Breaking News: House District 46 hopeful Brian Thompson is so mad at Rep. Dawnna Dukes campaign ads claiming he never voted in Travis County that he’s seeking an injunction to stop them running.
This comes down to a Dukes TV ad in which she claims Thompson “never even bothered to vote. Ever.” (He did, and he even has Texas Democratic Party documents to prove it.) Thompson says that he saw the ads, and contacted KXAN, KVUE, KEYE, KTBC, the Austin-American Statesman and Time Warner Cable, to tell them the ads were not true. He told Dukes at a Cherrywood Neighborhood Association on Feb. 20 that he had just early-voted in the primary, so it wasn’t true. He sent her a letter saying, stop running the ad, or we’ll see you in court. She hasn’t stopped running the ad, so he’s looking for a Travis County judge and hopes to get a hearing before the end of the week.
On-screen, the ad sources (not quotes) an Statesman article that “Brian Thompson has never voted in a Texas Democrat (sic) Primary, until this year, EVER!” But the voice-over says “Dukes and Democrats defeated the Delay/Craddick pan to cripple minority representation for Texas. Her opponent? Well, he never even bothered to vote. Ever.” Individually, these statements may be true (although how Dukes expected Thompson to vote against redistricting when he wasn’t in the Lege is a bit baffling.) But together?
Check below the fold for the ad.
This article appears in February 22 • 2008.
