Parents group won’t endorse Valdez in her bid for governor
“You’ve got to have a really good campaign put together, and she just doesn’t have the campaign infrastructure.”
Dinah Miller, a Texas mom who helped form Texas Parent PAC
AUSTIN — A group of propublic school parents is doling out political endorsements to dozens of candidates this year but is refusing to back Democrat Lupe Valdez because her campaign for governor is lacking, the group’s co-founder said Thursday.
“She doesn’t meet our criteria for endorsement,” said Dinah Miller, a Texas mom who helped form Texas Parent PAC. “You’ve got to have a really good campaign put together, and she just doesn’t have the campaign infrastructure.”
The group won’t endorse Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, either.
Valdez, a former Dallas County sheriff, has raised less than $1 million to support her candidacy.
Meanwhile, Abbott, who polls well among voters, is sitting on a whopping $41 million in campaign funds.
Valdez’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
Texas Parent PAC endorsed Democrats Mike Collier for lieutenant governor and Justin Nelson for attorney general, saying they are the most critical to improving public education. The group wants to defeat Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, two conservative Republicans who support school vouchers, which allow parents to send their students to private schools with public education funds. Abbott also supports school vouchers.
Texas Parent PAC has endorsed a mix of 27 Democratic and Republican incumbents and 27 first-time candidates for the Texas House and Senate. The organization boasts of helping more than 60 new candidates get elected and 23 incumbents get defeated in 13 years.
How Texas funds schools is expected to be one of the most weighty issues that the Legislature will consider in 2019. Some Republican lawmakers unsuccessfully pushed for school vouchers in 2017.