Beware of ‘slate’ cards
We could not be more clear. These lists are, in essence, a scam. Ignore them.
If you weren’t one of the early voters last week, may we offer a few suggestions about casting your ballot on Tuesday. We hope you’ll consider your vote carefully, read all you can about the candidates in the Chronicle or in several reliable voters guides and, if you vote Republican, discard any of the multicandidate “slate” endorsement lists that might have come in the mail.
Not only are those slate cards useless, but in our view they undermine the democratic process. The endorsements often have less to do with a candidate’s qualifications and more to do with the candidate’s willingness to participate in an egregious custom that’s come to be called “pay to play.” You pay for advertising with the slate compilers, in other words, and your name ends up on the list.
Rice University political scientist Mark Jones advises “a healthy dose of skepticism.” Writing in the Chronicle recently, he noted that “These endorsements frequently have less to do with a candiate’s qualifications and ‘conservative credentials’ and more to do with the candidate’s willingness to ‘pay to play and/or to their personal and professional relationships with the lists’ proprietors.”
The slate cards owe their origins to a two-decades-old internecine feud between establishment Republicans in Harris County and Christian Right supporters of 1988 presidential candidate Pat Robertson. One of the leaders of the Robertson camp was Dr. Steven Hotze, whose Conservative Republicans of Harris County and Conservative Republicans of Texas created one of the first local slate mailers advising voters how to cast their ballot.
The United Republicans of Texas, representing the so-called establishment, interviewed candidates and prepared its own slate card. Over the years, other organizations have developed their own for-profit slate mailers. They’re effective, particularly in down-ballot races where candidates are rarely well-known.
They are, in essence, a scam. They provide a good income to the slate purveyors and get people elected who may or may not be qualified, but they undercut the integrity of the system.
Ed Hubbard, a Houston attorney who has run unsuccessfully for Harris County Republican Party chair, points out that neither the county party nor the state party endorses candidates in their primaries, and none of the mailers speak for the party. Writing for the Big Jolly Politics blog under the headline “the curse of the slate mailers,” Hubbard has advised voters to avoid relying on either for-profit slate mailers or those that are skewed toward a consultant’s clients.
As an example of how skewed they are, consider that several of the better-known slates endorse Denise Pratt, the incumbent judge for the 311th District Court who’s been mired in scandal for months. Never mind that she’s been reprimanded for “unreasonable” delays, that she’s been accused of backdating court documents and that’s she’s been rated “not qualified” by the Houston Bar Association. Never mind all that: She paid; she plays.
Voters on Tuesday need to realize that for-profit slate mailers are unreliable guides. We urge voters to ignore them, to do their own homework and to trust their own judgment. That’s what democracy is all about.