Once a State Representative or Senator is done serving in the Texas legislature, it doesn't mean they are done working in the pink dome.
Texans for Public Justice has looked at 10 formerly elected officials including 8 Republicans and 2 Democrats. All 10 of these former State Representatives were serving in the House just this last session and now have gone through the revolving door to get huge payouts to lobby.
Texans for Public Justice looked at the 68 lobby contracts held by Mike Krusee, Fred Hill, Kyle Janek, Pat Haggerty, Corbin Van Arsdale, Dianne Delisi, Kevin Bailey, Robby Cook, Tony Goolsby and James Murphy currently have. Because of reporting laws, lobbyist are only required to disclose whether they fall within a range and not the specific amount the actual revenue from each lobby contract.
Lobbyist are only required to specify if they make less than $10,000, $10,001 to $24,999.99, $25,000 to $49,999.99, $50,000 to $99,999.99, $100,000 to $149,999.99, $150,000 to $199,999.99, $200,000 to $249,999.99, etc.
This makes it difficult to determine how much these 10 formerly elected officials are actually making.
Needless to say, these 10 men have 68 contracts and are currently getting paid anywhere from $2,025,000 to $3,890,000. Mike Krusee and Fred Hill appear to be the two highest paid former elected with Tony Goolsby and James Murphy rounding out the bottom.
In case any one is concerned how former lobbyist Todd Hunter is doing after taking a pay cut to work at the capitol again, don't worry too much. In 2007, Hunter had 4 lobby contracts that could have made him as much as $225,000. He should be okay for a little bit.
The more I find out about Juan Garcia, the more I don't believe him. If I don't believe a man, then I certainly vote won't for him."
That's how Todd Hunter's ad closes as he attacks House District 32 incumbent Juan Garcia.
Interesting since Todd Hunter's desperate ad deceives voters. Hunter must know what he's doing since he won't even step up to the plate and approve the message or be in the ad.
At one point in the new Hunter ad, he refers to the Republican led revolt against Tom "I am the decider" Craddick. Saying, ""When he didn't get his way in the Legislature, he walked off the floor of the Texas House."
We all know the reality of that claim. The uprising was started by then Representatives Republican Pat Haggerty of El Paso and Republican Mike Krusee of Round Rock.
The poignant moment was when Haggerty forced a roll call vote the only way he knew how. He took a list of names from his pocket and began asking every member of the Texas House if they still supported Tom Craddick. After reading a modest amount of names and getting some answers, Haggerty was gaveled to be quiet. A motion to vacate the horrid speaker Haggerty led the charge and asked every member, regardless of party, to join him and breaking quorum.
Todd Hunter clearly doesn't get it. He is so out of touch. In fact, he had to hire an actor to attack Rep. Garcia because he couldn't find a voter to do his bidding.
That's why the Garcia campaign is asking an important question about Hunter's deception.
We want Todd Hunter to tell us, who is his new-found friend with the backwards cowboy hat and store-bought clean gloves. What kind of cattle does he run, if any at all? Does this "around here" rancher have a ranch around here?
These are the tactics of a desperate campaign. Hunter is a horrid candidate. He is bad on policy and he is bad on the campaign trail. His latest attack ad proves the point.
Maybe the cowboy actor will honor his pledge. Voters can't believe anything Todd Hunter says, and they certainly shouldn't vote for him.
There are few times a video moves you in politics. Sharon Cave's story is a tragic one. Cave describe how a families worst nightmare led to reforms that help prevent similar tragedies.
In addition to sitting down with Rep. Garcia, Cave also wrote about her experience.
A magnet on my refrigerator reminds me every day, "Be the change you want to see in the world." I went to Juan Garcia for help making the change that was needed in Texas Law- and he delivered. This is the story of a battle that was won by a freshman legislator and a grieving mother.
As a lifelong Republican, I am proud to have Juan Garcia representing our Coastal Bend Area. I hope you will join me in supporting him as our state representative.
This is a hard video to watch, especially if you have been faced with a similar tragedy before, but it shows the kind of person Juan Garcia is.
Democrat Juan Garcia and Republican Todd Hunter are waging what is going to be the most expensive State Representative race this cycle. Republicans know that, without knocking off Garcia, they are in trouble. Garcia, however, is running an excellent campaign on the issues -- and exposing Hunter for the opportunist that he is.
It would take to long to re-write, so first, go read this diary:
In 2006, Garcia proved that he can run an excellent campaign. In 2007, Garcia proved that he is an honest, hard-working leader in the Texas House.
In 2008, Garcia will prove again that he's an excellent campaigner, and ultimately the people of House District 32 will be all the better off for having Rep. Garcia fight for re-election.
