Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Capitol Inside
October 21, 2009

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

When Tina Benkiser was running for her first full term as the Texas GOP chair five years ago, she defeated a conservative grassroots leader whose campaign for the state party's top leadership post appeared to be hurt by revelations that she'd advertised in the phone book as a personal injury lawyer.

Gina Parker's law practice seemed to be an occupational hazard that she could not overcome in her first race against Benkiser in late 2003 and in a rematch eight months later less than a year after Texas voters had approved a medical malpractice liability limitation measure that Republicans has pushed through the Legislature.

Now - in a state where most Republicans are vigorous supporters of tort reform - lawsuit abuse has erupted as a volatile issue in an emergency state GOP chair's race that Benkiser's early resignation triggered as Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams is being forced to defend her opposition in 2003 to the medical malpractice measure known as Proposition 12 as she campaigns for the opening for state party leader.

Adams - a veteran conservative activist who's been a member of the Republican National Committee since last year - has been taken to task for her position on Prop. 12 in an email that State Republican Executive Committee member Rebecca Williamson sent out to tout her endorsement of former SREC member Melinda Fredricks in an abbreviated state chair battle that will end Saturday when the governing board picks Benkiser's interim replacement.

Adams had argued during the statewide campaign for the constitutional amendment to restrict damages in medical malpractice lawsuits that the measure could undermine the jury system in Texas. Adams also warned that Prop. 12 could backfire on the state GOP as a result of the high-pressure tactics that the Republican majority at the Capitol used to steer the proposal through the Legislature and on to the ballot for a statewide vote.

Adams suggested at the time that she was trying to protect the party from self-inflicted wounds even though she acknowledged that her opposition to the measure could have repercussions. Adams said during the Prop. 12 fight that she'd been warned that her access to some elected officials could be hampered by her position on the issue but that she was following her conscience and doing what she thought to be the right thing to do even through it put her odds with other Republicans.

Less than a year after voters approved Prop. 12, Adams lost a bid for the RNC at the state GOP convention in 2004 even though she was part of a slate that was led by Benkiser in her winning campaign for a two-year term in a state chair's job that she'd claimed on an interim basis in an SREC vote in late 2003 after Sarah Weddington stepped down from the post. While Adams went against the Republican grain on the medical malpractice limitation proposal, she's remained a vigorous supporter of Governor Rick Perry and has continued to be one of the GOP's most prominent conservative leaders while easily prevailing in a second bid for the RNC in 2008.

Williamson - nonetheless - expressed reservations about having Adams in the state party's top leadership post as a result of her opposition to Proposition 12 a half-dozen years ago.

"I am also concerned her previous position will drive a wedge between our elected officials who worked hard to limit frivolous lawsuits and our party organization because of Cathie’s alignment with personal injury trial lawyers on a fundamental issue of the conservative agenda," Williamson wrote.

Adams responded to the criticism in an email to the Austin American-Statesman late Tuesday.

"Please allow me to set my record straight," Adams said. "I am a strong supporter of Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) and their goal to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. In fact, just this past week I received a hand written note from the chairman of TLR wishing me the best in my race for state chairman.

"As we move forward in this process, it is my desire to continue my campaign with a unifying, positive message of hope for the future," Adams added. "For now cannot take our eye off of our first priorities, which are to RECRUIT candidates and to RAISE MONEY for our candidates and our party."

Adams and Fredricks have been considered the two top contenders for a state chair's opening that the 62-member SREC will fill in an emergency vote this weekend until state convention delegates have an opportunity to pick a party leader for a full two-year term when they gather next summer. Adams expects to be a candidate for state chair at the convention if she wins the job on Saturday while Fredricks has indicated she will run for vice-chair instead at next summer's convention if the SREC selects her for the top leadership post this weekend.

SREC will GOP activist Maria Yolanda (Mary-Yoly) Moore of El Paso has been competing for the state party's top leadership position as well.