State Rep. Sarah Davis (R–West University Place) has given her campaign website a makeover ahead of the November general election.
Davis, who is the only openly pro-abortion Republican in the state legislature, experienced a difficult re-election bid during the Republican primary in March. Gov. Greg Abbott took the notable step of endorsing against the incumbent legislator, saying “She’s not really a Republican, but she has a ‘Republican’ by her name,” and comparing her to his own 2014 opponent former State Sen. Wendy Davis.
Indeed, Davis’ record was on the far left of her Republican colleagues. During the most recent legislative session alone, Davis voted with Democrats to kill a state spending limits bill, raid the state’s “Rainy Day Fund,” and fight against proposals to for property tax reform and relief. For her votes, Davis earned a miserable 33 on the Fiscal Responsibility Index, a score that placed her below two Democrat legislators.
But like most candidates that run with an “R” next to their name, Davis attempted to hide her liberal behavior in Austin, with a campaign website and material referring to herself as a “conservative voice in Austin.”
After Davis won the March primary, however, it appears she has shifted gears and revealed her true intentions in an effort to court crossover Democrat voters.
No longer does her campaign website call Davis a “conservative voice.” Instead, amidst new campaign puffery, the site touts Davis as an “independent leader,” stripped of all references to limited government and fiscal conservatism.
It’s perfectly acceptable for candidates to change the issues they focus on to appeal to different audiences, but outright lying to their voters isn’t. And Republican voters in House District 134 should ask themselves why Davis is more truthful to Democrats than she is to what she calls her fellow Republicans.
Davis faces Democrat Allison Sawyer in the November general election.
