Curling’s campaign tactics questioned, criticized

The spirited campaign for the Texas House District 127 seat has intensified and turned contentious, with tensions mounting amid allegations of unethical behavior, leading to a criminal complaint.

A few weeks later, the Associated Press contacted Calvert, Huberty and other community leaders about a proposed article but no AP story was ever written.

In the weeks before the March 2 primary election, Curling launched a series of attacks on Huberty including two mailers, press releases, radio ads, e-mails and a separate Web site. The attacks claimed that Huberty had violated the laws involving conflicts of interest while serving as board president.

Shortly after, a criminal complaint by political strategist Sue Walden was filed with the Harris County District Attorney. Curling’s campaign maintains they were not the source of this complaint. 

The DA’s office subpoenaed much of the same information that had been provided to Dolcefino plus financial and payroll records from the newspaper. The school district also received a subpoena for records.

Last week, after days of research Jennifer Devine, assistant district attorney for the public integrity division, released a letter outlining a firm and serious rejection of the charges: “I have received your complaint and supporting documentation regarding Dan Huberty. After a thorough and independent investigation, I do not find sufficient evidence to substantiate any criminal charges in the matter; therefore, the investigation will be closed,”  Devine wrote to Walden and Curling.

Questionable PR 

Negative political advertising may work against a candidate by creating even more support for a targeted candidate,  typically referred to as a backlash effect.

Allen Blakemore, Huberty’s campaign consultant, said he can’t recall such a vicious campaign strategy in recent history.

“People make a lot of claims during campaigning and that is to be expected. But to take the step of actually filing a criminal complaint, that is unprecedented,” Blakemore said.

“And it didn’t work too well for her,” he quipped, referencing Curling’s small percentage of votes on March 2.

Houston City Council Member Mike Sullivan believes that Curling’s moves will backfire.

“This community doesn’t respond well to negative campaigning, and especially to the type of campaigning that Susan Curling and her Austin-based consultants gauged here,” said Sullivan.  “The residents here are smart enough to know who to vote for and do not need attack mail pieces to help them decide.  

“There is no doubt in my mind that Ms Curling’s strategy backfired on her, and I predict that it will cost her the election.  If I were her, I’d ask myself, ‘what did I get for spending in excess of $250,000?’  The answer is a paltry 20 percent of the vote, and the public now has no confidence in her. I’ve certainly lost all respect for her,” Sullivan concluded. 

Inconsistencies 

Curling claims that former opponent Addie Wiseman is endorsing her. Curling posted a statement citing Wiseman’s support on her Facebook page. Wiseman disputes this and stated, “I am not endorsing anyone in the race.” 

Curling also strongly criticized Huberty in her fliers, radio ads and on her Web site that Huberty voted to raise school district taxes and then turned around and voted to improve Turner Stadium renovations with that money.

“Dan’s tax increase was used to pay a local architecture firm for $20 million in renovations to a stadium. This firm was paid $780,000 for their services on the stadium and another $862,500 for the design of an elementary school,” she wrote.

Dr. Guy Sconzo, superintendent of Humble ISD, completely dismisses these accusations.

“That stuff is all nothing but innuendo and completely misleading and untruthful at best,” Sconzo said. “Turner Stadium renovations and the new elementary school #26 come solely from Bond 2008 approved projects...approved when the voters approved the bond issue. We don’t use operating budget for capital projects or associated architects fees.  And actually, some of the funds for Turner renovations (about 25 percent) came from the approved Bond 2005 program.” 

The candidates’ stances 

Huberty released a statement last week asking that Curling apologize.

“Political campaigns will always involve a certain amount of back and forth, charge and counter charge - it is a reality of modern campaigns,” Huberty said.  “However, in taking her attacks outside the political arena, filing criminal charges and involving local law enforcement, it seriously calls into question Ms. Curling’s judgment.”

“In light of the pronouncement from the District Attorney, Ms. Curling owes the people of this district an apology.  I believe she owes the Huberty family an apology as well.

“Curling’s actions are those of a desperate candidate, out of control and on a destructive path, willing to say and do anything to get elected.  I do not believe this is the sort of person the people of District 127 are looking for in a new state representative,” Huberty concluded.

