Top Texas GOP Senate Candidates Set To Debate
AUSTIN (AP) - The top four Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate prepared for their first televised debate Friday night, revealing recent fundraising totals and accusing one another of trying to cheat in the debate.
Nine candidates are running in the GOP primary to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring, but the leaders include Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz and former ESPN football commentator Craig James. If one candidate does not win more than 50 percent of the vote in the May 29 primary, the top two will take part in a run-off July 31.
Dallas television station WFAA will host the debate, and it will be broadcast on Belo Corp.-owned stations in Houston and Austin, and offered to public television stations across the state.
A kerfuffle arose Thursday around a planned segment of the debate when the candidates are expected to ask one another questions. James issued a statement saying that he'd received a text message from fellow candidate Cruz suggesting what he should ask Cruz when the lights go up in Dallas.
James said the text read: "For what it's worth, since you're asking me a Q, it might be worth asking me something about Dew skipping 31 debates (or something else related to his record). Just an idea... Ted." The text refers to Dewhurst's decision not to make a few joint appearances with the other candidates at small party forums.
"In my mind, this is nothing more than an attempt to rig the system," James said. "I've campaigned that I'm going to stand for right, and this is simply not right. I leave it now to the press and the public to decide whether this kind of politics is acceptable in 2012 Texas."
James Bernsen, a spokesman for the Cruz campaign, confirmed that Cruz sent the text.
"Ted has consistently and publically denounced David Dewhurst's record of ducking 30-plus debates across Texas and the suggestion by Ted that another candidate join in shining light on Dewhurst's record of hiding from Texas voters should come as no surprise to anyone," he said.
Dewhurst is the clear front-runner with statewide name recognition and a personal fortune to fund his campaign. The other candidates are competing to face him in a July run-off. Dewhurst has accused Cruz of exaggerating his record as Texas solicitor general, a post appointed and supervised by the attorney general, and denounced Cruz for trying to set up the question.
"This is unfortunately what Texans have come to expect from Ted Cruz. If he's not taking credit for Attorney General Greg Abbott's record ... Cruz is rigging yet another debate," Dewhurst said in a statement.
The Dewhurst campaign announced on Wednesday that it had raised $1.66 million in first quarter of 2012, bringing his total haul to $5.6 million. On Thursday, the Cruz campaign reported raising $1.3 million for a total of $5.2 million raised so far. Neither campaign would report how much cash they have on hand.
The Leppert and James campaigns have so far not released their fundraising totals.
The primary race was delayed because of a legal challenge to Texas new political districts, which lawmaker must redraw every decade when new census date is released. Experts worry the delay from March 6 to May 29, the day after Memorial Day, will result in low turnout. Republican voters are even less likely to turnout now that Mitt Romney faces no serious challenge for the Republican presidential nomination.
Party activists, who are more likely to vote, have greater sway when turnout is low. Therefore the candidates have all tried to paint themselves as the "true conservative" in the race and have attended small events aimed at loyalists across the state. Most advertising so far has been limited to cable television and local radio.
The Friday night debate will be the first time the candidates have had a chance to address a statewide audience.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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