Even for such a small man like Bill Zedler, this is beyond the pale.
Watch this video of Bill Zedler, when directly asked by Rep. Chris Turner to cease all attacks on Rep. Turner's family, smiles and plays dumb:
This is the kind of person Republicans want in the State Legislature. Bill Zedler -- the guy who defended a doctor who injected jet fuel into his patients, simply because the doctor gave Zedler cash for his campaign, regardles of how his actions may jeopardize the lives of Texans across the state.
Rep. Turner wrote an e-mail about the unforgiveable attacks today:
My opponent is desperate and spreading blatant lies about my family and me.
In his latest false attack, Zedler attacks my wife and her small business. I know campaigns are tough, but most people can agree that spouses are strictly off-limits.
Apparently, my opponent does not share this basic standard of decency. By trying to use Lisa and her career as a political weapon to win votes, Zedler has proven he will do and say anything to regain power, regardless of the truth. I need your help to show him he can't get away with it.
Donate today. We don't have many opportunities to defeat the absolute craziest State Republicans in Texas, because they often run for office in the most extreme conservative areas of the state. We're not going to defeat Rep. Leo Berman, or Rep. Betty Brown, or Rep. Debbie Riddle in an election cycle. Trying to knock off Rick Perry is, as I wrote earlier this week, an Everest-like challenge.
But we can re-elect Rep. Chris Turner to the Texas House and resoundly reject the cheap personal attacks of Bill Zedler and his Republican ilk. Donate today and help spread the word.
Two separate actions show the same pattern: Bill Zedler is hiding from voters, running from his record, and flagrantly abusing the public's trust.
First, we learn last night from Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter and columnist Bud Kennedy that Bill Zedler skipped out on the debate he was scheduled to have with State Rep. Chris Turner no more than an hour before it was supposed to start. From Kennedy's Tweets:
Arlington R @Bill_Zedler, the anti-Hooters guy, canceled an hour before his only debate with D @RepChrisTurner. All R's no-shows at LWV
Found Zedler in parking lot at FtW Tea Party event. Says his surrogate coming here had a death in the family and he decided to come here.
Now we may know why Zedler was running from the public It turns out that Bill Zedler has failed to disclose up to $13,000 in contributions. From a press release sent out from the Lone Star Project:
Texas Ethics Commission reports reviewed by the Lone Star Project show that Bill Zedler failed to report at least three major contributions – worth over $13,000 – made during the latest filing period.
[...]
Zedler failed to disclose at least three large contributions from extreme right wing organizations totaling at least $13,350:
Associated Republicans of Texas (ART) – Gave Zedler at least $10,000. ART is heavily funded by Republican mega-donors including anti-homeowner activist Bob Perry. Perry has lobbied aggressively to limit the ability of homeowners to protect themselves from shoddy and dangerous home construction (Dallas Morning News, January 21, 2007)
Bill Zedler is running from voters and breaking the law by hiding his political contributions. Zedler, like Republicans up and down the ballot this cycle, simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth.
If I have yet to mention so publicly, I must tell you that I have a huge crush on Back to Basics PAC. The aggressive manner in which this organization exposes corrupt and dishonest abuse of power activities on the part of Texas Republicans is a necessary addition to an important campaign cycle.
Republican Bill Zedler, challenger to State Representative Chris Turner in House District 96, is the focus of Back to Basics new website "Peeping Bill." You'll recall over the last two weeks that Republican Zedler was exposed as having assisted doctor-donors who contributed large amounts of money to his campaign only for the former legislator to intervene on the donor's behalf as a disciplinary review process was taking place by the Texas Medical Board. One such doctor sanctioned by the Texas Medical Board had reportedly injected his patients with jet fuel.
The "Peeping Bill" site by Back to Basics walks Texans through the litany of allegations that have now engulfed an otherwise floundering attempt by Republican Zedler to seize the very power he once abused.
