By
John
Lee
pampanewseditor@gmail.com
Twitter: @jcl1987
Being informed about the candidates in the upcoming March 1 election is a key responsibility for voters.
As a way to help the voters in this primary election, the Top O’ Texas Republican Women’s and the Gray County Republican Party hosted their annual Candidates Forum on Tuesday evening.
The event was moderated by Top O’ Texas Republican Women’s member Laura McGrath, who kicked the event off with the candidates who are running unopposed in the primary election.
State Board of Education, Dr. Jay Johnson
Dr. Johnson noted that curriculum and instructional material is the most important role of the SBOE.
“It’s what we used to call textbooks but it’s all digital now,” Dr. Johnson said. “I’m excited that we are starting a new study over reviewing and rewriting social studies this year, largely because the law was changed to prohibit critical race theory, which I think was a good thing.”
Dr. Johnson added he was one of three Republicans to vote against all of the sex education materials presented to the Board because it was “too much information” and “some of the things were invasive.” One of the items that Dr. Johnson was opposed to was the verbiage of “trusted adult” instead of “parent.”
Dr. Johnson said he is very accessible and he will answer his cell phone.
Questions to Dr. Johnson
Area he represents — Dr. Johnson said while he is unsure of the number of miles he represents, it covers 87 counties with Amarillo, Lubbock, Odessa, Midland, San Angelo, Abilene and Wichita Falls. “The good thing about this district, and people on the SBOE will tell you, ‘We like dealing with people from your district,’” Dr. Johnson said. “You’re good people over there. You don’t pull your punches but you can also talk business.”
His opponent — Aaron Kinsey of Midland.
When did we get away from reading, writing, arithmetic and science? Dr. Johnson said it was a good question and said, “It’s a written down goal for us to get back to that. We have too much social engineering going on and if we can get back to the Three R’s and some other important issues (it would be great).” Dr. Johnson added for the audience to hug a teacher when they see them because of all the hard work they do.
Pampa ISD’s Grade-School Configuration — Dr. Johnson said the idea is a great idea, financially, and there will be some bumps in the road. “It will have everything aligned, which I think is important,” Dr. Johnson said. “It’ll also make some social adjustments because all of the kids will know each other. I understand why parents are upset but I think it’s a good idea and I think it’ll work.”
Steven Emmert, District Judge for 31st Judicial District
Judge Emmert thanked those in attendance for their continued support over the years as he oversees the District Court for Gray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Roberts and Wheeler County.
“I want to give a very heartfelt thank you to the Republican Party of Gray County and the good people of Gray County who have supported me since 1998,” Emmert said.
Chris Porter, County Judge
Porter said it’s a privilege to serve the County and talked about the variety of projects the County has accomplished over the past three years.
“The Commissioners Court has been strong and made strides in our inter-local agreements with the Cities of Pampa, Lefors and McLean,” Porter said. “We had an ambulance service that was brought in about three years ago that basically saved us during the pandemic.
“We have an emergency management that is county-wide, instead of issues in the middle of a disaster about who has territory. We have diligently worked the budget and tried to do our best to make the best decisions for the citizens of Gray County.”
Jeff Haley, County Commissioner Precinct 4
Jeff Haley is the Commissioner for the southeast portions of the city of Pampa and Gray County and thanked the hosts of the forum for putting the event together before highlighting the past four years in Gray County.
“We have a great ambulance service now that saved the County money,” Haley said. “It has served the citizens well. We have a company coming in, Keystone Tower Systems, which is serving the community. It’s been great for me to work with the court. Some of these issues were hard to work through but we’ve made it happen and I’m very proud of this bunch of men.”
Haley added he sees the declining oil and gas being a challenge as it will shrink the tax base.
Connie Ogle, Justice of the Peace Precincts 2/4
Connie Ogle said she enjoys being a Justice of the Peace and said her goal is to be fair and just according to the law.
Ann Franklin, Republican Party Chairman
Franklin said she has learned a lot in her position and gave her background in Pampa and said the job of Republican Party Chairman is rewarding.
“You learn and meet a lot of people,” Franklin said. “It’s exciting to get involved in it and I want more people to get involved in it.”
State Representative District 88 Race
Ken King (R-Canadian), Incumbent
King has been the Representative for District 88 since 2013 and recapped the 87th Legislative Session.
“By all accounts it was the most conservative session in Texas history,” King said. “We banned critical race theory, we banned trans-gender athletes, we banned abortions, we did open carry and we did a lot of stuff you probably don’t know about.
“We passed the 13th check for retired teachers. We put another $35 million in the TRS (Teacher Retirement System) to make sure our teachers and retired teachers premiums don’t skyrocket. We put $124 million into rural healthcare. There’s a lot of things that happened that I’m excited to talk to all of you about.”
