The Texas Association of Realtors, a fixture of establishment politics in Austin, just announced their endorsement of liberal Democrat John Turner in House District 114, a seat currently held by State Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas).
Villalba was defeated in the Republican primary election in March by Lisa Luby Ryan who will face Turner in the November general election.
In their statement, TREPAC, the organization’s political arm, made the outlandish claim that Turner’s “commitment to finding fiscally responsible, sustainable solutions will make him a valuable addition to the Texas House.”
In reality, Turner’s own campaign website exhibits his lean toward fiscal irresponsibility, with sections advocating for looting the state’s rainy-day fund, expanding Obamacare in Texas, and his opposition to proposed local spending caps, which would reign in out-of-control municipalities from racking up huge bills and passing them on to residents in the form of skyrocketing property taxes.
And despite TREPAC’s ostensible support for property tax reform during the last legislative session, Democrats (and liberal Republicans) blocked any meaningful reform. Turner gives no reason why he would be any exception.
As is par-for-the-course for TREPAC, however, the endorsement has little to do with substance, and even less with the preferences of actual Texas realtors. Instead, the organization’s apparent goal is to support establishment friends, when feasible, even if it means selling out their own interests and membership in the process.
