Burnt Orange Report

The Newest Competitive Race- Jeri Slone

By Andrew Dobbs

The thing I love about politics is the way things can change overnight. In West Texas we are seeing that right now, as Jeri Slone proves to us all why we need a candidate in every single race. Slone is the Democratic nominee for House District 72 against Republican incumbent Scott Campbell. San Angelo and Snyder are at the heart of the district, one the would never have been competitive and that 3 weeks ago nobody had given any thought to. But now, thanks to Campbell, all of that has changed.

First, Campbell was charged with drunk driving. From the San Angelo Standard-Times:

A drunken driving complaint has been filed against state Rep. Scott Campbell in Concho County, though Campbell said he was not intoxicated at the time.

Concho County Judge Allen Amos said Thursday a preliminary complaint was filed by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The complaint, which is meant to show probable cause that a charge may be filed, stems from an incident that happened sometime in July, Campbell said. Information about the date of the incident was not available this afternoon.

In a written statement, Campbell said he was not stopped by DPS troopers for drunken driving, though he said he had consumed alcohol. Campbell said he felt ill while driving and pulled off the road. He called a DPS dispatcher, then waited for troopers to arrive, and was taken home by a DPS official, he said.

Campbell said in his statement he completed 28 days of alcohol treatment after the incident.

So that's no good. But what could be worse than drunk driving? How's about indecent exposure. Also from the Standard-Times but quoted on the TDP Website:

State Rep. Scott Campbell has been accused of indecent exposure by a local masseuse, who has declined to file criminal charges.

The allegation is detailed in a San Angelo Police Department report obtained
Wednesday by the Standard-Times.

Police Chief Tim Vasquez said the case is no longer being investigated.

The alleged incident happened May 19 at the Palladian Day Spa, 3013
Knickerbocker Road. (...)

The Standard-Times obtained a copy of the report through a third party,
a month after requesting the report from the San Angelo Police Department.
The information request has not produced a copy of the report.

The police report states a man signed a registry at the spa using the
name Scott Kimble. A witness gave police the license plate number of the
man's vehicle, which at the time was registered to former state Rep. Rob
Junell. The plate is now registered to Campbell.

Junell is a federal judge in Midland. The license plate type is given to
state representatives.

During the massage, the report said, the man exposed himself in a sexual
manner to the masseuse, who no longer works at the spa. The alleged victim
declined to file charges and would not talk to the Standard-Times. The
newspaper's practice is to withhold the names of alleged victims in sexual
cases.

In Texas, indecent exposure to an adult is a misdemeanor.

Linda Holler, owner of the day spa, said the man came out of the room
and stopped at the register to pay. Holler said the man said he was sorry.
She said she called police because she did not think the man should be
driving. (...)

So driving drunk and then showing his wang off at a massage salon. Sounds pretty shady. Well why not add assaulting a police officer to the mix? From the Standard-Times, once again hosted by the TDP:

Two additional West Texas lawmen say they witnessed a roadside incident involving state Rep. Scott Campbell, with one saying he smelled alcohol on the San Angelo Republican, and the other saying Campbell was combative.

The lawmen, an Eden police officer and a Concho County sheriff's deputy, also said the representative left the scene despite being told to stay.

Eden Police Officer Bruce Yancy stated he "detected the odor of an alcoholic-type beverage" on Campbell when he spoke with him July 17, according to an Eden Police Department incident report received Thursday by the Standard-Times.

Concho County Sheriff's Deputy Ray Francis said in an interview that Campbell was belligerent and looked disheveled.

"He said things like, 'If you want to fight, we can fight,'" Francis said. (...)

Yancy walked to the window of Campbell's Ford pickup truck and said he smelled alcohol, the report states. The officer asked Campbell not to leave.

"Mr. Campbell became very irritated and stated that he only wanted to be followed home," the report states.

Campbell then drove away, according to the report.

Yancy followed Campbell until they met Bennie about a mile south of Eden.

Deputy Francis said he met Yancy, Bennie and Campbell and saw Bennie speaking to the representative. Francis said Campbell became angry.

"I spent most of my time trying to calm him down," Francis said.

Sanders said that despite smelling alcohol on Campbell, his officer did not take further action because the DPS was in charge of the scene.

Campbell's brother is the DA in his home county so a special prosecutor has been brought on board. Campbell has self-destructed over the last 2 weeks and now his opponent Jeri Slone has already been endorsed by the Snyder Daily News (the other major paper in the district) and is in line for the Standard-Times endorsement. Add this race to the ones to watch as Scott Campbell might have a lot to drink about (not to mention a good reason for a massage) on Election night.

Throw some jingle her way, she needs it now. (And yes, I know, she still has a fundraising appeal from September up, but things have changed- she needs the cash to close the gap).

[Update: Byron here. I spoke with Andrew about this race last night, and I think it's one that has closed very quickly here. I just donated $10.01 ($.01 for the blogs). Hope some other folks can join me.]