With a strong record as a fiscal, social, and limited-government conservative it should come as a shock to no one that Democrats are already organizing against State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood).
Since winning his seat in a close Republican primary runoff election against liberal State Sen. Bob Duell, Hall has crafted a solid record of living up to the campaign promise that he was the “Right Bob for the job.” Serving his first session in 2015, Hall was part of an impressive, conservative freshman class that won major pro-gun, pro-taxpayer, and good governance victories in 2015.
Since his election, Hall has earned numerous distinctions for his conservative record. Individually, he was ranked the most conservative member of the Texas Senate by Rice University professor Mark Jones, in addition to a “Taxpayer Champion” distinction by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and earning an A rating from the Young Conservatives of Texas.
It’s that same record that makes Hall the first lawmaker Democrats have announced a campaign against this year. Stepping forward to challenge Hall is Kendall Scudder, a mid-twenty year old manager of a Dallas nonprofit organization that deals with government housing.
In what appears to be a re-print of Scudder’s press release by KSST radio, Scudder takes aim at Hall for his support of the Senate’s conservative, balanced budget that forces government to live within its means and keep its hands off the Economic Stabilization Fund.
“Bob Hall should be ashamed to have his name attached to the type of financial dismantlement that is proposed in the 2017 Senate budget,” Scudder said. “This legislation guts $150 million, or 36% of all funding, for pre-school education programs. Your children deserve better.”
On his website, Scudder’s priorities mostly revolve around supporting the educational bureaucracy, taking strong positions on opposing school choice, abolishing A-F grading for public schools, and expanding government Pre-K.
In light of such a challenge, Hall says he’s not backing down and will continue to fight for conservative reform in the Texas Senate.
“When you’re ranked the most conservative senator in Texas it paints a pretty big target on your back,” said Luke Macias, Hall’s campaign consultant. “We fully expect Democrats to oppose us in the general election and the Republican primary. They will stop at nothing to keep conservative representation from Senate District 2.”
