39.6

122 Larson, Lyle

R 39.0

132 Callegari, William

R 39.0

88 King, Ken

R 38.6

21 Ritter, Allan

R 37.0

99 Geren, Charlie

R 37.0

94 Patrick, Diane

R 36.7

14 Raney, John

R 36.3

54 Aycock, Jimmie Don

R 36.2

72 Darby, Drew

R 35.7

18 Otto, John

R 35.5

60 Keffer, Jim

R 35.3

12 Kacal, Kyle

R 33.6

43 Lozano, J.M.

R 32.9

128 Smith, Wayne

R 31.4

10 Pitts, Jim

R 29.7

129 Davis, John

R 29.7

59 Sheffield, J.D.

R 27.5

28 Zerwas, John

R 25.3

SENATE

District Legislator Party 2013 Rating

4 Williams, Tommy

R 59.8

1 Eltife, Kevin

R 58.8

3 Nichols, Robert

R 58.7

24 Fraser, Troy

R 55.4

2 Deuell, Bob

R 53.1

31 Seliger, Kel

R 52.3

28 Duncan, Robert

R 48.8