After hiatus, TV ads back with vengeance
Posted on 09/17/2002 4:17:24 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
After hiatus, TV ads back with vengeance
Sanchez criticizes insurance rates; Perry says figures from '98
09/17/2002
AUSTIN - Resuming the TV ad attacks suspended in observance of Sept. 11, Democrat Tony Sanchez on Monday blamed Gov. Rick Perry for allowing the highest homeowner insurance rates in the nation.
The new Sanchez spot cites industry figures that Texas homeowners are paying $680 a year above the national average for insurance.
"You're paying the Perry premium," an announcer says in the 30-second ad, the third in a series of spots critical of the Republican governor for rising insurance rates.
The Perry campaign defended the governor's efforts to curb insurance costs but did not dispute that Texas homeowners pay the highest rates in the country. A spokesman noted that the figures are from 1998, when Republican George W. Bush was governor. Mr. Sanchez was among Mr. Bush's biggest campaign contributors.
"Why did he support Governor Bush in 1998 if he was so troubled by insurance rates?" Perry campaign spokesman Ray Sullivan said.
Mr. Perry assumed the governor's job after Mr. Bush was elected president in 2000.
The 1998 figures are the latest available from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which conducts an annual survey of rates. Industry officials say homeowner insurance rates have risen since, chiefly because of increased losses from mold and water damage.
The Sanchez ad accuses Mr. Perry of collecting more than $1 million in campaign contributions from insurance interests and of mismanaging efforts to keep rates down.
Mr. Sullivan rejected the allegations and said, "Governor Perry has taken strong action to crack down on irresponsible insurance companies through two state investigations, a state lawsuit against one of the biggest insurance companies and tough new proposals to re-regulate and lower insurance rates."
As the Sanchez camp went to the airwaves on insurance, the Perry campaign introduced a new TV spot Monday, dealing with education.
The Perry spot features a young boy saying he has a better chance of going to college because teacher salaries are higher and schools are better.
"Our new education ad stands in stark contrast to the false new attack ad unveiled by insurance and banking millionaire Tony Sanchez," Mr. Sullivan said.
Meanwhile, the Texas Republican Party filed a complaint Monday with the Texas Ethics Commission accusing the Sanchez campaign of violating campaign laws by paying almost $700,000 to consulting companies owned by three Democratic state lawmakers.
GOP officials said the arrangement allows candidates to avoid detailing how they spend political contributions.
The money is part of $17 million that Mr. Sanchez spent on consultants through June 30, the end of the most recent reporting period. The fees include money spent to buy television ads, the campaign's biggest single cost.
Consultant payments listed by the Sanchez campaign included $73,112 to Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo, $90,266 to Rep. Yvonne Davis of Dallas and $520,641 to Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston.
Mr. Coleman said that all the money sent to his company was spent on campaign-related expenses and that he made no profit from the payments.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, got $30,000 in consulting fees from the Sanchez campaign last year. Mr. Maxey, who did not seek re-election this year, no longer works for the campaign.
The Sanchez campaign defended the expenditures, saying they all were reported properly on state campaign finance forms.
E-mail wslater@dallasnews.com
< /sarcasm >
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