The Democrats are working as hard as they can to take this seat. They have an army of local volunteers, with reinforcements being bussed in from Austin to get out their vote. If Republicans sit back and do nothing, Chris Bell will absolutely win this runoff election. Overconfidence and apathy are our biggest enemies during the final 48 hours of this campaign - but with your help Monday and Tuesday we will be victorious and send Joan Huffman to the Texas Senate. 

We have volunteer phone banks and neighborhood block walks running all day Monday and Tuesday and we have posted the shift schedule below. Even if you only have time to volunteer for a couple hours, that time will help elect Joan Huffman to represent District 17. In such a close election, one person volunteering for one hour can make all the difference.
 
Help us retire perpetual candidate Chris Bell once and for all and send a proven conservative leader to Austin.
 
Can Joan Huffman count on your support as a volunteer during our final countdown to victory?

December 9, 2008

Mikal Watts and Notorious “Tobacco Five” attorneys write big checks

AUSTIN, TX – Personal injury trial lawyers continue to provide most of the funding for Chris Bell’s campaign for State Senate District 17.  Bell’s 8 Day report, released today, revealed an additional $449,533 in contributions from personal injury trial lawyers and trial lawyer front groups.  Trial lawyers have given Bell a total $984,154 in the SD 17 race so far – fully half of all his contributions.

“Chris Bell is an enemy of lawsuit reform who will work for the lawsuit industry if he is elected to the Texas Legislature.  Voters in Senate District 17 should make sure that doesn’t happen,” said TLR PAC Director Justin Unruh.

Bell received hundreds of direct contributions from trial lawyers including $100,000 from Mikal Watts, a personal injury trial lawyer who was exposed last year for bragging that he could influence South Texas trial judges and the appeals court because of his large campaign contributions.

The deceptively named Texans for Insurance Reform, a trial lawyer front group that has received 97% of its contributions from trial lawyers in 2008, gave Bell an additional $268,373 during this reporting period, bringing their total contributions to him for the SD 17 race to $631,494.

Six figure contributors to Texans for Insurance Reform include “Tobacco Five” attorneys John Eddie William, Walter Umphrey and Harold Nix, all of whom shared a $3.3 billion fee awarded by former Attorney General and convicted felon Dan Morales.

Bell also received $38,874 from the Texas Democratic Party, which received 87 percent of its contributions from personal injury trial lawyers this year.

Bell’s Direct Trial Lawyer Contributors
Texans for Insurance Reform  $268,373.31
Mikal Watts - $100,000
William Hagans - $20,100
Jay Harvey - $2500
Peter Kraus - $4000
Richard Laminack - $2500
Howard Nations - $5000

Texans for Insurance Reform Major Contributors
Michael Gallagher - $200,000
Nix Patterson Roach LLP - $100,000
Provost Umphrey - $100,000
Williams Kherkher Hart & Boundas LLP - $100,000
Abraham Watkins Nichols Sorrels & Friend - $20,000
Jack Browning Baldwin - $25,000

Contact:  Sherry Sylvester
210-241-5296
sherrysylvester@satx.rr.com

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Help Support the Joan Huffman Campaign to win SD 17!!!

“Austen Furse owes an apology to the families of SD17 that he lied to, not me,” responded Huffman. “Mr. Furse has deliberately misled the voters through his reckless conduct and lies, and he needs to apologize to each voter he misled, by our count approximately 55,000. It will be up to the voters to accept his apology, and he will learn their verdict on November 4.”

Remarkably, on the same weekend that Furse apologized for lying about Huffman’s record, his campaign sunk to a new low by mischaracterizing criminal cases brought before Huffman’s court by the district attorney’s office involving child victims.

“It is despicable that Austen Furse would sink to this new low and exploit children for his own political gain. For Austen Furse to drag these children through the mud is beyond forgiveness. This man will do and say anything to get elected,” concluded Huffman.

