Three candidates running to replace retiring Congressman Mike Conaway for Texas’ 11 Congressional District admitted at a forum this past week that they did not vote in the important 2018 General Election.
However, further investigation of public records by Texas Scorecard indicated that two of the three candidates in question, August Pfluger and Brandon Batch, had never been registered to vote before October 2019.
According to public records, Brandon Batch registered to vote in the State of Texas for the first time on October 24, 2019; August Pfluger first registered to vote on October 9, 2019.
Records also indicate that both voted in the 2019 November General Election shortly after registering. Both Batch and Pfluger were asked to confirm and comment on their voting records.
Pfluger confirmed the findings and promptly issued a statement to Texas Scorecard, saying, “I’ve made no secret of the fact that for much of my military career I wasn’t as politically active as I might have otherwise been. Some of it was due to my belief that it was my obligation as an Air Force officer to respectfully abstain from the political process and serve the Commander-in-Chief regardless of my personal political beliefs—just as Generals Patton, Eisenhower, Petraeus, and Dempsey had done. Honestly, a great deal of it stemmed from a sense of disillusionment in the establishment politicians that I felt had failed our country’s military in ways both big and small.”
Pflueger’s statement went on to say, “Some have chosen to take issue with my position and my rationale for not participating more fully in our political process; a viewpoint I can certainly understand. I can only say that I love my country and I support the right of every American to vote—a right I have repeatedly risked my life to defend.”
Batch didn’t comment on his voting record and whether he had ever voted before 2019, but instead told Texas Scorecard that he would email a statement. As of publishing, no statement from the Batch campaign had been received after three attempts to request a comment.
The issue over the voting records was first raised at a recent forum hosted by the Ector County Republican Party. Statements made by other candidates in the race, which include three other military veterans, can be found there.
To view August Pfluger’s full statement, click here.
