Rep. Noriega: Next week, GOP claims he hates puppies, children.

Ray McMurrey must be getting a little worried that his biggest boosters in his run to be the Democratic challenger for John Cornyn‘s senate seat seem to be the Republican Party Of Texas.

In their latest attempt to savage Democratic frontrunner Rick Noriega, the GOP has put out a press release claiming that the Houston state rep hates teachers. It came after he yet again rejected McMurrey’s demands for a debate by saying, “It’s easy to talk from the cheap seats when you haven’t been in the trenches for a long time fighting for Texas families.” Since McMurrey (who originally intended to run as an independent) is a teacher, this (the Texas Republicans conclude) was obviously a slur on educators everywhere.

However, the GOP doesn’t seem as interested as weighing in on why Rhett R. Smith or Gene Kelly (aka, the other candidate and the other-other candidate) have yet to agree to a public debate with McMurrey.

This article appears in January 18 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.