Front Page News

Top News

Local candidate forum cancelled
May 29 ‘probable’ date for Unified Primary
Monitor Staff Reports
KEMP–The Kaufman County Republican Women’s candidate forum slated for Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Kemp High School has been cancelled due to the uncertainty of having an April Primary date for Texas. Invited candidates included justices for the 5th Court of Appeals, Place 2; state senate and representative, state board of education, sheriff, tax assessor-collector and Precinct 4 Constable.
The forum is tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday, April 10, planner Jody Deller said.
As of Wednesday night, a federal judicial panel in San Antonio said a unified Texas Primary date would most probably be held May 29.
On Tuesday, county clerks and elections administrators testified 88 days of lead time was required to prepare for a primary election from the date new district maps are issued. Wednesday, the Texas Secretary of State's office indicated that this timeline could be shrunk to 77 days and reduced even further if military ballots were accepted for a short period of time after the primary. Consequently, new maps need to be in place sometime between early and mid-March in order to maintain the May 29th primary date.
The May 29 date causes some problems for the Republican Party State Convention set for a week later. According to a Republican Party report on the proceedings, Chairman Munisteri reiterated that it is impossible to comply with the current Texas Election Code as it pertains to delegate selection, with the primary and convention date a week apart. He strongly urged the Court to issue an order that would allow the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) to adopt a new delegate selection process which varies from the Election Code. He told the court that if there is sufficient time for planning, that in consultation with party leadership, he had several different options in mind which: would allow district conventions to still occur on schedule, allow for a May 29th primary, and still allow for a convention the next week. In general terms, he suggested different options which would completely de-couple the selection of delegates to the State Convention from the primary election.
The Court indicated that such a request could be granted provided it received U.S. Department of Justice pre-clearance. Chairman Munisteri made the case that DOJ pre-clearance is not required in a case where the changes are made as a result of court order. However, the Court indicated that they thought it was a safer route to obtain pre-clearance. A Department of Justice attorney testified that his office would expedite such a request and anticipated that the approval time could be reduced from a couple of months to a couple of weeks, thereby allowing the change to occur.
The Court instructed both political parties to consult on a new schedule for a May 29th primary. It also invited the state parties to put forth separate proposals as to how they would select delegates and conduct their conventions. Chairman Munisteri said he plans within the next few days, to have a separate telephone conference with the entire SREC to go over recommendations from the Officials Committee. It is his hope that a consensus can be arrived at. I
It is the Chairman’s goal to develop a process around existing Senatorial and County conventions so as to minimize inconvenience and logistical problems. It remains his objective to keep the State Republican Convention scheduled as planned during the first week of June.
Also on Wednesday, Chairman Munisteri, RPT lawyers and staff spent another day in the courtroom listening to final arguments in the redistricting case. It appears as though there may be an agreement between the Attorney General and the Democrats on a new Texas State Senate map.
At the time the hearing concluded, AG Gregg Abbott’s team had not reached agreement with all the plaintiffs on all districts pertaining to the Texas House map.
Chairman Munisteri issued the following statement regarding Tuesday’s proceedings. “I am disappointed that the San Antonio three-judge panel again delayed the Texas Primary Election. The Secretary of State’s witness today indicated that if the panel would issue maps within the next few days - that an April 24th primary could still be accomplished. However, now that it is apparent that April is out, the RPT will continue to fight to oppose any further slippage in the primary schedule. We will work hard with our Party leadership to come up with a plan to preserve our State convention.”
At this juncture, it appears that there will not be an agreement between all parties regarding all districts. Therefore, it appears that the three-judge panel will have to decide where the final lines are for the Texas House and Congressional districts.

Ethics complaint filed against Spitzer
By Michael V. Hannigan
Monitor Staff Writer
KAUFMAN–A former Kaufman County commissioner issued a press release Thursday saying he filed a Texas Ethics Commission complaint against District 4 State Representative candidate Dr. Stuart Spitzer.
Jim Deller, of Kemp, said he filed the complaint based on campaign material for Spitzer which used video originally produced by the State Legislature.
“The Texas Government Code is very clear about using audio or video materials produced by the legislature in political advertising,” Deller wrote. “There is not a lot of ambiguity and Dr. Spitzer was in clear violation of the law. It is difficult for me to believe this was an oversight on his part.”
Specifically, Deller said Spitzer used the prohibited video as part of an e-mail sent out on Feb. 14. He said it was also on Spitzer’s website and Youtube page.
The Monitor could not locate the video in either place on Thursday.
The Spitzer campaign would not confirm the existence of the video and didn't have much to say about the allegations.
“We have not received anything from the ethics commission regarding Dr. Spitzer,” said political consultant Luke Macias, “so there's nothing to comment on at this time.”
Macias did say the campaign wasn't looking to engage in petty politics.
“Dr. Spitzer is too busy talking about the issues,” he said.
The Monitor could not confirm the complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission before presstime.