Joe Straus vs. Matt Beebe
We lost the battle of getting Ken Paxton elected as the Texas Speaker of the House for the 82nd legislature, but that does not mean we have given up.
We now are working to not only prevent Joe Straus from becoming the Texas Speaker of the House for the 83rd legislature, but to prevent his re-election to the Texas House of Representatives.
TEAParty911.com founder, Michael Kinzie has endorsed Matt Beebe in HD-121 and we are all working hard to get Beebe elected to rid the House of Representatives of Joe Straus.
To see how you can help, please go to Matt Beebe's page on our site.
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Joe Straus on the Ropes in Texas!
RINO Joe in trouble in Texas House Speaker Race
by Michael Kinzie - December 28, 2010
Joe Straus |
Joe Straus is on the ropes in Texas in his bid for re-election as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Many mainstream media outlets and liberal House Representatives boast that the race for Speaker of the House in Texas is all but over with Joe Straus being the obvious winner, but if you look at the facts, the race is far from over. Conservative groups across the state of Texas are heavily engaged in a massive campaign to see that Joe Straus is NOT re-elected as Speaker of the House and most have thrown their substantial weight behind conservative Representative Ken Paxton. These conservative groups consist of Tea Party groups, 912ers, Constitution Alliances and there are many major players involved such as American Majority, the Heritage Alliance, RedState, the Lone Star Tea Party, and EmpowerTexans to name a few. RagingElephants has launched an ad campaign against Straus, and even Republican Party Executive Committees across the state are passing resolutions calling for a GOP caucus to elect a true conservative for Speaker and NOT Joe Straus.
An indicator that Joe Straus is on the ropes in Texas is advertising. Paid advertisements supporting Joe Straus are popping up all across the internet. On Yahoo, there is paid advertising in the sponsored results for Joe Straus. Those in the Straus camp are also paying for advertising on The Drudge Report and countless other conservative sites. There was even an ad on a blog talk radio site right next to an extremely unflattering article questioning the conservative credentials of Joe Straus. The Straus camp has also released a painfully boring video set to elevator music. The video is somewhat of an “I’m not a RINO” ad reminiscent of Christine O’Donnell’s abysmal “I’m not a witch” campaign “death-sentence” ad. If the race is all but over, why waste money on advertising?
The content of this advertising is also interesting. One ad boasts that Straus is “Pro Life”. Joe Straus co-authored HB 1842 which would fundamentally transform sex education in the state of Texas. According to Texas Legislative Update, another co-author of the bill, Democrat Rep. Mark Strama said that Planned Parenthood was supportive of the legislation and was among the groups the authors consulted in drafting it. Anyone familiar with Planned Parenthood knows that their name does not belong in the same sentence as “pro-life”. According to TexasGOPVote, Planned Parenthood also honored Straus in their fall 2009 newsletter thanking him for his “tireless efforts on behalf of Texas women and children during the last legislative session.” Pro-abortion group NARAL rated Straus 100% in 2007, however Straus only voted in one vote that NARAL considered “crucial”. Therefore in this case of NARAL, it remains unclear if Straus is actually pro-abortion or is afraid to take a stand on the tough issues. Another ad has the tag line “Conservative”. In the last election for Speaker, Straus was elected by the combined efforts of 65 Democrats and only 11 Republicans. In his bid for re-election, Straus has the support of 49 of the 49 Democrats in the House. Did I mention that Straus campaigned for multiple Democrats (against Republicans) in the 2010 elections, in his own words “as a courtesy”? Conservative? Really?
Bryan Hughes |
Another bombshell that knocked Straus on the ropes was the incident regarding allegations made by Mineola Rep. Bryan Hughes in which he stated that Straus’ Lieutenant, Larry Phillips, conveyed that the Strauss camp was planning to use re-districting as a hammer to punish those who turned on Straus. Hughes testified under oath while strangely, Phillips was not under oath when giving his testimony to the House Ethics Committee, in which he flatly denied the allegations of Hughes.
The Heritage Alliance recently released a district-by-district poll in which GOP voters overwhelmingly indicated that they prefer a more conservative Speaker than Joe Straus III. The telephone poll surveyed 28,980 Republican primary voters in 77 GOP-held Texas House districts and nearly 90% of those surveyed want a more conservative speaker than the last legislative session. Michael Smith, Executive Vice President of the Heritage Alliance said, “No matter which GOP district we poll, we find none where the Representative can credibly claim that his supporters want a moderate Speaker.”
This evidence clearly supports that Joe Straus is on the ropes and we have only scratched the surface. While Straus still has a majority of “pledges” of support, the race is far from over. The first day of the next legislative session is on January 11th in Texas at which time the Speaker will be determined. Straus clearly has the support of the Democrats, the RINOs, and the liberal media, however the momentum against Straus is mounting and a lot could happen before the 11th. The one looming question that remains to be answered is, “Will the House Representatives listen to their constituents, or will it be politics as usual in Texas?” One thing I can say for sure is that 2012 is right around the corner and Texans don’t cotton to being ignored.
Joe Straus vs. Matt Beebe
We lost the battle of getting Ken Paxton elected as the Texas Speaker of the House for the 82nd legislature, but that does not mean we have given up.
We now are working to not only prevent Joe Straus from becoming the Texas Speaker of the House for the 83rd legislature, but to prevent his re-election to the Texas House of Representatives.
TEAParty911.com founder, Michael Kinzie has endorsed Matt Beebe in HD-121 and we are all working hard to get Beebe elected to rid the House of Representatives of Joe Straus.
To see how you can help, please go to Matt Beebe's page on our site.
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