Hughes has Been a Fighter for East Texas

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Marshall News Messenger

Our View: We endorse for State House and Senate

For State Representative, Dist. 5: Bryan Hughes.
Bryan Hughes faces only token opposition from Libertarian candidate Tim Charmichael, but we think it is important to make clear just how good a job we think Hughes has done in time in the Texas Legislature. Hughes has been a fighter for East Texas and, most specifically, his district. When Tom DeLay's redistricting scheme came about, Hughes, a Republican, spoke up against it as not being good for rural Texas. In fact, it is not and this has been made more painfully clear over the last two years. More recently, Hughes fought against some of Gov. Rick Perry's more ridiculous ideas for the funding of public education in our state. Fortunately, working with others like him, those ideas were taken off the table. Speaking with his own voice has not always endeared Hughes with the Republican leadership in the House, but we would rather have someone with the courage to speak the truth than someone who just goes along to get along. Hughes' non-partisan attitude will continue to serve East Texas well no matter who the next governor is. We can be sure that Hughes will still be telling the truth and standing up for us.

For State Senator, Dist. 1: Kevin Eltife.
Like Hughes, Eltife faces only a Libertarian candidate, Jason Albers, and he will certainly be re-elected. This is a good thing and we urge you to go along with other voters in returning Eltife to office. We will admit skepticism when Eltife first came to office, worried that he would be beholden to Gov. Rick Perry far too much. Wrong. Eltife may be short of stature, but he is tall when it comes to representing us. He has bucked Perry on numerous occasions, most importantly when it counted the most. He has also shown a strong non-partisan streak, which we like. This legislative team of Hughes/Eltife is not yet in the same league as the team of Paul Sadler/Bill Ratliff--that team may not be matched by any current team--but they are making their mark felt and the citizens of this part of East Texas are glad of that. Keep them both in office.