The Fort Bend Chamber held a CD22 Candidate forum during lunch on Friday at the Sugar Land Marriott. It was the first chance in this area to see all (now 9) candidates up close and personal.
Chamber leader Marvin Marcel emceed and new Fort Bend County GOP Chair Rick Miller was on hand to help organize the candidates and the questions. Both did a great job.
No real surprises from any of the candidates in terms of what they said -- most stuck pretty close to what you can find on their candidate websites and adhered to the conservative bread and butter issues of smaller government, less taxation, strong defense, winning the war on global terrorism and getting a handle on illegal immigration.
They were given 3-1/2 minutes each to introduce themselves and then each were asked 2 questions (all different). None of the candidates stumbled but a few stood out in terms of their ability to have a presence on the stage and be heard above the din of clattering lunch plates: Judge Jim Squier, newbie Brian Klock, and former Sugar Land mayor Dean Hrbacek.
Allen "Doogie" Steinberg (really, Allen, we mean that affectionately) also did well and held his own against the much more experienced (or at least older) folks on the dias with him. Note to the nutjobs: The above does not mean we're endorsing any of these candidates -- just reporting what we saw and heard.)
The funny thingThe real fun was what happened "off stage." There is a local weekly newspaper publisher (of the Fort Bend Star), Bev Carter. This woman is as mean and spiteful a person as you'd ever want to meet. Seriously.
Most of the local elected officials can't stand her and the grassroots Republicans in Fort Bend pretty much think she's Satan incarnate. She used to be a Republican of sorts, but now she "believes she is an independent." LOL. She's been kissing up to Nick Lampson every chance she gets and endorsing doomed democrats so draw your own conclusions.
Any way, ol' Bev's HATES (and we don't think that's too strong a word) former CD22 Congressman Tom DeLay. She also HATES CD22 candidate Dean Hrbacek almost as much (has ever since he was mayor). Probably has something to due with Hrbacek suing her a few years back.
Now Bev considers herself a journalist (almost no one else does but this woman is a legend in her own mind). So when she got to the lunch she paraded right to the front of the already crowded room and sat down at the table that was front and center (we don't know if Bev bought a ticket or was invited to sit at that sponsored table or not.. we're guessing not, but could be wrong). Any way.....
The first thing Bev did was find the hotel manager in charge. She was pretty mad that there were some Hrbacek signs (along with some other candidate signs) hanging outside in the lobby directing folks to the ballroom. She demanded to know if Hrbacek had permission to put the signs there. He did and from what we heard from someone who overhead the encounter, the manager pretty much told Bev where to go. (More on the signs later.)
Now, it just so happened that Tom DeLay had been invited to kick-off the luncheon and guess where Tom was assigned to sit? You got it... right next to his arch enemy Bev "B.K." Carter. You could almost see the smoke coming out of this gal's ears. We kept looking to see if they would land any blows... but no such luck.
But Bev must have been sitting there really stewing over those Hrbacek signs in the lobby. Cuz, after the luncheon, Bev was caught red handed ripping them off the walls! No really. She was. Someone from Hrbacek's campaign confronted her and demanded she give them the signs -- and Bev literally threw them at her and stormed away!
Note to Dean: We don't think you're going to get this gossip columnist's endorsement. But then again, that just might help you out at the ballot box. A lot of people we talk to tell us if Bev is against you that's enough reason for them to vote for you.
Note to the other Candidates: You might want to hack Bev off before the primary just so she says some nasty things about you, too. (Just refuse to buy any ads in her miserable little free-delivery paper and that should just about do it.) You don't want to leave Dean with that big advantage. :)
2 comments:
is it just me or does she look like a man in drag?
You may be on to something there :)
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