A candidate’s false claim about his Second Amendment credentials has fired up a Texas House race in the final days before Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff election.
The misleading mailer came from Frederick Frazier, who is facing off against Paul Chabot in the runoff race for House District 61 in Collin County.
The mailer claims Frazier received a “top AQ rating” from the National Rifle Association, indicating the gun rights group considers the candidate “pro-gun” (based solely on responses to a questionnaire, since he does not have a voting record on Second Amendment issues).
The NRA shot down Frazier’s claim.
In a legislative alert sent to Texas NRA members to “set the record straight,” the organization said “this is NOT an accurate piece of mail.”
The truth is that Frederick Frazier has been rated a “?” by the NRA-PVF for the GOP primary runoff election taking place next Tuesday, May 24.
According to the NRA Political Victory Fund, the “?” rating indicates a candidate who didn’t answer the NRA-PVF candidate questionnaire or has made contradictory statements or taken positions that are inconsistent with their answers to the questionnaire or previous record.
A rating of “?” often indicates indifference, if not outright hostility, to gun owners’ and sportsmen’s rights.
The NRA alert to members said Frazier told them he was “unaware of the mail piece.”
Misrepresenting our ratings or our position in any election contest does a disservice to you and all our members, as well as other gun owners to whom protection of their liberty and firearm freedoms is a factor in how they vote.
Conservative commentator and gun rights advocate Dana Loesch picked up the story, calling Frazier a soft-on-the-Second Amendment Republican.
The mailer was created by Frazier’s Austin-based campaign consultants, Murphy Nasica, who are notorious in political circles for misleading attack ads.
Murphy Nasica told the NRA the false claim was a “mistake” and “unintentional.”
Last week, voters received another mailer from Frazier’s campaign questioning Chabot’s military service and status as a disabled veteran.
Chabot fired back with a web page documenting his service and Frazier’s attacks.
He also documents the open “sign-gate” prosecution against Frazier for allegedly impersonating a public servant and stealing Chabot’s campaign signs. According to Texas Rangers who investigated the incident, criminal charges are pending.
“It’s one of the most dishonest, I think disgraceful, campaigns I’ve seen,” Chabot said in a video response to the avalanche of attack mailers sent by Frazier’s campaign.
“Their consultants want to make a lot of money, and the lobbyists are paying for my opponent,” he said. “These consultants down in Austin charge a ton to do mail.”
Chabot and Frazier were the top two finishers in a three-way GOP primary on March 1, sending them to the runoff. Frazier finished first in the primary with 42 percent of the vote. Chabot came in second with 37 percent—a difference of about 800 votes.
The winner of Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff will face Democrat Sheena King in November. House District 61 was redrawn during last year’s redistricting and is considered safely Republican.
