Reply #15: Sent This Letter To Texas Speaker of the House [View All]

[TexasLawyer]

with lots of cc's--

Rep. Tom Craddick
Speaker of the House
State Capitol 1W.9
Austin, Texas 78701

Re: Talmadge Heflin’s Efforts to Unseat Hubert Vo
Dear Mr. Craddick,

I read with great dismay that State Rep. Talmadge Heflin will ask the state House of Representatives today to overturn the results of his failed re-election bid in House District 149 and either order him returned to the Legislature or call for a new election. I urge you to deny this request, as it is an outrageous attempt to circumvent the majority wishes of the district’s voters.

If simple respect for democracy is insufficient reason to deny Mr. Heflin’s request, you should focus on the implications that granting Mr. Heflin’s request would have upon the public’s perception of the Republican Party, both inside and outside Texas.

The Republican Party of Texas is already viewed as extremely partisan and unfair. The redistricting engineered by the Texas legislature may have successfully rid the state of several Democratic US representatives, but it has left much of the state—both Democrat and Republican—with a sour taste for this kind of dirty, below-the-belt, (and probably illegal) fight. This perception will only be magnified, and rightfully so, if the Republican majority in the Texas House denies Hubert Vo his rightfully earned seat as decreed by the voters of his district.

It would be an even worse move to try to unseat Mr. Vo given his Asian heritage and extensive support in the Asian community. It is well known that the Republican Party of Texas has made extensive and so far successful efforts to woo Asian voters. Denying Mr. Vo his rightfully earned seat in the Texas House would clearly undermine those efforts and impede Republican inroads made with this rapidly growing and powerful voting group.

All Texans, and indeed the world, are watching as you, Tom DeLay and others are under investigation in Travis County for taking and illegally redistributing campaign contributions. As I am sure you are aware, Common Cause and other public interest groups have publicly requested that you step down for, among other things, accepting large amounts of money from Mr. DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, which your campaign aides then distributed to Republican House candidates. Denying Mr. Vo his seat will merely add gallons more fuel to these already blazing legal and public relations fires.

Again, I urge you to respect the will of the voters and to deny Mr. Heflin’s request.

Sincerely,

"TEXAS LAWYER"