Taxpayers in SD 28 looking to elect a conservative in the upcoming special election to replace Sen. Robert Duncan have two names to avoid: Delwin Jones and Greg Wortham.
Jones, a former state representative from Lubbock, was one of the most receptive legislators to the Austin grow-government crowd during his time in office. He was so receptive to them in fact, Jones wrote a letter in 2012 to the lobby class soliciting campaign contributions for his unsuccessful attempt to win back his seat from Taxpayer Champion Charles Perry (who beat Jones in 2010 Republican Primary). In the letter, Jones describes the lobby class as the “’Third House’ of the Legislature” and an “important part of the Legislative process.”
During the last two sessions Jones was in office when Texans for Fiscal Responsibility compiled a Fiscal Responsibility Index (2007 & 2009), Jones scored a 46 and a 71, respectively. Young Conservatives of Texas listed Jones as a “Certified RINO” in 2009 for his career average of 58%.
Wortham, the former mayor of Sweetwater and a supporter of President Obama and his 2009 federal stimulus package, has spent considerable time shilling for the taxpayer-subsidized wind energy and bashing those who support limited government.
Before his election to mayor of Sweetwater in 2007, Wortham founded the West Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse (a wind energy trade group) and serves as its executive director. In that role, Wortham has publicly complained about the lack of state and federal subsidies flowing to the wind-energy market, blaming state and Texas congressional officials for not providing “incentives” to increase wind-capacity, despite a $5 Billion expansion of transmission lines to west Texas wind projects.
His shilling for wind energy has been so aggressive, it’s draw attention from the Sierra Club (yes, THAT Sierra Club).
In a feature article in the Sierra Club Magazine, the left-wing environmentalist group dubbed Wortham the “Mayor of Wind,” depicting him in a battle against the Tea Party and Koch Brothers. Highlights of the article include Wortham’s admission of support for President Obama and assertion that Comptroller Susan Combs and other “Tea Party politicians” should resign for daring to question the value of taxpayer-funded wind subsidies.
Needless to say, if taxpayers in SD 28 are looking to elect a conservative to represent them in the state’s upper chamber, Delwin Jones and Greg Wortham aren’t the men for the job.
