A Colleyville City Council candidate’s claims of being a conservative are in question after a former councilman posted text messages that show the candidate’s staunch opposition to high-profile Texas conservatives.
A series of text messages between Place 2 candidate Vanessa Steinkamp and an unnamed source were posted on the Facebook page of former Colleyville City Councilman Chris Putnam. “Her own supporters are sharing information because she’s so dishonest and running a shameful, disgusting, and false whisper campaign against her opponent,” Putnam wrote.
In the messages, Steinkamp wrote, “I hate [U.S. Sen Ted] Cruz” and that she would be voting for State Sen. Beverly Powell (D–Burleson), who at the time was running against and defeated conservative former Republican State Sen. Konni Burton.
Steinkamp also described herself in the text messages as liberal on social issues while conservative on fiscal ones. However, on her own Facebook page, she advertises herself as a conservative with no such differentiation, and wrote in one post, “I’ve never wavered in my Conservative beliefs … ”
“She has been flat-out lying to voters about who she is simply to win an election,” Putnam claimed.
The Steinkamp campaign has yet to issue a response to Putnam’s post.
Colleyville’s city election is Saturday, May 4.