Reps. Warren Chisum and Ken Paxton, two conservative Republicans who've launched longshot bids for Texas House speaker, today condemned emails by some conservative activists that mention incumbent Speaker Joe Straus' Judaism.
"I repudiate that in the strongest terms," Chisum, R-Pampa, said in an interview. "That is not what this is about." Chisum later issued a release saying, "No one working with me on my campaign for speaker has anything to do with such tactics," which he called "deplorable."
Paxton, R-McKinney, also released a statement condemning the emails.
"There is absolutely no place for religious bigotry in the race for Texas speaker," Paxton said, adding, "It is just as shameful for anyone to imply that I would ever condone this type of behavior. My campaign is singularly focused on a message of providing proven, dependable conservative leadership to the Texas House."
Also today, the Texas Pastor Council, a conservative and interdenominational group of ministers, issued a statement distancing itself from unidentified Straus opponents who are said to have started "robo calls" urging voters to call their state representative and demand support for electing as speaker a true Christian. According to The Quorum Report, an online newsletter, the calls are from an entity calling itself the Pastors Council of Texas.
The Texas Pastor Council said it has found "legitimate reasons" to oppose Straus' re-election but said it's unacceptabe "to frame the race or the issues in what could clearly be construed to be in an anti-Semitic position given that Straus is Jewish. ... [S]uch acts in no way represent the Christian leaders and groups who are calling for a new speaker."
The North Texas regional office of the Anti-Defamation League, a group that for decades has fought anti-Semitism and prejudice, also weighed in. "We urge the Texas Legislature to categorically reject calls for a Christian Texas House speaker and to publicly denounce efforts to inject religion into the race," the league said.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/chisum-conservative-pastors-bl.html
No comments:
Post a Comment