Ted Hutto (R-Pampa)
Ted Hutto has lived in Pampa for 52 years and said conservative values are getting lost in the schools and neighborhoods, and it’s even worse in Austin.
“We feel like our representation in Austin is not what it’s supposed to be,” Hutto said. “We want better representation in regards to regulations that affects small businesses. I feel like we can do better than that.”
Hutto said he was very blessed to be endorsed by a number of political action committees and activist groups.
Questions for the candidates
Role of being a representative?
KK- “The purpose of being a representative is just that, to represent you. A lot of things get lost when you get to Austin because you work hard to win and you ask all of you folks out here for your vote and you get down there and some special interest group wants to tell you what to do and they want to threaten you with getting in your race if you don’t do what they tell you. My thing is, I’m your representative and I represent 167,000 people in House District 88 currently. The new district is going to be 19 counties and closer to 200,000. When I think about being your representative, I want to save this district. Warren Chisum saved this district when I ran for it the first time or we wouldn’t have a rural district.”
TH- “One of the things is this a republic. From the state to the country. You look up republic, it’s the people and their elected officials. That’s what I look at, this is an opportunity to represent the republic and your wishes. I look at this district as a strictly conservative district and I will represent it accordingly. I don’t think it’s been represented that way in the past.
Experience in serving on Economic Development Boards
KK- King said he has never served on an EDC board, but has a background on Canadian Independent School District Board of Trustees and was president of the Hemphill County Appraisal Board and was on the local YMCA. “I certainly served in a civic capacity. I’ve worked with EDCs in 17 counties and we talk a lot to EDCs. They are really good assets to communities, and, like everything else, there are some that have some problems.
TH- Hutto noted he has served on local school and church boards and has been on the EDC for the past two years. “We’ve had great success with this. It’s been a challenge for these small communities. Thirteen of the 19 counties have had declining populations, one of my biggest drives has been to bring economic development to these communities. I’ve already visited with a majority of the EDC directors in these counties and Texas High Grounds. Covid has brought a lot of pluses on the economic development because a lot of manufacturers are looking to relocate.”
Specifically for King, question was asked about his voter rating of ‘sixth most liberal voting records’ of Texas Republicans
KK- “I represent you. I have never been owned by special interest and I will never be owned by special interest. Anything a [County Commissioner] votes for in the County, I could pick it apart and give you an ‘F’ on your rating. It doesn’t matter what the truth is. These groups that make these scorecards, they came to see me after they campaigned against me after I beat their minion. After I beat their minion, these groups that campaigned against me said, ‘You will do what we tell you or we will get in your race in the primary.’ That’s what they do. What do I think of their ratings? I don’t care. I care about your rating and I care deeply what you think about the job I’ve done. I have an open-door policy and am willing to discuss it with you at any time.”
Republican priorities not getting passed at the state level
TH- “I don’t think they are getting the job done.”
KK- “There are 425 planks in the Republican Party (priorities). What happen to being the party of less government? Do we really need 425 planks? You need to read them before you decide what should or shouldn’t have passed. Not all of them would make sense to everyone in this room.” King expanded on the 87th Legislative Session and the traditional conservative values that were passed. He encouraged voters to read all of the planks that didn’t pass but reminded that “less government is better government.” “I do agree whole-heartedly that local government is best. If we passed 400 laws, whether you like it or not, that’s 400 too many. Less is more. The system is meant to kill bills. There are 7,000 bills drafted in Austin every session. There are not 7,000 good ideas.”
Proper role of government and how you will perpetuate it
TH- “We need to get back to local control for our schools and local governments. Unfunded mandates are killing us. I was in a small, rural town and some of these police camera mandates, they were having a hard time funding them. We’ve got to get this government overreach taken care of. Less laws will be a better opportunity for us. Small business, local government and our schools.
KK- “What ties 19 counties together? Everybody has their issues top to bottom, bottom to top, is water, education, transportation and border security. Every Republican can get behind those four things. In a perfect world, your government would focus on those things and leave the social issues to the home and church. We can not legislate morality. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that perfect world. We try to put the breaks on it and stop some of this stuff. The true role of the state government is water, education and transportation. Border security is a federal government’s problem, but they aren’t addressing that problem.”
The rest of the story, including the County Treasurer’s (Hahn vs. Morris) and County Commissioner Precinct 2 race (Arrington vs. Cruz) will be in this Saturday’s edition of The Pampa News.
Early Voting will be at the Gray County Courthouse, Room 200, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays Feb. 14 through Feb. 25. Election day is March 1.
The last day to request an Application for Ballot by mail is Feb. 18.
