2 hopefuls in right place at wrong time

Staples, Patterson had viable bids for lieutenant governor until twist

The road to the state’s most important elected office snakes through every corner and significant city in Texas, and on this Thursday night, for this par- ticular candidate, it passed by a small meeting room in a library at the Tomball campus of Lone Star College.

Todd Staples, Texas agriculture commissioner, was waiting for the appointed time and hoping for a turnout greater than the handful of folks standing around, who wouldn’t come close to filling up the chairs set up in a half-dozen rows in the windowless room. His campaign bus had come down from Dallas for this appearance. It was supposed to be a bigger event, but only a few more arrived by the 7 p.m. start.

That’s what happens when the perception spreads that fortune may have passed you by. A recent statewide poll indicated that Staples and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson were lagging behind in the four-man Republican race for lieutenant governor. The two men had jumped in early for what they believed would be an open seat, only to be torpedoed by circumstances beyond their control and more than two dozen joint debates that had done little to focus public attention on serious policy matters that are their bread and butter.

While Staples was tapping what remained of his energy for a brief address to, perhaps, two dozen GOP stalwarts — hoping that his hoarse voice would not give out before the end — Pat-

“Once Lt. Gov. Dewhurst declared he was going to run for re-election and after he shored up his conservative credentials ... it took a lot of oxygen out of the room for Commissioners Patterson and Staples.” Jim Henson, director, Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas

terson was greeting a few dozen supporters at a Mexican restaurant in San Antonio. He received a few contributions passed forward in church-like envelopes, and mixed comfortably with military veterans, whom he views as a key element of his core constituency. With the primary only several days away, neither appearance was covered by local news media.

For the record, Staples and Patterson say they are very much in the race, discounting the accuracy of the recent poll.

“We’re into the machinations, when you’ve got a field of four, where funny things happen,” Patterson said at Beto’s Comida Latina on San Antonio’s north side. “Certain things have to fall in place. In the Marine Corps we called it intramural firefight, friendly fire, that I think is going to position us in a possibility of a runoff.”

Both men claim to be policy-driven, disinclined to sound bites, and focused on the tough-nut issues facing Texas in coming decades, such as water resources and transportation infrastructure. And both lament that the 30-plus forums at which the GOP candidates appeared together did little to allow them to answer serious questions in any depth.

“Many of the debates have not given ample time to lay out thoughtful plans,” Staples said before his Tomball talk. “I come from a policy perspective — the hard matters that drive our government. You have to be able to peel back below the surface level.” A perfect storm

Several years ago, when Staples and Patterson were deciding to make a run for the job, they had reason to think that a campaign focused on the serious statewide challenges that will arise from a rapidly growing population would give them time to show their chops and prove they had the heft to handle the duties of the position considered the most powerful in the state’s lawmaking apparatus.

Then the current occupant of the office, David Dewhurst, failed to win a U.S. Senate seat that was supposed to be his for the taking, losing badly to tea party favorite Ted Cruz in 2012. He decided to run for re-election. And state Sen. Dan Patrick joined the fray from the tea party right, altering the conversation with campaign rhetoric centered on President Barack Obama and “the illegal invasion,” complete with photos of shadowy figures scaling fences.

That made four conservative officeholders whose stance on many policy matters was similar, at least superficially. Dewhurst had the advantage of more money and name recognition. Patrick had a bombastic appeal to the right and a built-in base because of his radio show.

“Once Lt. Gov. Dewhurst declared he was going to run for re-election and after he shored up his conservative credentials, especially social conservatives, it took a lot of oxygen out of the room for Commissioners Patterson and Staples,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. “Some conservative groups that would have backed Staples backed out and supported Dewhurst. And then with Patrick in the race, there was no room for Staples to move to the right, even though he tried. For Patterson, there was a belief that he was going to have trouble raising money, which turned out to be true.” ‘Reasonable’ choices

Henson’s project was involved with last week’s poll showing Staples and Patterson trailing a second-place Patrick significantly. He insisted that is the likeliest outcome, even if the final percentages shift. He said both are credible candidates in the right place at the wrong time.

“Staples becomes a plausible alternative if you don’t have Dewhurst in the race,” Henson said. “My impression is that he is well-liked in the Capitol special-interest community. They are familiar with his work in both the Senate and in the agriculture department. Patterson also is popular in the Capitol community. He can make a reasonable case that he has appeal with grass roots of the party, and he is well-known from his time in the Senate and around Austin.”

Staples and Patterson have a bit of money left for the last-minute media blitz. Both continue to plead with potential voters to go to the candidates’ websites and look at their detailed positions. The two competitors actually are somewhat complimentary toward each other, all things considered, and are using what remains of their ammunition on Patrick, whose presence changed the nature of the race.

“There are four candidates,” Patterson said, taking a brief break from making the rounds at Beto’s. “Three of them are reasonable choices.” San Antonio Express-News reporter John Gonzalez con

tributed to this story.