Curling’s campaign staff fired back, with campaign manager John McCord adamant that Curling was justified in her charges.

“Mr. Huberty’s story keeps changing: first he said his wife was never paid a dime and then was forced to produce a W-2 showing her earned income,” said McCord.  “Mr. Huberty’s repeated shady ethical conduct shows a willful pattern of ignoring taxpayers. The insider deals and pay for play politics is all too familiar to the voters of this district. Dan Huberty led the charge to raise taxes in 2008 twice -- this runoff is about taxes and ethics. Dan Huberty has failed on both counts.”

McCord was apparently referring to the $550 Huberty earned selling graduation ads for the Tribune newspaper in the spring of ‘08.

McCord added, “If Dan Huberty’s defense is that he didn’t commit a crime, then his ethical standards for conduct are below that of the average Texan.”

When asked if Curling planned to issue an apology, as requested from Huberty, McCord said, “I don’t foresee any apology.” 

Money talks?

Curling was the fourth highest spender in the March elections in the state of Texas. She got 3,061 votes and spent $83 for each of them.  Huberty spent $15.93, the lowest per-vote total in the District 127 race.

The debates begin 

The Lake Houston Shores Republican Women hosted a candidate forum last Thursday, giving Curling and Huberty their first chance, since the primary election, to debate the issues.  Although the subject of the attack ads, accusations and criminal complaint did not surface, the tension was evident.

Curling received loud scoffs and laughter during her speech when she asked the 250-plus crowd to send her to Austin as a person of “integrity and character.”  Huberty supporters were clearly agitated.

Both candidates have roughly one month of stumping left until the April 13 runoff election; whether the drama will intensify or decrease in the interim remains to be seen.

Early voting takes place from April 5 - 9.  For more information about voting times and locations, visit www.harrisvotes.com. 

Follow continuing election coverage in The Tribune.

Photo: Dr. Susan Curling and Dan Huberty will face off April 13 in the runoff election for the Texas House District 127 seat.

UPDATE: press release sent by the Curling campaign contends that the race is in a dead heat:

HD 127 Runoff Dead Even

A poll taken just eight days following the March 2nd Primary shows Dan Huberty’s 28-point margin evaporating as voters begin to learn about his record of raising taxes in order to increase spending as president of the Humble ISD School Board.

Forty-three percent of primary voters now support Dr. Susan Curling, with 42 percent supporting Huberty, and 15 percent of voters remaining undecided. The survey was performed on March 10th and 11th by Perception Insight, which called 300 households that participated in the March 2nd primary.

“The Huberty tax hikes have struck a negative cord with area Republicans,” said Dr. Curling. “The more Dan explains it, the less people understand why a candidate who calls himself conservative would pass massive tax hikes instead of cutting spending.”

“The question for voters is: who can you trust to control spending in tough budgetary times,“ said Curling. “Dan has a record of raising taxes, and then blaming legislators. But leadership is not about passing the buck, but taking a stand. I am the only candidate who will work to control spending, and the voters know it.”

Huberty has tried to explain away his tax hikes – two votes in 2008 that raised the Humble ISD rate from $1.31 to $1.52 per $100 of assessed value – saying:

“We had some meetings with Lt. Governor Dewhurst, Sen. Whitmire and Sen. Patrick and I respect a lot of those men. I looked them in the eye, and I said the one thing that I know is that you’re a much better and smarter politician than I am because you deferred the burden relative to what has to be done for us back to school boards. And you make us be the bad guys.” (Kingwood Tea Party Meeting, 10/5/2009)

With the endorsement yesterday of incumbent Rep. Joe Crabb, and the strong backing of physician groups across Texas, Curling is building strong momentum to improve upon her second place performance on March 2nd. Curling has also been endorsed by the Texas Homes School Coalition, Rep John Zerwas, former State Senator Kyle Janek, United Republicans of Harris County, HOSPAC, Texas Medical Association, Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and Dr. Carlos Hamilton. And Curling enjoys the support of top financial backers, including homebuilder Bob Perry.

“From raising taxes to giving more than 50 percent of his campaign contributions to Democrats, Dan Huberty is finding he has a lot of explaining to do to Republican voters,” Curling said. “The problem is Huberty’s record can’t be explained, at least not as that of a conservative.”