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Endorsements, transportation and even the Texas Rangers — the peace officers, not the baseball players — were on the minds of gubernatorial candidates Thursday.
One day after Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison touted her endorsement from former Vice President Dick Cheney, Gov. Rick Perry unveiled two endorsements of his own: the 11,000-member Texas Association of Builders and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who heads the national Republican Governors Association. "I’m not keeping up with the scoreboard," Perry said while at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. He had no comment on Cheney’s endorsement but said he is excited that former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will campaign with him and endorse him early next year. "If it’s the World Series, they would have called it in the seventh inning," he said. "I’ll put mine up against anybody else’s any given day."Hutchison spokesman Jeff Sadosky said both Hutchison and Perry "will have significant conservative backing and endorsements" and reiterated that the campaign is delighted to get Cheney’s backing.The builders association endorsed Perry’s re-election bid because he "continues to demonstrate a commitment to keeping Texas open for business with his steadfast dedication to low-tax, limited-government policies," said David Miller, who heads the association’s HOMEPAC board of trustees.As Perry focused on his newest endorsements Thursday, Hutchison’s campaign criticized the governor for taking photos in Austin with Texas Rangers after announcing last month that he was sending many of them to high-crime areas along the border."If the Texas Rangers are standing with Rick Perry in Austin [Thursday], then who did he deploy to the border last month? To Rick Perry, border security is nothing more than a 'photo opportunity,’ " said Joe Pounder, deputy communications director for Hutchison.Perry’s campaign said the governor did not summon the officers to Austin for a photo opportunity."It’s unfortunate the senator and her campaign would criticize the Texas Rangers who were in town for annual training," said Mark Miner, a Perry campaign spokesman.Transportation talkMeanwhile, two Democratic candidates sparred over transportation issues.Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hank Gilbert rolled out his transportation platform Thursday afternoon in Fort Worth.Gilbert proposed funding highway construction with an 8-cent gas tax increase, followed by future hikes of up to 4 percent a year based on rising highway construction costs. He also proposed banning all future toll roads unless voters approve one in their area.Gilbert’s proposal may sound similar to the local-option-funding package that North Texas officials tried to get through the Legislature this year. It would have allowed voters in metropolitan counties to consider tax and fee increases, including a gas tax hike, to pay for better mobility.Gilbert said he opposed that measure because he prefers a statewide gas tax increase and feels that any funding mechanism should also tax drivers passing through the area, not just those who live there.Gilbert also wants to create a 14-member elected Transportation Commission headed by a chairman elected statewide. The Texas House passed a measure this year that would do that, but it died in the Senate. The Texas Department of Transportation "has become an agency that the people of this state cannot trust," Gilbert said.Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth, another candidate in the Democratic primary, does not have a transportation platform on his campaign Web site, but he released a statement Thursday criticizing Gilbert’s gas tax proposal as bad for middle- and lower-income families and small businesses.Dropping out?On Wednesday, Garland therapist and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Thompson said he has put his campaign on hold and may drop out next week.Thompson ran for railroad commissioner in 2008.ANNA M. TINSLEY, 817-390-7610 AMAN BATHEJA, 817-390-7695
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