HD 67: AG, Cole Use Endorsement Error As An Excuse To Rile Up The Right Against Jerry Madden

There are a lot of Republicans who we would give pretty poor marks during the 80th Session of the Texas Legislature but, by and large State Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano) wasn’t one of them. In fact, as Chair of the House Corrections Committe, Madden actually helped get some reasonably progressive criminal justice reforms through the Legislature and even took a leading role in trying to reform the broken Texas Youth Commission.

Now, however, right-wing Republicans are attacking Madden in his battle against political neophyte Jon Cole for claiming he had the endorsement of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

The problem is, from Madden’s perspective, it actually seems like a simple mistake as opposed to actually trying to clam an endorsement he didn’t have as some Republicans–and Democrats–have done in the past.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Mr. Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, said the campaign backed out after the ads had run.

He said Friday that the would stop using the ads and remove Mr. Abbott from the list of his supporters.

“He gave me his approval to use it, then his campaign called back to say they didn’t want to,” Mr. Madden said. “I talked to Greg, and I thought he’d given me his endorsement.

“I thought he’d given me his word. If we used him without his approval, I’ll apologize and correct it. But I thought we had it.

Of course, right-wingers at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility this morning sent out an email blast with a different take:

While Madden has long been considered a conservative, his failing 68.7% showing on our scorecard gave us pause, which is why he didn’t get our endorsement. And since the campaign issues wouldn’t be on fiscal policy, like the AG we chose to stay out of the race. And still do.

Abbott, however, isn’t exactly “staying out” of the race. He’s openly criticizing Madden, which further shows how fractured the Republicans in Texas are–and how much of a gulf there is between right-wingers like Abbott and anyone in the Republican party who doesn’t tow the party’s slam-the-jail- doors-shut-and-throw-away-the-key attitude:

“Attorney General Abbott never gave his word – or any other indication – that he would endorse Jerry Madden in the Republican primary,” Mr. Pritchett said. “To the contrary, Madden supporters who sought General Abbott’s endorsement at Madden’s request were repeatedly told that the attorney general had not and would not take a position in that race.

“Jerry Madden has consistently taken positions that are at odds with the conservative, law-and-order record General Abbott has earned in his five years as Texas’ chief law enforcement official.”

Abbott might as well have endorsed Cole if he is going to have his spokespeople say things like this.

Bookmark It