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Endorsement City

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With the current election season in full swing in Collin County, many Judicial and District Attorney candidates are vying for the endorsement of local community groups.  I find this process fascinating.  The hope, of course, is that if you as a voter share the same ideals as these groups, maybe you will vote for the candidate as well.

I have been noticing candidates touting some of these endorsements, and I’m not positive what to make of all of these groups. I assume the law enforcement groups (Police Associations), are choosing candidates they either know personally, or think will be pro-law enforcements having criminal law backgrounds. But some of the other groups perplex me more.

I have started to wonder not only what affect these groups may have on voters, but also the strength and legitimacy of these groups. Assuming all groups are legitimate, I wonder how many a)members comprise the group, and b)who makes the endorsement decisions? If a group is 3 members large, is touting their endorsement really any better than listing 3 local attorneys who support you? Or if a group is 1,000 members, but just the president decides on the endorsement, is that a strong endorsement?

Another question that I wonder about is the overlap of membership in some of these groups. For instance, Collin County Conservative Republican’s website links to Curtis Rath’s endorsement list. (Curtis, like me, is big on prefacing our blogs with disclaimers. And I appreciate his candidness : “This endorsement is simply my personal opinion based upon the information that I have read and heard over the last few weeks. There were no formal interviews. And, remember, that my opinion and a nickel will get you exactly five cents.”)

I don’t know anything about any of these endorsing groups personally (outside of some individual endorsements, or attorney endorsements). Information on the groups has been pulled is from their websites and candidate websites. I did my best to find all the endorsements. I also don’t think any candidate did anything wrong by seeking, being endorsed by, nor touting the endorsement of any of these groups

ATTORNEY ENDORSEMENTS

I personally believe these are some of the strongest endorsements you can get. Obviously as a local practicing attorney, I am biased. But I know many of the candidates and have worked with many of them. I think those working with and against you as an attorney can make a strong statement of endorsement. Most candidates have lists of attorneys supporting them. Unfortunately, without really digging in and spending a lot of time, the general public doesn’t and can’t know if these are lawyers that practice in the County, or practice the type of law the Judge/DA Candidate will be handling. For instance, I practice Criminal Law and have a good deal of cases in Collin County. Yet I have looked at some candidate’s lists of endorsements, and don’t recognize a single attorney’s name. For a judge that will be handling primarily criminal cases in a county, or presiding over a death penalty case in a District Court, that worries me.

POLICE ASSOCIATIONS

Several Collin County Police Associations have endorsed Judicial and DA candidates.

Collin Counties Deputies Assn.: 219th: Scott Becker, CC2: Sharon Ramage, CC3: Barnett Walker, CC6: Jay Bender, DA: Greg Willis

McKinney Police Assn: 219th: Scott Becker, 296th: Keith Gore, DA: James Angelino

Plano Police Assn: 219th: Scott Becker, 296th: John Roach, CC3: Barnett Walker, CC4: Linda Wynn Drain, DA: Jeff Bray, JP-4: Kelly Adley

Allen Police Assn: 219th: Scott Becker

Frisco Police Assn: 219th: Scott Becker

Prosper Police Assn: 296th: Keith Gore

TEXAS HOME SCHOOL COALITION

THSC PAC promotes and endorses candidates who advance and defend home schooling. THSC asks candidates for a response to a questionnaire before making endorsements for the election.

THSC’s list of endorsements include, 219th: Scott Becker, 296th Keith Gore, CC2: Sharon Ramage

COLLIN COUNTY CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS

I recently joked that this group name is akin to saying the same word three times. Because as the primary election has shown us, if you are in Collin County, you are electing a Republican, and the candidates sure battle each other to assert how conservative they are.

The Collin County Conservative Republicans organization “exists to promote conservatism in the tradition of our Founding Fathers and It exists to bring Republicans together to discuss Republican platforms. [They] are devoted to upholding the values and ideals of the party; to bring back our core principles.

They endorse For DA: Greg Willis, 219th: Angela Tucker, 296th: Keith Gore CC2: Jerry Lewis CC3: Barnett Walker, CC4: Linda Wynn Drain & David Rippel CC6: Don High

CURTIS RATH of MCKINNEYNEWS.NET

Curtis writes a blog and column for McKinneynews.net.

His personal endorsements include, DA: Greg Willis, CC2: Jerry Lewis, CC3: Lance Baxter CC4: Linda Wynn Drain CC6: Terri Green 219th: Angela Tucker 296th: Keith Gore, JP-4: Mike Yarbrough

COALITION FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT

The Coalition for Better Government is a “core group of seven citizens organized with the intent to form a representative cross-section of Collin County, Texas Republican leaders with the intent of bringing to bear both our individual and collective influence to encourage, support and endorse current and potential candidates for public office.

Although I cant say their endorsement is particularly strong, being as they are a group of seven members, I applaud them for making that information public. With a website and blog, it would be easy for them (or any group) to mask the size and intentions of the group. They even list their membership on the website, making their endorsement and purposes transparent.

CFBC endorses, DA Greg Willis, 219th: Angela Tucker, 296th : Keith Gore, CC2: Jerry Lewis, CC3: Lance Baxter, CC4: Linda Drain & Matthew Goeller, CC6: Jay Bender, JP-4: Kelly Adley

 

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 Hunter B
iederman is a DWI / Criminal Defense Attorney in Collin County. He publishes his blog (www.friscodwilawyer.com) which focuses on the Collin County and Texas legal system. He can be reached at friscolaw@gmail.com or (888) DWI-FRISCO.

 

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