Joan Huffman, candidate for State Senate District 17, was previously elected twice in Harris County as a Criminal District Court Judge. Prior to her tenure on the bench, she was Chief Felony Prosecutor, Special Crimes Gang Prosecutor and Legal Counsel to the Organized Crime Narcotics Task Force under Harris County DA Johnny Holmes. Joan has also served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Assessment Center Foundation of Harris County and as Co-Chairman of its Advocacy Committee. Joan is a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and lives with her husband, Keith, and son, Luke, in Southside Place.

In addition to her understanding of the region’s importance, Howard stated that Huffman’s record as a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s office and as a judge in the 183rd Criminal District Court demonstrates a temperament, tenacity and sense of fairness that resonates with residents in Jefferson County. “Respect for and consistent application of the law are important measures of a candidate’s maturity and Joan has demonstrated both in her career,” Howard stated.

He concluded, “Joan has reached out consistently and appropriately to Jefferson County and I am honored to support her. I think she represents the greatest opportunity we have to win against a tough Democrat opponent and govern in an effective, meaningful way for her constituents here in Southeast Texas.”

The SD-17 election will take place in a special election to be held concurrently with the general election on November 4th.

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Huffman, a Republican, started out as a secretary in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, attended South Texas School of Law at night and rose to the position of county prosecutor. Voters twice elected Huffman a criminal district judge, though she has been away from the bench for the past few years.

She and husband Keith Lawyer, a nightclub chain developer, are personally and financially committed to the contest. They have put more of their own money into the race - $750,000 - than any other candidate. The large sum is likely to help Huffman stand out in a crowded field, a large district and an expensive media market.

Huffman faces Republicans Austen Furse and Grant Harpold as well as former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell (D-Houston) in the Nov. 4 special election.

“I’m doing this because I want to make a commitment to this race,” Huffman said. “We see it as an investment in Texas.”

As a criminal judge Huffman had to make many tough decisions, including sentencing offenders to life in prison and even death. Before jumping into the race, Huffman reviewed her court decisions, because she knew her opponents would do the same.

“It was a bit overwhelming,” she said. “Every story was a tragedy.”

She said her experiences as a judge and a mother distinguish her from her competitors. With Gov. Sarah Palin pushing her own personal story as a ‘hockey mom’ in the presidential contest, some voters may also find Huffman’s narrative - sending gang members to prison by day, caring for a school-aged son at night - compelling.

While Huffman is campaigning heavily on her life story, she said she is also focused on several issues: border-security, education and property taxes.

To secure the border, Huffman supports both physical and “virtual” fencing. The priority, she said, must be to “stop the flow of drugs, criminals, and gangsters.”

Huffman said the state has been “very generous” funding public education, “but we’re not getting results.” She supports merit-based pay raises and raising teacher pay so that Texas is closer to the national average. Huffman said sacrifices, such as cutting administrative expenses, might have to be made to accomplish these goals. Huffman is also a proponent of career and technical training for high school students.

“We would have less dropouts if we had alternative forms of education,” she said.

Huffman said the state’s property tax system needs “full reform.” In addition to limiting state spending, she wants to lower appraisal caps. She also wants to repeal or reform the margins tax, which Huffman said is hurting small businesses.

She doesn’t see major philosophical differences between her and the Republican field.

“I think we all are similar in our conservative principles,” Huffman said.

She does see a contrast between herself and Bell, whom she expects to face in a runoff.

“Chris and I do have some basic value beliefs that are different,” Huffman said. Bell believes “large” government is better than “limited” government. He looks to the federal government, she said, to provide universal health care in order to solve health care problems.

While the former prosecutor is used to stating her case in the courtroom, she said the campaign has changed her.

“It has also caused me to reach inside myself and find things within myself to make me a better person and a more outgoing person. So it’s been good for me,” Huffman said.

Bell is already airing television commercials, and both Huffman and Furse are likely to follow soon.

“I have committed to a positive campaign. It’s not my style to go negative,” Huffman said. “I’m not going to start the fight.”

By Jason Thurlkill