We’ve written a lot about the bad deeds of State Representative Jim Keffer. We’ve told voters about how he’s worked to raise taxes and how he broke his pledge that he wouldn’t raise them. We’ve pointed out how he’s scored lower than Wendy Davis when it comes to fiscal issues. We’ve exposed how he worked with Democrats to benefit his own business. We’ve uncovered how he worked for years to drain his own constituents’ water. We’ve even examined how Keffer has bullied cable companies and used laws designed to protect teens from cyber-bullying to prevent voters from learning about his negative record.
But in all of this, his supporters have still maintained: At least he’s a Republican!
And we can see the merit in that. Political parties are often defined by what they’re not. While Keffer has praised provisions of the Obama stimulus bill and supported efforts in Texas to mimic the Obama IRS by enacting laws designed to bully conservative groups, nobody has seriously suggested that he voted for Obama’s reelection.
But he does have a record of supporting liberal Democrats in their reelections.
Mark Strama is a very liberal Democrat who represented House District 50 from 2005–2013. District 50 is a northern Travis County swing district that, until recently, was in play for Republicans. While in office, Strama didn’t just vote like a liberal, he was a serious player in organizing the Democratic Party in Texas and nationally. Before running for office in 2004, Strama was a pioneer in online voter registration. While in office he spearheaded efforts to use technology to engage in the sort of micro-targeting of voters that allowed Obama to win reelection in 2012. And Strama conveyed his message of using technology to a generation of liberal activists by speaking at left-wing gatherings.
Yet in Strama’s first reelection campaign in 2006, Jim Keffer went out of his way to see that Strama retained his seat. He was challenged in that campaign by Travis County Republican Jeff Fleece.
Voters in House District 60 have a choice to make this election cycle. They can choose to reelect the moderate Jim Keffer, or they can vote for conservative Cullen Crisp. Here at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, we sure know who we are supporting.