Moderate Republican Todd Smith is now in the crosshairs of the local Northeast Tarrant County Tea Party because of his refusal to support Republican challengers to Democratic legislative incumbents.
Smith, the House member representing Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, fended off an attempt by Tea Party organizers to unseat him in the Republican primary after former Bedford City Council Member, Jeff Cason, received an influx of money in the waning days of the primary season from special interest organizations not happy with Smith's moderate record.
When confronted by Tea Party organizers about whether Republican Smith would support Republican challenger Bill Zedler, the subject of a controversial doctor-donor scandal this past week, against incumbent Chris Turner in House District 96, Smith responded:
"I strongly and only endorse Republican candidates," Smith said in an e-mail. "I do not get involved in races against sitting legislative colleagues -- period. This policy has served me well in advancing on the House floor the legislative interests of the people of Hurst-Euless-Bedford."
Talking heads and pundits wish for the electorate to believe that the Tea Party is an energizing force within the Republican Party, but time and again the extreme and bizarre elements of the Tea Party continue to demonstrate that they are anything but a motivating force for Republicans this election cycle. The Tea Party continues to expose the disunity and unorganized elements of the GOP. The infighting continues to pour out into the public domain. Clearly the leadership of not only the Texas Republican Party, but the national Republican Party, are unable to rein in the radical elements of a third party insurgency within their own ranks. Moderates in the Republican Party are no longer welcome as extreme has become the mainstream of the modern Grand Old Anglo Party.
The Texas Tribune has a lengthy investigative article revealing that doctor-donors to former Republican State Representative Bill Zedler made contributions to his campaign around the same time the former legislator requested confidential information about the doctors to the Texas Medical Board:
Records show that the doctors gave Zedler a combined total of $25,000 in the past half-decade and that some contributions were made just weeks before Zedler requested their case files.
Republican Zedler is running to reclaim the House District 96 seat that he lost to Representative Chris Turner in Tarrant County in 2008. This rematch is most certainly one to watch this cycle. District 96 has been trending moderate for some time while Bill Zedler has not only been leaning extreme-right, but some of his positions and statements are downright bizarre too.
The doctor-donors in question were disciplined by the state board, which is made up of fellow physicians. Despite the board's decisions, Republican Zedler felt that because he was a medical equipment salesman that he has the expertise to fight a medical board made up of doctors:
Zedler believes his experience as a medical equipment salesman gives him the knowledge to determine whether doctors were violating standards of care, or, as he argues, wrongly investigated. "I know what appropriate treatment is and isn't," he says. "I sold equipment, so a lot of times my customers were doctors. I've been inside surgical suites before - that kind of stuff."
Using the same logic as Republican Zedler I suppose that because I have my routine doctor's visits for check ups that I have enough expertise to determine whether doctors are providing adequate care. Surely a patient would have more expertise on this matter than a medical equipment salesman?
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Representative Chris Turner has been endorsed by influential Texas veteran's groups, every major state educator's organization, and most recently the Texas Association of Realtors. The consensus in House District 96 is to send Chris Turner back to Austin. Doing so will allow Republican Zedler to continue and expand his expertise in standards of care by selling medical equipment, but also ensure the constituents of House District 96 have a representative not beholden to donors and special interests.
House District 96 contains most of southern Tarrant County, encompassing the southern parts of both Arlington and Fort Worth. Considered a swing district, Representative Chris Turner won in 2008 with 51% of the vote over Bill Zedler. The district is one of the numerous suburban districts across the state where Democrats have made in-roads in recent years, and though the district definitely remains conservative, Rep. Chris Turner has shown an ability to attract cross-over voters by focusing on issues that matter to the district: utility rates, homeowners insurance, and education. This year, Rep. Turner was named legislator of the year by the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The only hitch may be Zedler himself. Republicans privately say hard-working Turner couldn’t have drawn a more ideal opponent than Zedler, whose awkward personal style and hard-right values are detached from his suburban Arlington district, where new voters are moving in and the issues they care about are in flux.
