Texas politicians love their feuds, whether they be bitter (Norma Chavez versus Marisa Marquez), amiable (Harold Cook versus Quorum Report) or like two bald men fighting over a comb (Al Edwards versus Borris Miles.) But the tussle between Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and retiring Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, may be the most intriguing.
Backstory: House Calendars Committee Chair McCall surprised everyone when he announced last November that he was standing down. There was even broader surprise when he was announced as the new chancellor of Texas State University. What passed under the radar was that he had pipped Wentworth (whose district covers South-West Travis County) at the post.
At the time, Wentworth sent a pleasantly-worded letter of congratulations to McCall. “Just between you and me,” he wrote, “coming in second out of 38 applicants, as I’ve been told I did, is not fun.” Seems that the lack of fun has started to dwell on Wentworth’s mind a little bit.
As first reported by the Texas Tribune, on June 6, he wrote a letter to TSUs Board of Regents Chair Ron Blatchley that could basically be entitled “What the hell, Ron?” Seemingly prepared to withstand accusations of sour grapes, Wentworth wrote that he was “disappointed […] puzzled [and] personally offended that my significant and sustained support of and advocacy for higher education and the system for so many years apparently count for so little in the minds of the boards of regents.” As for McCall, Wentworth blasts him as “a Johnny-come-lately Opportunist.”
If this sounds like some petulant foot-stomping, Wentworth is actually saying what a lot of people have been quietly thinking. McCall’s appointment had always seemed a bit of an odd choice, as he has no connection to TSU and authored no major higher ed legislation. Wentworth, on the other hand, was the driving force behind the TEXAS Grant Program, is a former TSU regent, has represented two TSU system campuses in his district, and his application came with a glowing letter of reference from Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, amongst others. Put their resumes side-by-side (as Wentworth has) then it’s no surprise that Wentworth bleakly jokes that he should call his autobiography “No Good Deed Left Unpunished.”
So what happened? Wentworth wrote in his letter that he could never get a straight answer. As for the idea that McCall’s appointment was political cronyism run amok, he was one of the Gang of 11 that got Joe Straus installed as speaker and ended the cozy relationship between Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and ex-speaker Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland.
All of which leaves two questions? One, why was McCall appointed and, two, was Wentworth considering leaving the Senate?
This article appears in June 4 • 2010.
