Given the amount of publicity they generated, did the so-called tea party movement really have an effect on Tuesday’s elections?
How you answer that question depends on how you define effect…and where you ask the question…
It will come as no surprise to anyone within the sound of my voice, but East Texas is perhaps the most conservative part of the state.
So the tea parties had more impact here than elsewhere.`
The local tea party didn't make formal endorsements, but another group, Grassroots America We the People did.
Grassroots Executive Director Joanne Fleming says "they're looking to be educated in both the issues and the kind of qualifications it takes to make a good representative of the people."
Their local recommendations, made just two weeks before the election, did pretty well.
Their biggest success was the defeat of Representative Tommy Merritt. David Simpson prevailed against the 6-term incumbent in District-7.
"We need to restore the limited, constitutional leadership in Austin," Davis declared.
Carey Nix was endorsed by the group in his battle with Precinct 2 Commissioner Bill McGinnis.
The big issues were the 2007 pay raise, which was recommended by a committee headed, ironically, by We the People Executive Director Joanne Fleming when she was on the court. And the expensive jail plans, also recommended when she was a Commissioner.
"Well, the thirty percent raise they voted themselves 6 months after being in office,” Nix says, “and then the 125-million dollar jail was a big, big sticking point."
Statewide, though, the effects are more hit and miss.
Candidates challenging Senator Bob Deuell and Representatives Chuck Hopson, Lamar Smith, Mike McCaul and John Carter all failed badly.
Social conservatives on the Board of Education were defeated by mainstream Republicans
So was Representative Betty Brown, author of the Voter ID bill.
And gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina imploded on national radio.
So, as far as getting the dialogue centered on fiscal issues, the tea parties were very successful.
But when it comes to electing candidates…it’s a bit more hit and miss.
Roger, I believe that you may have misstated the last sentence.
Mr. Gray needs to get his facts straight about JoAnn Fleming. Anybody that has paid attention to FACTS knows that Fleming did not support the pay raise. I was in the courtroom when she twice made the motion to separate the commissioners court payraises (put in the budget by the auditor and Judge Baker) from the raises for the employees which Fleming supported. TWICE her motion failed for lack of a second. She did not take the raise herself and warned them not to do it.
Also, Fleming was the ONLY member of the commissioners court that did NOT support the $125 million jail plan. They were plenty mad at her, but she stood up for us. Neal, I love your POV and the direction of Region 56, but Roger Gray needs to get his facts straight, 'cause some of us PAY ATTENTION!
For starters, the last sentence is pretty much spot on. As for the comments about Ms. Fleming, look carefully at what I said. She was chair of the committee that recommended the pay increase that was the subject of so much campaigning. That irony is true and a part of the record.
And as for jail plans...I didn't say she supported any particular plan, though there were plans and bond elections she did support, and the public rejected.
And we won't go into issues raised during the days of the Dempsey Court. Suffice to say, politics puts everyone involved in some strange situations sometimes.