Burnt Orange Report

Hutchison Turns Red, Lashes Out At Perry Donors

By Vince Leibowitz

A seemingly benign meeting between Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and several El Paso businessmen turned ugly Tuesday and resulted in Hutchison literally turning red and chastising a number of big-money supporters of Texas Governor Rick Perry during the private meeting.

According to the El Paso Times, Hutchison became upset after the men--who to date have given a combined $800,000 to Perry and plan to donate hundreds of thousands more--said their large campaign contributions to state leaders have increased El Paso's influence in Austin:

Hutchison then gave a lecture-like response, denouncing the role big-money contributions play in state government, several of those attending said.

"We didn't expect that reaction," El Paso businessman Ted Houghton said. "That's when the meeting fell apart, unfortunately. Our point was, we like what we have for El Paso and we like what we have for the state of Texas.

"We're not going to get into a (shouting) contest with her, but it fell all apart," Houghton said. "We did not expect that."

A spokesman for Hutchison confirmed that the meeting got nasty and that the state's senior senator condemned the role of large donations in Texas politics:

"Senator Hutchison is appalled that people are being strong-armed, feel they have to hand over huge contributions in order to be heard in the state's political process," spokesman Dave Beckwith said Friday. "What she's been hearing around the state is encouragement -- to provide the leadership to clean up that system."

That statement--the harshest criticism by Hutchison, who is considering a 2006 GOP primary run against Perry, brought sharp criticism from the Perry camp:

"Others can deal in the Washington-style politics of personal destruction and blind ambition to do what is best for themselves, but Governor Perry will continue to be a strong, ethical and effective leader for El Paso and Texas as a whole," said Luis Saenz, Perry's campaign director.

Although Tuesday's meeting descended into apparrent chaos and "fell apart," it's initial purpose was reportedly far more benign than the final result.

According to the Times, the meeting was organized by former El Paso Mayor Jonathan Rogers as a briefing by the senator on various issues, but several Perry supporters eventually turned the conversation to the coming gubernatorial election and tried to persuade Hutchison not to challenge the governor.

The meeting with Hutchison was not designed to start the political debate, its organizer said:

"I told her, 'The next time you're in town, give me a holler, so I called some of my friends,'" said Rogers, who was El Paso's mayor during 1981-89 and has been the senator's friend for 30 years.

"I felt that she was here talking to us to see what's going on and to give us some good news, which I'm not privy to talk about because it was supposed to be a closed meeting," Rogers said.

Houghton and Hunt led the opening discussion about El Paso's emerging role in state politics.

"What we did tell her was, 'Senator, we love you. We've been working in this community for 50, 60 years and, finally, the moon and the stars have all lined up,'" Houghton said.

Houghton, Hunt and others fear that a bruising primary battle between Perry and Hutchison would turn incendiary and threaten the Texas Republican Party.

"We don't want to go through a process where the Republican Party devours itself in internal conflict, which, in this case, is unnecessary," Hunt said. "We have two people doing a very good job where they are.

"They are benefiting the state and benefiting our community," Hunt said. "I think we have good access to both of them."

El Paso businessman Woody Hunt told the paper he reminded the senator that El Paso had not fully participated in state politics in the past and has long been neglected. He and others decided to open up their checkbooks and become players:

"We need to be better connected to the state. We need to be able to have access. We need to be able to communicate," said Hunt, who's donated almost $200,000 to Perry in the past four years, campaign finance records show. "And we endeavored to do that, and we thought we were succeeding."

The discussion took a turn for the worst when several leaders mentioned their large donations to Perry.

The newspaper reported that one of the participants--who wasn't identified--said Hutchison's neck turned red and that it was, "obvious by the way she was inching up in her seat that she was fixing to let everybody have it." one of the business leaders said.

Eleven of the 14 El Pasoans attending the meeting have given to Perry's campaign since 2000, with their combined contributions totaling more than $800,000 as of June 30, the Times reported. Rogers was the only one in the meeting who gave to Hutchison in that period, with his contributions totaling $7,000 to her campaign and political action committee. Eight El Pasoans have pledged an additional $100,000 each for Perry between this year and the 2006 election.

Some of the participants dispute whether Perry's El Paso supporters brought up their specific contribution amounts, or whether the senator did. "The monetary issues never came up from our perspective. She brought it up," Houghton said. "We said we have made an investment in the leadership of the state. That's as far as we went."

The Hutchison's spokesman said she reacted to Perry supporters'
specifically touting the accomplishments produced after significantly
stepping up their political contributions.

Perry last year made Houghton the first El Paso member of the state's
powerful Texas Department of Transportation Commission. Hunt was appointed by Perry as the first El Pasoan in more than 40 years to serve on the University of Texas System Board of Regents.

Other El Pasoans attending the meeting with high-ranking Perry appointments included Robert Brown (Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission), Rick Francis (Texas Tech Board of Regents) and Paul Foster (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board).