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.
Republican Speaker Joe Strauss continues to show that he picked the right puppet to spearhead the Texas GOP's efforts to disenfranchise elderly, veteran, minority, and low-income Texans from voting. Todd Smith, the flip-flopping legislator who Chairs the Elections Committee, is set to push his Party's highly partisan voter suppression legislation in 2011 should Republicans control the House in 2011.
"It may not receive attention in the press because of competition from other issues, but in terms of the extent of the contention on the issue itself among the parties or the members, I don't see it as being dramatically different," Smith said.
Oh Smith, things are drastically different this cycle. The fact that Texas is in an $18 billion dollar budget hole, with no Federal stimulus dollars set to bail you out this time, you and Rick Perry have a lot more pressing issues and policies to address than highly partisan legislation meant to address phantom issues fabricated to increase and prolong the GOP majority in Texas.
I could see a number of things the legislature could address that is far more important than political power grabs.
Let's start with the budget, shall we? How do you plan to address the CONSERVATIVE estimates of an $18 billion dollar shortfall in our fiscal state budget?
Novel idea for you and Joe Strauss. How about convincing Rick Perry to dump $9,999 in taxpayer funded rent for his mansion, his personal chef's (yes plural), and wine magazines for a quaint $1 a month home? That's just for starters.
How about addressing the fact that Texans pay some of the highest utility costs in the nation?
How about addressing the fact that Texans pay some of the highest insurances rates in the nation?
Texas Republicans continue and demonstrate that their legislative priorities are nowhere near the priorities of mainstream Texans.
The primary race between Republican Todd Smith and his opponent Jeff Cason has become really, really ugly in the past couple of weeks. Cason, a former Bedford City Councilman, received a surge of dollars from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, and a slew of Republican PAC's such as Citizen Leader, Empower Texas, and Texas Oil and Gas.
Prior to the eight day out report filing, Cason had only raised roughly $8,000. Having now been rescued by his new found PAC buddies, Cason reported over $90,000 raised. A stunning surge of money in a race indicative of the fight between moderates and extremists taking place within the Texas Republican Party. Will extreme continue and be mainstream, or will moderates be able to hold on and survive? That is the question that will be answered on March 2nd in HD-92.
The Star-Telegram reports the following about some of the mail pieces being tossed around in HD-92:
Fisher called it "the most disgusting piece of political literature I think I've ever seen."
The mailer is in reference to a bill from Smith that would have allowed defendants to petition a judge to be exempted from registering as a sex offender if their crime involved consensual sex with a minor. Judges already have discretion in such cases where the defendant is under 18. Smith said his bill would have allowed judges that same discretion for defendants who are 18 or 19 when the victims were no more than four years younger.
The bill passed with strong support in the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Perry, who wrote that it failed "to adequately protect young victims."
Smith took issue with the imagery of a beaten girl for a bill that involved only cases of consensual sex. He also said Cason misrepresented the bill by saying it would have changed the handling of cases involving girls "as young as 13."
Cason stood by his characterization of Smith's bill.
Anyone can read the bill for themselves and they'll see that Todd thinks 17-year-old young men who coerce a 13-year-old girl into 'consensual' sex should have a way off of the sexual predatory registry," Cason wrote.
Nasty indeed. There are great implications to this race, particularly from the Voter Suppression Legislation perspective. You'll recall that it was Smith as head of the Elections Committee who attempted to ram through a Voter ID Bill, but ultimately scuttled his own legislation. Cason, along with the above referenced issue by the Star-Telegram, has pursued Smith hard on Voter Suppression proclaiming he wants a more stringent and tougher Indiana-style Bill.
Republican State Representative Todd Smith, architect of the 81st legislative sessions Voter Suppression Bill, is in the stiffest primary challenge of his legislative career as Tarrant County Republican Chairwoman Stephanie Click endorses his opponent, former Bedford City Councilman Jeff Cason. This from the Star-Telegram:
When asked whether she was endorsing Cason, Klick said, "I think that his temperament might be a better choice in this particular race."
Click's endorsement is a stunning example of how the Texas Republican Party continues to eat its own. Smith's opponent, Jeff Cason, is supported by Texas for Fiscal Responsibility, which conducted heavy recruitment efforts prior to the January filing deadline. Anti-Smith websites are up on the web as well. As the extreme element of the GOP becomes the mainstream, moderates like Smith are finding themselves without a home within the Republican tent.
At the center of Click's anger toward Smith is a voicemail, which was conveniently leaked, in where Smith chided the GOP chair for her efforts to encourage Republicans in Tarrant County to contact Smith in opposition to provisions of his Voter Suppression legislation. Smith left the following message for Click:
"This is the governor and the lieutenant governor's work, and I'm doing the work of the league of the Republican women, some of whom are too stupid to realize it and it's pissing me off, so bye."
Ouch! Not very statesman like now is it? Moreover, this message confirms what many of us were saying during the heat of the debate over the GOP's top manufactured issue---that Smith was doing the bidding of the extreme leadership of the Texas Republican Party.
