Burnt Orange Report

SD2: Deuell's Republican Opponent Challenges Him To Debates

By Vince Leibowitz

Though it's been reported here and here that Texas Senator Dr. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) will have Rockwall City Councilman Tim McCallum as a primary opponent in the March 7 GOP Primary, this is a bit of a new twist:

"Today I sent a message to my opponent, Bob Deuell, inviting his campaign manager to meet with mine within a week to schedule dates for two debates, one in January and a second in February," said McCallum. "The people of District 2 deserve to have my opponent and I stand before them and debate the issues that affect them each and every day. They deserve the opportunity to personally ask and to know clearly where we stand on the critical issues."

McCallum gave the above tidbit to the Tyler Morning Telegraph for his standard filing story appearing in this morning's editions.

Though McCallum didn't quite call Deuell a lapdog for the GOP's as he did in the Dallas Morning News article last month ("The incumbent has represented the party leadership well, but he hasn't represented people in District 2"), he did take a few jabs at him:

"It is time to send a truly fiscal conservative to Austin," said McCallum in an issues statement. "Our leaders passed a record-high budget, but managed to underfund schools, underfund parks and underfund roads. I am proud of my fiscal record of conservatism and I will take that to the Senate."

...

"Simply put, we have lacked the leadership that is needed to make progress on many key issues for our district and our state. The biggest disappointment was school finance. I was a member of the district's school finance panel, and we counted on our representative to use his experience and our feedback to further the cause of public schools. That did not happen."

McCallum, 32 grew up in the Austin area and graduated from Leander High School. He served as chairman of the College Republicans while a student at SWTSU, now Texas State University in San Marcos. McCallum came to Rockwall in 2000 to work at the corporate headquarters of 7-Eleven Inc. When he resigned from 7-Eleven in 2005, he was the company's youngest executive, according to the Tyler paper.

This should make for a pretty good GOP bloodbath in East Texas.
However, according to Texas Ethics Commission Reports, Deuell himself has no campaign warchest. Instead, it's all being run through a PAC, Texans for Bob Deuell, which maintained $62,679.44 in cash as of the most recent reporting period. Aside from an expense for political consulting of $500 to someone in Greenville, more consulting fees to Jim Arnold & Associates in Austin and lots of gas and parking expenditures, the most interesting expenditure is a $500 donation to "Drummers for Jesus."

And, depending upon what Deuell has raised between that report and the one due in next month, $62K is a pretty small warchest for a contested GOP Primary in SD 2, which includes all of Rockwall, Hunt, Rains, Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Kaufman and Van Zandt counties, and parts of Dallas and Smith counties.

By contrast, Deuell spent $73,223.76 in 2000, when he faced a contested GOP Primary. And, that was in the old SD2, which included a different portion of Dallas County. He was also facing an opponent from Smith County at the time. Since McCallum has filed no reports to date, it is unknown how much he's raised or spent.

Given that Rockwall County, at least according to 2000 census figures (which don't take into account the population boom the county has experienced in recent years), has one of the smaller populations of the counties in SD2, with Dallas being the largest, it's too early to tell where, aside from the two candidates home counties, where the real 'battlegrounds' will be. Obviously, given the number of voters there, Dallas County will be a major factor for both campaigns as it is where SD2 elections are typically won and lost. However, look for Kaufman and Van Zandt Counties to be major battlegrounds, too, as both counties have good numbers of GOP primary voters.

Definately one to watch.