In the rolling hills west of Austin, State Rep. Paul Workman is desperately hoping Republican voters will ignore his record.
His opponent, conservative leader and businessman Jay Wiley, has been waging an issues-focused ground campaign. That has Workman worried.
That’s because Workman doesn’t want to defend a record that went from above-average to flat-out horrific. He has has become the water-boy for cronyism in the Texas House. Industry handouts, carve-outs and special subsidies are his thing. Protecting taxpayers? Not so much.
In the 2015 legislative session, he voted to extend corporate welfare payments retroactively, allowing his cronies to collect cash from taxpayers in the years before the handout programs should have been available, while he also worked to keep funds flowing to Hollywood liberals.
On the other hand, Workman voted against a reform to the state’s onerous business tax that would have helped small business owners.
Of course, it was just two years earlier that Workman voted with the Democrats to impose ObamaCare on the Lone Star State.
Wiley has been widely seen throughout Travis County as a conservative leader focused on advancing practical policy solutions.
Whether or not Workman keeps his seat depends on how effectively Wiley can keep the conversation focused on the incumbent’s record.