Here are some other links that previous coverage of the race on Burnt Orange Report:
KT put the newest Juan Garcia ad up a few days ago. The ad focuses on closing the revolving door in Austin.
To prevent legislators from using their final months in office to feather the bed with big lobbying contracts, most states require a two to three year wait before a departing member can register as a lobbyist. Before a member of the U.S. Congress can register as a lobbyist, they are required to wait two years. Before a Navy Admiral or a Marine General can register as a lobbyist for a defense contractor, there's a two to three year wait.
Not so in Texas.
Here in Texas, legislators step down from office in the morning, and they can be registered lobbyists that afternoon. Last week, Texans for Public Justice reported that there are now 1,629 registered lobbyists in Texas, with $348 million worth of lobbying contracts.
One person is familiar with the revolving door, Todd Hunter. Hunter went straight from the State House to the the... well... State House. First as an elected official then as a energy lobbyist.
That calls into question his motives in the final days of his final session. Who was he looking out for? Was he passing laws for future clients or current voters? Those questions aren't a big deal when the revolving door is slammed closed. When it takes 2, 4, or 6 years before a former elected official can go lobby, people know that their representative is working for them.
Todd Hunter questioned Garcia's push to clean up government, asking why "Juan Garcia is afraid of lobbyist". Garcia's response and Hunters negativity were captured on film.
Garcia continues to make good government a top priority. It is still unclear what Hunter is campaigning on.
Sunday: Last Sunday's Corpus Christi Caller Times reported on Hunter's millions that he has received in payment for lobbying for insurance and energy companies, and his refusal to release his tax records. The Hunter campaign's latest position is that they won't release tax records because "it might not clear it up."
Monday: Following Gene Seaman's campaign strategy, Todd Hunter is a no-show at a major HD-32 debate at Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. Local affiliates report that the debate goes on with Representative Garcia and Libertarian Leonard Nelson participating in front of a large crowd and 3 major television stations. (You can see the debate for yourself here.)
Tuesday: Desperate to change the subject, local GOP hack leadership produces and attempts to air a false and inflammatory TV ad about Garcia. Both KRIS (NBC) and KZTV (CBS) affiliates refuse to air the ad.
"We take our obligations as trustees of the public airways very seriously. We had concerns about the accuracy of some of the allegations in the advertisement, and on advice of legal counsel decided not to accept it." Billy Brotherton - General Manager KZTV.
After watching the ad, it's pretty clear why it was rejected.
Wednesday: With the nation in the midst of historic economic turmoil, the Hunter Campaign announces a "Town Hall" meeting ... at a Yacht Club.
Thursday: The mastermind of this strategy? Campaign consultant Steve Ray. Ethics report filings for Jan. 2008 - June 2008 shows that Hunter's campaign manager, Steve Ray, has been paid over $82,000. That is over $13,000 a month. Not sure what that $82,000 has bought the campaign.
Friday: With the Garcia Campaign starting their third week of unanswered saturation TV advertising, Hunter attempts to generate some media coverage ... by splitting a 30 minute segment on an AM radio talk show with the manager from "Mac's Bottomless Pit BBQ."
Saturday: With their TV ad rejected, the local GOP rocket scientists take to the airwaves with a radio ad, accusing Garcia of voting for a measure that would have increased windstorm rates for coastal residents. The Caller-Times publishes an "Ad Fact Check" pointing out that "what the ad doesn't say is that it passed unanimously in the Texas House," and that both candidates support similar measures.
Todd Hunter continues to have really bad weeks. The sad part is that most of this has been self-inflicted wounds. But then again, how does a Windstorm Insurance lobbyist explain to the Coastal Bend that he really wants to help them when he has been lobbying against them for 10 years.
Todd Hunter is Gene Seaman Part 2. He's lazy, he's arrogant, and he's out of touch with his district. More importantly, he's getting lost in a sea of amateur mistakes that is concerning Republicans that his campaign is floundering. At this point, Hunter's only hope is to pour special interest lobby money into the race with a flood of negative advertising.
And don't worry -- that will be coming soon. Here's a look at Hunter's no good, very bad week:
Todd Hunter is hiding enough insurance lobby money to bail out Freddie Mac.
Hunter continues to refuse to release his tax records, because he knows that as soon as he does everyone will know exactly how much he is financed by the insurance lobby. Seriosuly -- this has been months in the making.
It's a stupid campaign move. He could have released them months ago, when no one was paying attention. Now, instead of only Garcia running ads on "Hunter paid by the insurance lobby" Garcia can run ads on "What is he hiding?" and then run ads on "Hunter paid by the insurance lobby." It gives Hunter no time to construct a counter-narrative.