Bill Zedler is a goofball. There’s no other way to put it. He contributes nothing except to provide occasional comic relief, mainly by laughing uncontrollably when others make fun of him, as when an amendment he wrote was so illegible that speaker Craddick told members they just had to look at it on their computer screens.
Republicans have tried to claim that Rep. Turner only won because of an "Obama sweep" in 2008. However, when you look at the numbers, Rep. Turner outperformed President Obama in2008, earning over 1,400 more votes and demonstrating he has strong cross-over appeal to independents and Republicans in the district.
State Representative Chris Turner (HD-96) and State Representative Paula Pierson (HD-93) both demonstrated financial strength in their individual bids for re-election. Chris Turner posted a 13:1 cash advantage over his Republican opponent and Paula Pierson posted a 10:1 cash advantage over her Republican opponent at the July 15th reporting period.
Both Tarrant County legislators are in a tough re-election battle against formidable Republican opponents. However, these fundraising numbers serve notice that these incumbents are ready for a political fight. Representative Chris Turner reported $321,116 cash on hand compared to his opponent, former State Representative Bill Zedler, who reported $17,898 cash on hand.
To supplement these fundraising numbers, both campaigns have been engaging in strong field operations since the beginning of June. Both campaigns report having hit roughly 10,000 homes in each of their respective districts and it is just the middle of July. Not only is each campaign fundraising well but they are implementing strong field plans that are communicating to voters why each legislator should return to Austin and represent the interests of mainstream Texans.
The accolades continue to pour in for members of the Tarrant Democratic delegation to Austin. You'll recall that Senator Wendy Davisalready received"Freshman of the Year" honors by Texas Monthly. This past week State Representative Chris Turner of House District 96 received "Freshman of the Year" honors from Texas Watch, a non-profit citizens' organization that lobbies for insurance reforms, as did Senator Wendy Davis--both key legislators representing Tarrant County.
"Rep. Chris Turner is a tireless advocate for the interests of Texas families, consumers, and workers. During his first term in the Texas House, Rep. Turner showed that he is not afraid to stand up for the needs of homeowners and small businesses," said Alex Winslow, Texas Watch's Executive Director. "The people of Tarrant County and all of Texas are better off because Chris Turner is fighting on their behalf."
During the 81st legislative session, Senator Davis and Representative Turner worked together and authored a number of pieces of legislation, much of which passed, on consumer protection issues and homeowner's insurance reform---key issues that mainstream Texans demanded action on and that Davis and Turner delivered on.
There is no doubt that in 2010 Republicans will be targeting Chris Turner, with Republican Bill Zedler potentially taking aim at his old seat. Tarrant Democrats will have our hands full in defending a real leader who advocates on behalf of not only the people of his district, but Texans in whole. Senator Davis will not be up for re-election until 2012.
Democrat Chris Turner is running a terrific race in Tarrant County. We've written so much about the race in the past, it's actually best to just link to older coverage to help get you up to date:
So when you don't have real grassroots support and you're trying to veil your relationship with Tom "Absolute Power" Craddick, along with his money, what is a Republican like Bill Zedler to do? You invent your own Political Action Committee and file the wrong disclosure statements with the Texas Ethics Commission of course!
The Texas Values in Action Coalition sent a complaint to the Texas Ethics Commission today demanding that Zedler, in the race of his life against Democrat Chris Turner, file the correct disclosure forms with the state, which is after all, required by law.
This, from Patt Pangburn with TEXVAC:
"The Zedler campaign needs to immediately stop using and replace incorrect and misleading disclosure statements, and correctly identify who is paying for their campaign material," said Pat Pangburn, a TEXVAC board member who also filed the complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission. "He should not play hide the ball with voters about the facts that Tom Craddick and his allies are financing his campaign."
