While the rest of the country watches the Democratic primary in Texas to learn who will capture the Democrat’s nomination for President, the eyes of Texas are upon Kaufman and Henderson county, home to Texas House District #4. Incumbent Republican Betty Brown is being challenged by Wade Gent, who she only narrowly defeated in the Republican primary in 2006; the race is being watched by Republicans throughout Texas because Representative Brown is an ardent supporter of controversial Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, who fended off an attempt at the end of the last legislative session to remove him from an office he has said gives him “absolute authority”. Many observers feel that if more than four to six Craddick-supporters lose their positions to Democrats or Republicans who don’t support Craddick, Speaker Craddick will lose his position as Speaker of the House in the next term.

On a local level, the race is vital to the future of Forney; the North Central Texas Council of Governments estimates that Forney is one of the largest cities in District 4 - indeed, the population growth estimates indicate that Forney will be the largest city in District 4 by the end of the next two-year House term Brown and Gent are competing for, however, there isn’t even an office for the District 4 Representative in Forney yet (although plans for one were finally announced recently).

The primary is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 4th; polls will be open from 7AM to 7PM. All registered voters are encouraged to vote and it’s especially important that residents of Forney and the surrounding area let their voice be heard; politicians pay attention to which areas have more active voters, so please go vote! Where you vote depends on your precinct. Your precinct is listed on your voter registration card - find your precinct number on this list at the county website to find out where you vote. If you don’t know your precinct number or have lost your voter registration card (which is not a problem - you can vote by showing your driver’s license), visit this page on the Secretary of State’s website and enter your driver’s license number and they will let you know what your precinct number is.

I strive to keep Twenty Peaceful Minutes an open and neutral forum for all candidates and office holders, so I won’t be endorsing either candidate, but I do want to make sure voters make an informed decision, especially in such an important race as the Republican nomination here in Texas House District Four. It’s quite interesting reviewing campaign contributions and endorsements each candidate has received, so make sure to click ‘Read On’, below, for the full story - one candidate clearly has more ties to Forney, in my opinion. And of course, stay tuned Tuesday night when I’ll post the election results as they are tallied and there will no doubt be some lively discussion about the results in the Forney discussion forums.

First, a bit of background. The Dallas Morning News has printed an article entitled “Republican rivals face off again for Kaufman-Henderson House Seat”, available online here, and they detail both Brown and Gent’s background, opinions, etc., in their voter guide - the section on the Brown/Gent race is available online here.

According to the guide, Betty Brown is 68 years old and graduated from Terrell High School; Wade Gent is 33 years old, received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from Texas Tech and his law degree from Texas Wesleyan University. Brown lists her occupation as full-time legislator/retirement income and Gent lists his occupation as attorney and judge. Brown is a member of the Republican Women’s organization; Gent is a member of the Forney Rotary Club, Forney Planning & Zoning Commission, the Committee to redraft the City of Forney’s Comprehensive Plan, Forney Chamber of Commerce, Kaufman County Young Republicans and the Kaufman County Republican Men’s Club.

A Twenty Peaceful Minutes analysis of campaign finance data available from the Texas Ethics Commission revealed the following statistics for campaign contributions from reports between January 1, 2007 and February 25, 2008 (contributions include cash contributions as well as in-kind contributions, which are when a company or individual donations their services in place of a cash contribution):

The two PACs that are in Brown’s top three contributors are both located in Austin; the one individual that was in the top three contributors to the Brown campaign is a home-builder from Houston. Gent’s top three contributors are all from the Metroplex. This seems to be a theme throughout the campaign; Brown’s primary support comes from Austin, and Gent’s comes from the Metroplex.

A review of the endorsements each candidate has received reveals the same trend; 14 of the 24 endorsements I found for Brown come from PACs, political action committees, that are generally formed to lobby legislators in Austin. While Brown has received a number of endorsements, none of them appear to come from anyone within our district. Of the eight endorsements I’ve found for Gent, none seem to be from PACs, and a majority of them are from within our district - indeed, the mayors of Forney and Kaufman joined together with the members of the Forney City Council and two of the four county commissioners to run an advertisement throughout Kaufman County endorsing Gent and highlighting his support from local leaders and district residents.

It appears that most area leaders have decided to support Gent; we’ll learn tomorrow night if Brown’s extensive fund raising and support from Austin groups will be sufficient to top Gent’s grassroots campaign and support throughout the district. The Forney area has a history of close votes - recent school bond elections have hinged on literally one or two votes, and the last time Brown and Gent faced off against each other, the election was decided by a handful of votes, so no matter which candidate you support, make sure you vote!

Drop by this thread in the Forney discussion forum to discuss the two candidates, which one you support and why.

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