The Final Sprint to Election Day

A standing room-only crowd attended the final political forum of the primary election season hosted by the Fayette County Republican Party. The forum took place Saturday afternoon at the Fayette County Ag Building.

The race for Texas House District 85 between incumbent Stan Kitzman and challenger Tim Greeson attracted the most attention at the forum. Kitzman and Greeson agreed on many topics: increased border security, offering school choice to parents, against gender modification of children, and support for the election of Donald Trump for U.S. President.

The two differed on a few issues, most notably their views of embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Kitzman voted in favor of Pax-ton’s impeachment for abuse of office last year. Greeson has cited that vote as one of the reasons he decided to run against Kitzman, and Greeson has earned an endorsement from Paxton. Kitzman, on the other hand, holds an endorsement from Gov. Greg Abbott.

At the forum, both candidates were asked about their stances on Paxton and the impeachment. Greeson responded first.

“First off, we didn’t hire Ken Paxton to be our pastor,” Greeson said. “We hired him to be our Attorney General and sue the Biden administration and he’s been doing that. Did Ken Paxton do those things? I saw what the Senate saw. Basically, I didn’t see the evidence to impeach him.

Greeson noted that some people compared the impeachment to a grand jury hearing “It is something totally different,” he said. “Unlike the federal level, at the state level, if you impeach somebody they are out of office until the trial happens. That’s why we went through two other attorney generals this summer, because they were ineffective and not doing the job that we elected Ken Paxton to do. We should not have ever impeached Ken Paxton.

“Until you show me the next effective person who’s going to sue the Biden administration, Ken Paxton is my guy,” Greeson added.

Kitzman defended his vote on the Paxton impeachment.

“As you might well guess, that was the most controversial decision that was made all session,” Kitzman said It warrants scrutiny, but it’s not something I did in some kind of flippant or lighthearted manner ... I would not have made that vote if I didn’t think there was something sincere to look at, and there was. It’s an abuse of power. When we flipped Texas from Democrat to Republican, we were getting away from people who said, ‘Well, he did all that but he’s our guy.’That’s very dangerous, OK.

“The only person responsible for us even having to discuss this is Ken Paxton,” Kitzman said. “You have to behave yourself in office. You have to live up to your oath. Using the power of your office against citizens of Texas cannot be justified.”

U.S. House Race

Forum organizers also invited the two Republican candidates for U.S. Congressional District 10, incumbent Michael McCaul and challenger Jared Lovelace.

Congressman McCaul, did not attend the forum. He sent a representative, Danny Salzar, to speak on his behalf.

“I’m sorry Congressman McCaul could not be here in person, but our cause has never been more important than today,” Salazar said.

“Ronald Reagan asked, ‘Are you better off now than four years ago?’” he said. “Let’s take a look. America had low inflation, low gas prices, and we were energy independent. Our enemies feared us. We projected strength, not weakness, and our border was secure. Under Joe Biden, the world is more dangerous. Biden has projected weakness at every turn. Our enemies are on the march while Biden is stumbling.”

Salazar said McCaul remains committed to fighting America’s enemies and securing the southern border.

Rules of the forum stated that candidates had to appear in-person to participate in the question and answer portion. McCaul’s challenger, former Army officer and entrepreneur Jared Lovelace, offered a stark contrast to McCaul’s hawkish foreign policy positions. Lovelace earned several rounds of applause from the audience for questioning the United States’ interventions overseas.

“I do not support foreign spending on any war that does not have a direct impact on our sovereignty, our ability to govern ourselves, our own borders,” Lovelace said. “War is complicated and its horrible. As soon as you start getting involved in a war, you loose control of it, even if we’re just spending money on it. I believe we have way too many pressing issues here at home to be spending your hard-earned tax dollars overseas in foreign countries, that do not have a measurable effect on your daily life.”

Later, Lovelace was asked whether the United States should remain in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“I think this question is up for debate,” he said. “My personal opinion is, I believe it is outdated and that it’s not in our best interest. Now, I think this is a productive debate that needs to be had.

“The last 70 years of U.S. foreign policy has been a disaster,” Lovelace said. “Korea was a disaster. Vietnam was a disaster. Iraq has been a disaster. Look how fast Afghanistan fell apart as soon as we pulled out. Say what you want about the Biden Administration’s decision to just cut ties and leave. Look how fast it fell apart. Democracy building, nation building does not work and we need to get away from it.”

The audience clapped in approval.

Lovelace spoke about term limits and promised that if he’s elected, he will serve a maximum of four terms in the House. He also promised to visit the district multiple times a year to meet with constituents.

The forum also included the third of three fourm discussions with the candidates for Fayette County Attorney, James Herbrich and Mark Elvig, and the two running for Fayette County Republican Party Chair, incumbent Deborah Frank and challenger Michael Schlabach.

The Record live-streamed the forum on our Facebook page. Watch the recording at www.facebook.com/fcr.news. An edited recording with timestamps for each segment will be available on our YouTube channel as well, located at https://www.youtube.com/@ fayettecountyrecord.