Republican Smith, Representative for House District 92 in Bedford since 1996, has run unopposed from both sides of the aisle until the 2008 election cycle when Democrat Kalandra Wheeler challenged him. 2010 represents the first year in which Smith has had to fend off an opponent from the extreme element of his Party. Much like Smith did in the spotlight with Voter Suppression in which he folded like a house of cards, one wonders whether his house of cards will tumble at the expense of the extreme wing of his own political party.
If ever a case existed of a legislator's profile crumbling before our very eyes due to intense scrutiny and the demands of leadership then Representative Todd Smith was that case during the 81st legislative session. Despite these truths, House District 92 will likely continue to be represented by a Republican after the 2010 election cycle.
House District 92 contains the beating heart of the Mid-Cities, which is essentially Hurst, Euless, and Bedford, but also parts of Grand Prairie that fall under the Tarrant County umbrella. This territory is generally known as Northeast Tarrant County.
Todd Smith was first elected to the Texas legislature in 1996 after serving a prior five years on the Euless City Council. He has essentially run unopposed as a Republican in every election but was challenged in 2008 by Democrat Kalandra Wheeler who received 34% of the electorate vote in a district that voted 39% for President Barack Obama.
"I believe to the bottom of my heart, if I was putting on my partisan Republican hat, the best thing that could possibly happen would be for this legislation to be narrowly defeated, so Republican candidates could go into these marginal (could go either way) districts and blame Democrats for elections being less secure than they could be," Smith said.
Except it was the crazy right-wing Republicans that Smith actually caved to -- Democrats were willing to compromise, but Republicans weren't and Todd Smith, because he has no leadership and always wanted the bill to fail, just caved to Republicans. As Todd Hill write last week:
Todd, you killed your own legislation before you even got it out of committee. You said, "here's my version, but I'll vote for yours if you want me to." That's just pathetic, just plain pathetic.
"What I'm trying to do is act in a way that satisfy [the conservative wing's] concerns but also doesn't blow up this body," said Smith. "But I don't pretend to control the votes on the House floor and it seems to me there are two possibilities: Either we reach some sort of consensus in a bipartisan fashion, or we will simply make a statement, have a record vote and go home having not passed a voter ID bill."
"We got a choice to make. Do we want to pass a bill or make a statement? And it's clear to me that some members that simply want to make a statement. They're not interested in passing a bill."
"Some members?" Try Republicans. It is House Republicans, and only House Republicans, that are blocking any compromise on this garbage legislation. Rep. Anchia was working on compromises for weeks. Democrat Rep. Joe Heflin voted for the damn thing (though it wouldn't have mattered if he voted against it -- Bonnen only voted against the bill once he saw that Heflin had voted for it, which means Heflin coudln't have killed it even if he voted "no").
Todd Smith -- its your own party. Say Republicans -- don't say "some Members." It is the members of your party, the Republican Party of Texas, that refuse to move an inch and refuse to show any good faith efforts on anything.
Republicans wanted this bill -- and now Republicans are trying to kill this bill. Simple as that.
The true test of a politician is if they have the political Will to do what is right regardless of Party affiliation. In Todd Smith, it is confirmed, he lacks the political skin to be worthy of the honorable title of Texas State Representative. He is not capable of looking out for the interests of his constituents, let alone Texas. Time and again Smith proves that he will fold under intense political pressure.
As expected, and called out by the Matt Angle at the Lone Star Project, we at Burnt Orange Report, and Texas Democrats in general, Smith has folded like a house of cards on Voter Identification---giving in to harsh partisan demands from his Republican colleagues and melting like warm butter under a hot Texas sun. Smith will bring forward the nasty, partisan Senate version of Voter Suppression legislation that is modeled after the Indiana-style bill that erects the largest of walls possible in limiting the right of Texans to vote. Smith adds another point of failure to a pathetic career as a legislator.
We at Burnt Orange Report have chronicled the political demise of Todd Smith since I called him out in 2007 on his original Voter ID vote, claiming he did so because he was "Republican." Then, with a new speaker this session, Smith managed to climb himself out of the political doghouse, being passed up for other plum committee assignments to instead carry the partisan pale known as Voter Suppression as Election Committees Chair. Despite hearing time and again from his constituents this session, even when attempting to have secret Town Halls that he really didn't want his constituents to attend, House District 92 residents showed up in mass and told Smith to do something about their electric bills, escalating insurance rates, and make college education affordable again---just leave their sacred right to vote alone.
So the questions we all have on our minds right now is will the 81st legislative session end in a crisis in leadership as the 80th legislative session did under Tom Craddick? Will Speaker Straus get weak in the knees like Todd Smith and be railroaded by partisan hacks or do what is right for Texas? Stay tuned.
Smith floated another draft of a possible compromise bill on the floor today. Smith has been leaving Sen. Troy Fraser's SB 362 parked in committee in hopes of finding something that will pull a few swing-district Democrats to vote "aye."
But that's getting push-back from GOP hardliners on the committee and stopping him short of the five votes he needs.
