Although he was expected to attend and answer questions at an Arlington Republican Women’s candidate forum today, Jonathan Stickland’s opponent was a no-show.
Scott W. Fisher of Bedford is challenging Stickland (R–Bedford) in the Republican primary. The Republican Women’s luncheon was expected to be Fisher’s first public appearance since starting his campaign.
Since announcing in September, Fisher has engaged in a vicious campaign attacking Stickland over statements he made years before he was in office, including when he was a teenager. The dirty tactics have received the praise of DC-based Democratic operatives eager to see the conservative Stickland removed from the Texas House, where he serves as the chief advocate against liberal special interests.
Fisher’s dirty campaign has been run by establishment consultant Craig Murphy and is financed by a number of former Republican politicians who have been defeated or opted not to seek reelection in order to avoid voter scrutiny of their records.
Sources at the forum suggested that Fisher skipped the event out of fear that he might be forced to answer questions about his campaign’s questionable tactics.
Fisher has also refused to distinguish himself from Stickland on the issues. However, in one media release, his campaign falsely alleged that one of Stickland’s bills to ban red light cameras was “opposed by conservatives.” In 2015, Arlington voters supported a local ban on the city’s red light cameras by a healthy 59-41 margin.
As a member of the JPS Hospital board, Scott Fisher has also received scrutiny for obstructing transparency reforms.
Unfortunately voters were not able to ask him questions about these issues today.
