Below are the candidates in three Congressional races that will have a run-off on December 10th, please help us get the word out about these races, and turn out the pro-gun vote!
REP Kevin Brady - Chamber
of Commerce Pres. - very anti-gun, a staffer at NRA told us; he
did not respond to our inquiries. As a state legislator he voted
against the Right-to-Carry law and for each anti-gun amendment
that was offered to the carry bill, so do not let him fool you
with his campaign literature. Reading it would make you think
he is pro-gun! There is a real disagreement among pro-gun activists
about Mr. Brady. Some of our Houston pro-gun friends have told
us that Mr. Brady is no friend of gun owners. On the other hand,
others have stated that Mr. Brady voted against the right-to-carry
law because of a "personal issue" Mr. Brady had with
it, but that he is otherwise very pro-gun. It is our opinion that
if he would let a personal issue determine his vote on important
gun legislation, then he might do so again, and cannot therefore
be depended upon. When considering the strong pro-gun views of
his opponent, the choice is even easier. Thus, we disagree with
TSRA's rating of
"B," and with his endorsement by Greater Texas Sportsman's Coalition,
(GTSC). He got 80,334 votes, which gave him 41.5%.
REP Gene Fontenot - Mr.
Fontenot is a medical doctor, former Navy surgeon, attorney, and
businessman. When he ran in 1994, he was endorsed by the NRA and
was rated "A" by the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA).
He is strongly opposed to the gun control measures recently passed
in Congress, according to a trusted Houston-area gun rights activist
who knows him well. He got 75,398 votes, which gave him 38.9%.
Mr. Fontenot lost in the primary to Mr. Brady. According
to our contact at GTSC, that group did not make endorsements until
after the primary, which is the reason that Mr. Brady got their
endorsement.
Special Note about this Race: Nine percent of the vote went to a very liberal candidate, Geraldine Sam. If all or most of that voting block goes to Nick Lampson in the runoff, then Lampson will likely win (bad news!). So please help turn out the pro-gun vote in this very special race on December 10th!
REP Steve Stockman
- Incumbent - If you do not know of this man's reputation for
defending American firearms freedoms, then you must live under
a rock. He has been so vilified in the liberal press for his pro-gun
bills that it has been hard to miss. The nationl Democratic Party
and labor unions have targeted this district and have committed
substantial resources (millions of dollars) to this particular
race. This will be a big battleground as District 9 was considered
by the Democrats as a "safe" district, and they were
quite stunned by the defeat of Jack Brooks in 1994. The district
has high union membership which is why Democrats thought they
could not lose it. Unfortunately for the Democrats, they did not
understand what the Second Amendment Foundation's 1994 exit polls
showed. Union members support American firearms freedoms, and
voted that way in 1994. If they will do so again, and Steve Stockman
wins, then the democrats may finally come to realize that pushing
gun control is hurting them, and drop it like a hot potato. He
is rated "A" by TSRA,
and endorsed by GTSC. He is rated 100%
by GOA. He got 88,171 votes, which gave him 46.4% of the vote.
DEM Nick
Lampson - Tax Collector - He has not responded to our questionnaire
or to NRA's. This is a tell-tale sign that he is trying to hide
his anti-gun views. There is no reason why a candidate should
not have responded at least to NRA by this late date. By asking
around, we found out from someone who has known Mr. Lampson for
many years that Lampson is anti-gun. Lampson used to be Jefferson
County's Tax Assessor-Collector; according to our source "he's
the kind who will say anything to get elected and then vote totally
different." When our volunteer called Mr. Lampson to get
his views on gun issues, as soon as he was told the reason for
the call was to ask his views on the 2nd Amendment, Mr. Lampson
immediately said, "Can I put you on hold?" and then
passed the phone to a campaign worker who refused to answer questions
but instead stated that she was in charge of answering questionnaires,
and would fill out one if we would fax it over. We have done so,
and it has yet to be returned. From all this it is apparent that
Mr. Lampson is a dangerous candidate for gun owners. He got 83,781
votes, which gave him 44.1%.
DEM Ken Bentsen
- Incumbent - Ken Bentsen failed to respond to either of two questionnaires
and when we phoned his office, our volunteer was passed from staffer
to staffer until he was finally told that the staffer who responds
to Second Amendment issues was momentarily unavailable. We left
a message and were promised a return call in ten minutes. No such
call was ever received. Bentsen is not interested in communicating
his position on Second Amendment issues to concerned constituents.
Based on his voting record, Ken Bentsen has earned the following
approval ratings from civil liberties organizations: TSRA
"F," GOA 0%. While he was not around when the Brady
Bill and semi-auto bans were voted in, his votes in 1995 (on the
Chenoweth & Istook amendments) show he is not sensitive
to gun owners concerns. He got 43,693 votes, giving him 34.0%
of the vote.
Dolly Madison McKenna REP - No information on this candidate yet, but virtually anyone would be better than her opponent! She got 21,898 votes, giving her 17.1%