The dustup in El Paso
Some El Paso Republicans have decided that they need to give their city some more political clout. Political clout can certainly pay real dividends for a city, and El Paso has lacked clout for decades. As such, they became big supporters and contributors to Governor Perry, and Governor Perry has responded by naming some El Pasoans to important positions. Hence, the El Pasoans want KBH to remain in the Senate so El Paso doesn't lose its clout.

Not surprisingly, KBH wasn't happy and interpreted their comments as "pay for play" political contributions. She pledged it would not be that way in a KBH administration.

The El Paso Times reports that Senator Hutchison became quite angry at a meeting when a group of Rick Perry contributors asked her to remain in the Senate and not run against Perry. The meeting, which was called by a Hutchison supporter, didn't quite go as planned.

The meeting with Hutchison was not designed to start the political debate, its organizer said.

"I told her, 'The next time you're in town, give me a holler, so I called some of my friends,'" said Rogers, who was El Paso's mayor during 1981-89 and has been the senator's friend for 30 years.

"I felt that she was here talking to us to see what's going on and to give us some good news, which I'm not privy to talk about because it was supposed to be a closed meeting," Rogers said.

Houghton and Hunt led the opening discussion about El Paso's emerging role in state politics.

"What we did tell her was, 'Senator, we love you. We've been working in this community for 50, 60 years and, finally, the moon and the stars have all lined up,' " Houghton said.

"The monetary issues never came up from our perspective. She brought it up," Houghton said. "We said we have made an investment in the leadership of the state. That's as far as we went."

The senator's spokesman said Hutchison reacted to Perry supporters specifically touting the accomplishments produced after significantly stepping up their political contributions.

Houghton and several others in the room agreed that the senator took a swipe at Perry's leadership record, particularly about the state's failure to solve the school finance crisis and its accompanying high property taxes.

Several El Paso businessmen who support Perry asked Hutchison to run for re-election to the Senate rather than challenge the governor, according to those at Tuesday's meeting at the Bank of the West in El Paso. The El Paso Perry supporters -- who so far have given a combined $800,000 to the governor and plan to donate hundreds of thousands more -- said their large campaign contributions to state leaders have increased El Paso's influence in Austin.

Hutchison then gave a lecture-like response, denouncing the role big-money contributions play in state government, several of those attending said.

The Associated Press of Texas then picked up the story, so it ran statewide:

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison reacted angrily recently after several El Paso business leaders suggested that she not challenge Gov. Rick Perry in 2006 because their large campaign contributions to state leaders have increased the city's influence in Austin.

During the private luncheon last week, Hutchison, R-Texas, was asked to instead run for re-election for the Senate. She responded by denouncing the role large contributions play in state government, some of those attending said.

- posted @ 9:41 PM permalink