Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Mike Hailey's Capitol Inside
September 30, 2009

A pro-tort reform group is having a fundraiser in late October that will feature Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and a Republican state legislator who used to be a Democrat and now appears to be one of the opposing party's top targets on the Texas House battlefield in 2010.

The Citizens for Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas plans to honor the Republican lieutenant governor and State Rep. Todd Hunter at the group's fundraising reception at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin in downtown Austin on October 29.

While Dewhurst has announced a bid for a third term as the state Senate president next year, he's also been considering a special U.S. Senate race and is considered one of the frontrunners for an appointment from Governor Rick Perry to the upper house of Congress if there's a vacancy later this year as expected. Dewhurst has appeared to waiting for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to make the early resignation that she's promised to tender official so she can focus on a bid to unseat Perry in the GOP primary in March.

As a Houston energy company owner who has the ability to tap vast personal wealth for a state race or federal contest for which contributions would be sharply restricted, Dewhurst has the luxury of spending valuable time helping others like the CALA organization raise money while most candidates are scrambling to generate cash for their own campaigns. Like Dewhurst, Hunter will be getting a special award from the group for his efforts during the regular session this year and won't be keeping a chunk of the money that's raised for his own re-election bid.

"Funds raised at this event allow us to continue to implement activities such as those aimed at highlighting lingering abusive legal practices in Texas and their impact on all of us; illustrating how Texans have benefited from a predictable civil justice system; promoting the importance of voting for judges who interpret and not make the law; and encouraging jury service," Stephanie Gibson, CALA's exeuctive director, said of the upcoming Austin reception.

A Corpus Christi attorney, Hunter held the House District 32 seat for eight years as a Democrat until stepping down from the Legislature in 1997. While it's still unclear at this point who Hunter's Democratic opposition will be next year, there's speculation that Assistant Nueces County Attorney Rose Harrison might seek the Democratic nomination in the HD 32 race in 2010.

Hunter returned to the House earlier this year as a newly-elected Republican member after knocking off Democratic incumbent Juan Garcia in last year's general election in a coastal district where more than 60 percent of the voters have been backing candidates for the GOP.

Garcia, who'd ousted a Republican who'd been Hunter's predecessor in HD 32, received a dandy consolation prize this summer with an appointment from President Barack Obama as the Navy's assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs. The U.S. Senate confirmed Garcia's nomination to the high-ranking military position earlier this month.

As the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee chairman in his first session back, Hunter played an instrumental role in the fight on several measures that tort reform advocates and trial lawyers considered to be among their highest priorities. Hunter - for example - single-handedly killed a bill that would have made it easier to win damages in mesothelioma lawsuits by refusing to bring it up for a vote in committee despite bipartisan support on both sides of the Capitol.

While Democrats appear to be facing an uphill fight in their push to reclaim the HD 32 seat, they list Hunter as one of the Republican legislators they perceive to be most vulnerable at the polls next year. Hunter received more than 50 percent of the vote in 2008 while holding Garcia under 47 percent in a field that included a Libertarian contender.

The list of Republicans who are competing in the expected special election for the U.S. Senate includes Railroad Commissioners Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams, state Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano and former Secretary of State Roger Williams. The Democrats' two leading candidates in the U.S. Senate competition are former Comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White.

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor