We already know why you should stay away from Steven Hotze. But Allen Blakemore is the Horace and Jasper to Hotze’s Cruella de Vil, and the same warning applies to him as well. But don’t take my word for it, listen to a dissatisfied customer of Blakemore’s.
In 2005 Hotze endorsed George Hittner in a race against Anne Clutterbuck for City Council District C. Although it is a nonpartisan race, both candidates had impeccable Republican credentials for that generally Republican district. Hittner is the son of a federal judge and general counsel and vice president for governmental relations for American Traffic Solutions in Scottsdale, Ariz. Clutterbuck had long served as district manager for then-U.S. Rep. Bill Archer.
But Hittner hired Blakemore as his consultant and was endorsed by Hotze. The result was a bitter campaign that, among other things, tried to tar Clutterbuck for being endorsed by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered Caucus.
Clutterbuck and Hittner were separated by only 42 votes in the first round, but Clutterbuck won the runoff with 58 percent of the vote.
The campaign left not only Clutterbuck’s supporters angry, but Hittner as well. Now a Washington lobbyist, he says he came out of the campaign wrongly portrayed as a right-wing Republican when he is, in fact, moderate.
He pointedly says he recommends to friends who are running for office that they hire political consultant Jessica Colon, who last year faced off against Blakemore and Hotze in a special election for the state Senate.
In addition to Colon, I’d also suggest Jennifer Naedler, who is Clutterbuck’s campaign manager and who is working with Jack Christie in his race, as a better alternative for Republican candidates who don’t want to be saddled with Blakemore’s baggage. Unless Blakemore’s antics are the kind of thing you want associated with your name forever, of course. In which case, knock yourself out.
The advice really should be to avoid them all and Anne Clutterbuck is a reflection of the curiosity of how there is a “schism” within the Republican Party over these “fundmentalist” Republicans who still, unfortunately, control the party itself and not just in Harris County and there is more to the Tea Baggers than meets the eye. A growing number of Republicans are tired of hearing how the Republican Party is defending the “morality” of America and are more worried about keeping the rent or mortgage paid and keeping the lights on and keeping food on the table. I think the endorsements of some of these people including Gary Polland are more a hindrance than a help even to Republicans which makes the matter of Democrats all the more curious which is the one thing I agree with Gerald Birnberg about and do wonder why any Democrat would seek the endorsements to begin with.
I worked on George’s campaign back in 05. I have two issues with his complaints. The first is that George signed off on everything Blakemore did. I remember when the desicion was made by George to accept Hotze’s endorsement. George didn’t have a base in the district. He hadn’t lived there and no one knew him. Ann, in contrast, had deep ties to the area. The hope was (as I remember it) that Hotze’s supporters would give George a solid turn out in the run-off. It didn’t work. Such is politcs. Blakemore is a very very conservative Republican. If you don’t want to run that kind of race…don’t hire him. I am no longer involved in politcs, thus it has taken me all these years to comment on these events. Yet, it is simply sour graphes for George to blame Allen for his weaknesses as a candidate in this specific race. I’ve always liked and respected George, but he’s just wrong on who to blame as to why he lost this one. He should look in the mirror.