"I have a really good agreement with [Republican] Rep. [Dennis] Bonnen and Rep. [Dwayne] Bohac, and [Democratic] Rep. [Joe] Heflin," Smith said. "I'm having trouble getting Rep. [Betty] Brown and Rep. [Linda] Harper-Brown on board.
Linda Harper-Brown won her re-election by a mere 19 votes. Harper-Brown beat Democrat Bob Romano 19,857 to 19,838 or 48.72% to 48.67%. Former Texas Republican Party Political Director Royal Masset estimated that a photo ID requirement would reduce Democratic turnout in Texas by 3%. In House District 105, that would have cost Bob Romano about 595 votes.
Is Harper-Brown pushing a fundamental political ideology or is she worried about re-election?
Rightwing voter suppression tactics may cause the death of any legislation passing out of the Texas House.
This is a simple situation of the far right not being able to agree with the moderate Republicans in the House who are trying to at least attempt to compromise with Democrats. There are a large group of Democrats who want to preserve the ability of every Texan to vote, and so it is the middle of the pack on both sides of the aisle who will get this bill passed.
Brandi Grissom of the El Paso times sums up the fight in a piece yesterday.
GOP lawmakers unwilling to compromise on strict voter identification requirements they have made a priority at the Capitol may be the very ones who kill the effort in the Texas House, state Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, said Wednesday.
"If the far right is unwilling to accommodate on this legislation to any extent, then they do have the power to succeed in killing voter ID, and I will certainly allow them to do so," Smith said.
In the wake of a new, more restrictive bill, the Texas Democratic Party is urging people to contact the House Election Committee and request a hearing on this controversial bill.
Today, House Elections Committee Chairman Todd Smith circulated a new, more restrictive version of the Republican Voter ID bill that absolutely requires a Photo ID before a voter would be allowed to cast a regular ballot. The Committee could consider and vote out this legislation on short notice as early as this afternoon or at any time called by Chairman Smith.
Call the House Elections Committee members and tell them you support House Democrats' call for Chairman Smith to schedule a public hearing on this unacceptable version of the Voter ID bill before the Committee even considers taking a vote.
How is the new bill more restrictive?
According to Dave Montgomery at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the bill takes away all of the compromises and moves it more in line with the Betty Brown, Warren Chisum, Tom Craddick wing of the party.
Smith, R-Euless, backed away from his original plan, which allowed voters to present a photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID, after 71 of the 76 House Republicans issued a statement insisting on a strict photo ID law.
In another major change, Smith also modified a provision in his earlier proposal that would have kept the bill from taking effect for four years in order to educate voters about the new ID requirements. Now it would become effective in January 2011.
Voters who are indigent, have a religious objection to the documentation, or live in a nursing home would be exempt from the photo ID requirements in Smith's revised plan. The bill would also exempt voters who are at least 70 years old and never had a birth certificate because their births weren't recorded with a state vital statistics office.
It's important to note these changes make the House voter suppression bill worse than SB 362.
As the Texas Democratic Party points out, Voter ID requirements place costly and time-consuming new bureaucratic barriers between voters and the ballot box that will make it harder for all of us to vote. There is no evidence of voter impersonation and Texans face far more urgent problems, but Texas Republicans are following a national Republican agenda to keep failed leaders in office with laws that would reduce turnout among seniors, students, people of color and those with lower incomes.
The fact that SB362 and ever other voter suppression bill is legislation in search of a problem may be a big reason why nobody in the Republican Party can agree on how to legislate it.
The Austin Chronicle has an incredibly impressive write up of the on-going shenanigans. Lee Nichols talked with Republican Todd Smith who said:
"But they want it without any money for registering voters, or without a transition period, or without a signature verifying process," Smith continued. "Then I don't get the marginal votes. It's time to find out whether Rep. Brown and Rep. Harper-Brown want a voter ID bill, because my distinct impression at this point is that they do not. For whatever reason, I am under the distinct impression that they want to kill it, and I may give them the opportunity to do that."
There are only a few weeks left, and the fact the target is moving around so much is the exact reason why more public input is necessary. People's ability to engage in our democracy is too important to have a thrown together piece of partisan legislation.
There are only two solutions. 1) more public input to work through possible problems and legal challenges or 2) refuse to pass a radical, restrictive piece of anti-voter legislation.
In either case, Speaker Joe Straus and Election Committee Chair Todd Smith are the two people in the drivers seats now.
Republican Todd Smith has signaled he is ready to bring forward out of the Elections Committee Voter Suppression legislation that although watered down when compared to the Texas senate version, and so far has received a cold response from Republican House colleagues, that ultimately when push comes to shove Smith would support a tough Indiana-style Voter Suppression bill that his GOP pals want:
Smith said he is prepared to fight for his plan but added that if the choice is between an Indiana-style photo ID bill or nothing at all, he would vote for a photo ID bill.
"The reason I take that position," he said, "is it's very clear that my constituents want something done on the security side of elections."
Republican Smith continues to demonstrate it is more important that he carry the partisan pale for the Texas GOP versus supporting and passing sensible legislation to combat escalating utility costs and rising insurance rates--legislation that would have a positive impact in the lives of everyday Texans, particularly for constituents in House District 92.