Hunter runs scared, Garcia wins twice, and another Republican runs a crappy campaign in HD 32.
Todd Hunter dodges debates like hippies dodge drafts.
Juan Garcia is a Naval Commander who was a top aide to the deputy Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. Todd Hunter is ducking out of planned debates before constituents at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
I have only one question: who is ready to lead?
Running scared on his tax records. Running scared from constituents. If Seaman lost because he was unlikeable and senile, Hunter is going to lose because his campaign is trying to see if a candidate can get elected while hiding under the bed.
Todd Hunter is turning into Seaman with his negative advertising
Remember when Seaman started getting desparate and running bogus attack ads? It backfired pretty hard. And now that Hunter is running a lobby-funded campaign that hides from constituents, guess what he's started to do: run negative radio ads.
The latest falsely attacks Garcia for votes on HB 2960. From Garcia's campaign:
The radio attack ad claims that House Bill 2960, "would have led to big rate increases for coastal residents and hurt the economy of our area." The ad asks, "So why did our three state representatives vote to make our rates go even higher?" The Facts: HB 2960 was authored by Representative Smithee, the Republican Chairman of the Insurance Committee. Along with Garcia's vote, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association measure passed the House unanimously, 137-0. According to the House Research Organization, the measure held the promise to "give TWIA the tools to become solvent and healthy for years to come. A strong TWIA creates more security for Coastal Bend homeowners and that will drive windstorm rates down, not up, and stimulate economic growth for our area."
Seriously -- this is supposed to be the best shot Republicans have at beating a Democrat? Running a candidate that is like Gene Seaman, without so much viagra? A less enthusiastic, cranky, incompetent, short-sighted candidate that may be running the largest industry-influenced campaign in the district's history -- this is who Republicans think will win?
Todd Hunter is a rerun candidate. We've seen this schlock before, and the voters in HD 32 did, too. They didn't watch it then, and they're going to turn out Todd Hunter again in November.
In a staggering act of arrogance, Big Insurance/Big Energy Lobbyist and HD-32 candidate Todd Hunter continues to refuse to give up his tax records (unlike Juan Garcia). His latest reason? It might confuse people. From yesterday¹s Corpus Christi Caller-Times article, "Fees Hunter Received For Lobbying Are Unclear".
Hunter's opponent in the race for Texas House District 32, State Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, has repeatedly raised questions about Hunter's lobbyist ties and has also renewed calls for Hunter to release his tax returns for 10 years.
They claim he has been paid between $1.6 million and $2.9 million, estimates based on adding the lowest of the reported ranges and the highest of the reported ranges.
"You know, he could clear all of this up if he would release his tax records," Garcia said Thursday.
The Hunter camp says no, disclosing his personal income tax records may not clear up any of this up, because some of the lobbying checks may have gone to his law firm.
In an attempt to deceive the public, Hunter campaign consultant Steve Ray (who has cost Hunter over $82,000 in fees during the 6-month period between January 2008 and June 2008 according to the Hunte's July 15, 2008 Campaign Finance Report), said that Hunter has made disclosures.
To date, the only disclosures that Hunter made are investment disclosures, which are silent on the amounts he has made over the last 10 years of lobbying for insurance and energy companies. In those years, Todd Hunter's overall lobby contracts totaled up to as much as $3.6 million dollars
At another candidate forum, a citizen outraged that Hunter (who never served in the military) would demand Garcia's Navy records as a condition of releasing his own tax records, challenged him to produce his Selective Service Draft records. Hunter stunned the gathering by responding that he couldn't remember if the draft was active when he was in college. In this heavily-military community, which has given disproportionately both in Vietnam and in the Desert, this will not be forgotten.
Why do you now conveniently forget whether or not there was a draft? Why are you now ashamed of being a Big Insurance/Big Energy Lobbyist? It has been over 100 days since Hunter agreed to release his records, what's the hold up?
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson contacted Lenard Nelson, a Libertarian candidate for State Representative in the hotly contested House District 32 race and broached the subject of abandoning the race.
According to Nelson (L-Rockport), Patterson called him and the two had a conversation in which he says Patterson, whom he knew casually through the Republican Liberty Caucus, didn't directly ask him to abandon the race, but did broach the subject.
"We talked about hunting and fishing, and then the conversation turned to politics and I told him how I was really into the race, really committed--it's my second time to run--and to giving the Republicans and the Democrats a hard time," Nelson said.
"And after that he said, 'I guess there is no sense in me asking you to drop out then,'" Nelson said.
