Craddick Personally Solicits Opponent For Homer Says Local Businessman
January 14th, 2008
The Quorum Report
Harvey Kronberg
Speaker Tom Craddick personally tried to recruit a challenger for Rep. Mark Homer (D-Paris) last month, according to the man who was on the receiving end of the phone call.
Bill Priefert, CEO of ranch equipment company Priefert Manufacturing, said that he was approached to run for Homer’s Northeast Texas seat – first by the father of political consultant Jason Johnson and then by Johnson himself.
Priefert, though, wasn’t interested in running, telling QR today that he’s “just too busy” to consider running for office. He said that just before Christmas and about a month after his conversation with Johnson, Craddick called to ask if he would run for the House seat.
Craddick spokeswoman Alexis DeLee disputed any assertion that the phone call was an attempt to recruit Priefert. She said that Craddick was asked by an unidentified third party to give Priefert a call “to talk politics.”
“No persuasion was used” to talk Priefert into running, DeLee said.
Priefert said that Craddick did not go into a detailed pitch about why he should run. Priefert agreed to take the weekend (the call was made on a Friday) to think about it. He contacted Craddick on Monday to let him know he was still not interested.
When asked if Craddick gave any financial assurances in support of a potential Priefert candidacy, DeLee answered, “Not to my knowledge.”
Priefert also acknowledged to QR that his name was on a phone poll that was made around Homer’s district late last year. The poll appeared to be an attempt to drum up support for a Homer challenger. Priefert said that he found the poll curious in that it appeared after he had already decided not to run. In the end, Kirby Hollingsworth filed on the GOP side against Homer. Hollingsworth ran unsuccessfully against Homer two years ago, garnering 41.7 percent of the vote.
Given the number of times that Craddick has told the media that he doesn’t get involved in House races, Priefert’s account of their phone conversation is sure to raise some eyebrows.
Homer relayed the following statement to QR: “This is disappointing but not surprising. I respect the Speaker’s efforts to represent his Midland district, and I would have hoped that he would respect my efforts on behalf of the people of Northeast Texas. His involvement in District 3 makes it crystal clear that the people of Northeast Texas will have the opportunity in November to elect a person who stands up for their own local interests, or one who will lay down for Speaker Craddick.”
Priefert left open the possibility that he might run in the future. He described Homer as a “wonderful guy” and great to visit with but he disagreed with the representative’s voting record. “I’m almost in total disagreement with the way he votes,” he said. “He’s really liberal.”
Reprinted with the permission of the Quorum Report