Posted on 02/17/2004 2:09:01 PM PST by GOPcapitalist
Justice Smith Responds to Perry Interference in Texas Supreme Court Race
Austin, TX - Governor Perry formally endorsed Justice Paul Green today at a press conference held in San Antonio at the Bexar County Republican Party Headquarters at 1:45 p.m.
I. In response, Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith said:
"I am not surprised that Governor Perry has endorsed my opponent. Perry's office recruited Green to run against me and Perry's associates have been openly running Green's campaign.
"The Governor's endorsement is simply a case of 'sour grapes.' He remains upset that I defeated Xavier Rodriguez, Perry's appointee to the Court. Rodriguez, a former Democrat, ran as a self-described moderate. Among other statements, Rodriguez labeled himself a 'judicial moderate' and equated his judicial philosophy with liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter. I ran against Rodriguez to give voters a choice between a self-described moderate and a proven conservative.
"I made several attempts to find common ground with the Governor. After my primary victory over Rodriguez, I tried to meet with Governor Perry and was rebuffed. After winning the general election, my efforts to meet with Perry were once again rebuffed. Finally, after completing my first term on the Court, I made another attempt this past summer to schedule a meeting with the Governor and was rebuffed. Clearly, regardless of my performance on the Court, Perry has always intended to seek my defeat in this primary election.
"Another explanation for Perry's endorsement is my opposition to racial preferences. Perry, a former Democrat, is in favor of returning racial preferences to the University of Texas at Austin. In contrast, I am a lifelong Republican who filed and won the Hopwood case.
"I believe that Perry's endorsement will have only a minimal effect on the race. I have worked hard my first 15 months on the Court, my written opinions have been well-received by the legal community, and it is undisputed that I am the strongest proponent of judicial restraint on the Texas Supreme Court. I have received substantial financial support from both the business community and the state's largest law firms. However, my strength of my campaign is the tremendous support I have among conservative Republican leaders, activists, and voters.
If I can get my voters out, I am confident that we will prevail."
II. In response to Perry's endorsement, Texas Republican National Committeeman Tim Lambert said:
"Justice Smith has been an outstanding judge on the Texas Supreme Court and has upheld the conservative tradition of interpreting the law, instead of legislating from the bench. Justice Smith is exactly the kind of conservative judge we need on the Texas Supreme Court."
III. In response to Perry's endorsement, Cathie Adams, President of the Texas Eagle Forum, said:
"I am disappointed that Governor Perry did not endorse Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith. Along with many conservative and pro-life leaders throughout the state, I strongly support Justice Smith's re-election. Justice Smith has an excellent conservative record on the Supreme Court and was the only judge to rule that the Texas Constitution does not require the Robin Hood property tax redistribution scheme."
IV. In response to Perry's endorsement, David Rogers, Justice Smith's Campaign Manager, said: "We remain confident. We believe that Republican voters are more interested in maintaining traditional values on the Texas Supreme Court than they are in satisfying Rick Perry's personal vendettas."
"Unlike the liberal elite, Justice Smith believes that policy matters like abortion, education funding, and homosexual rights should be decided by the Texas Legislature, not activist judges in liberal courts. We believe that Texas Republicans want to keep that kind of judge on the Supreme Court."
Justice Smith is best known as the attorney who filed, litigated and won the Hopwood case that ended racial preferences at Texas universities from 1996 through 2003. Justice Smith has served on the Supreme Court since Nov. 20 of 2002, and has been in the majority on the Court more than 95% of the time since then.
Freepers really need to rally behind Justice Smith. Perry has a personal vendetta against him for defeating his hand picked RINO candidate in the last primary - a candidate who publicly said he would be like DAVID SOUTER on the supreme court.
Smith is the most solid and independent Republican vote we've got on that court, so we can't afford to lose him to the Tom Phillips and Rick Perry crowd.
There are actually several rumors about either Senator Hutchison or Comptroller Strayhorn challenging him in the Republican Primary next time. Though each has her flaw, either would get my vote before Governor "Hate Crimes."
Personally, I don't consider either of them to be ideal or inspiring candidates for Congress - even with McCaul's work in government before now. So while I lean McCaul, I'm not planning to do anything more on his behalf than simply state that fact. That entire field also seems more like a bunch of rich guys trying to buy a seat than anything else.
HA! Talk about RINOs!!!
You've gotta be kidding me. I can't believe you would considering voting for that kind of crap.
As always, a FReep mail will get you on or off this Houston topics ping list.
The operative words here are RINO and again! I too am sick of hearing how conservative the guy is.
I believe the first one was under Bush in 1999, though Perry seems to have signed an extension or something. He also signed the redistricting bill. Those are the only two things I can think of that he's ever done as a conservative.
Contrast that with hate crimes, affirmative action, appointing David Souter wannabes to the courts, and a whole slew of other things and its pretty clear he is no conservative.
Between either of them and Perry, absolutely. As I stated, both Strayhorn and Hutchison have many faults. But they are both better than Perry.
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