Dukes, Thompson, and Something About Glass Houses

The Democratic primary in House District 46 between incumbent Dawnna Dukes and challenger Brian Thompson has been a vitriolic ground game over cash and influence. This morning, Dukes' campaign manager Colin Strother sent out an angrily-worded press release that sounded like it was meant to be a killer blow. In it, he accused Thompson of "selling out" because of $48,588.25 in campaign contributions from attorney Steve Mostyn. This, Strother writes, means that 51% of the money Thompson raised and reported in his latest campaign finance filing came from a "mega-rich Houston trial lawyer." While the number is right, Strother omits to mention that this was actually payment-in-kind, since Mostyn has been paying for Thompson's anti-Dukes TV ads, and getting them a lot of air-time.

Strother may also regret opening up the campaign finance can of worms, since his own candidate's latest filing is knee-deep in contributions from business PACs and even a few lawyers (including $250 from the Houston-based Baker Botts Amicus Fund,) plus the last-minute transfusion of $24,000 from GOP sugar-daddy Bob Perry.

This also comes the day after the Dukes campaign proudly proclaimed that they had been endorsed by TEXPAC, the Texas Medical Association's PAC. The same group has also endorsed her fellow Democrat reps Kevin Bailey and Aaron Pena, both of whom have been called Craddick Ds. Not so helpful when Dukes is trying to distance herself from the speaker controversy. UPDATE - As one eagle-eyed reader noted, they also endorsed noted anti-Craddick GOPer Byron Cook, and the award-winning Pat Haggerty (he of the end-of-session walk-out.)