The Texas ParentPAC has gotten itself involved in another Republican SBOE primary, this time on behalf of San Antonio’s Tim Tuggey, who is challenging incumbent Ken Mercer in District 5. Here’s their release:
The bipartisan Texas Parent PAC today announced its endorsement of Tim Tuggey in the Republican primary for District 5 State Board of Education, which includes all or part of 12 counties in Central and South Texas.
“Tim Tuggey will be a partner with parents, educators, and elected school board trustees and an advocate for all schoolchildren,” said Texas Parent PAC chair Carolyn Boyle of Austin.”He has strong leadership skills, an engaging personality, and a conservative and collaborative temperament that will be a real asset on the State Board of Education.”
Texas Parent PAC was created by parents in 2005 with the goal of electing more state leaders who will consistently stand up for public education. A broad base of individuals and business leaders supports the PAC’s bipartisan grassroots campaign efforts.
The 15-member elected State Board of Education is not well-known by voters. The board is responsible for establishing policy, adopting curriculum standards and textbooks, and providing leadership for the state’s public school system. In Texas, 4.7 million students attend public schools on more than 8,300 campuses.
“This election has statewide implications, because the State Board of Education sets policy affecting every child and every public school classroom in Texas,” said Texas Parent PAC board member Pam Meyercord of Dallas. “Tim Tuggey understands there are too many education dictates coming from Austin and Washington, and more local control will help to achieve excellence in public education for all Texas students.”
Texas Parent PAC leaders said Tuggey has a proven record of leadership in three different cities in SBOE District 5. He is well-connected in rural and urban communities and understands their unique needs for education and work force development. For example:
● In San Antonio, Tuggey served as chairman of VIA Metropolitan Transit, Leadership San Antonio, and Free Trade Alliance San Antonio, as well as a range of other civic activities.
● In Austin, he is managing partner of business law firm Tuggey Rosenthal Pauerstein Sandoloski Agather LLP. The firm also has offices in San Antonio and Washington, D.C.
● At Fort Hood in Bell County, Captain Tuggey commanded the 230 men and women in Company A, 54th Signal Battalion, which deployed all over the world to provide tactical communications.
Tuggey describes himself as an “Army brat,” as he followed his parents all over the United States and the world while his father was an Army officer. He graduated from Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi and then received a four-year Army ROTC scholarship to the University of Richmond in Virginia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English and political science. He later earned a master’s degree in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Tuggey has three children, Katherine, Chris, and Nora. His wife, Margaret, is a teacher at Akins High School in the Austin ISD.
Texas Parent PAC is endorsing a small and select number of Republican and Democratic candidates statewide. The PAC describes its endorsed candidates as “men and women of integrity, open and responsive to parents, actively involved in their communities, and committed to investing in public education to achieve economic prosperity in Texas.”
Public school supporters are encouraged to visit www.timtuggey.com to find a map of District 5 and persuade their friends and relatives throughout the large district to vote for Tuggey during the early voting period February 16 – 26 and on election day, March 2. Texas Parent PAC is also urging parents to volunteer in the Tuggey campaign and/or donate money and in-kind services.
As I’ve said before, my preferred outcome is for a Democrat to win this seat, and from what I have seen it looks like Rebecca Bell-Metereau is the best candidate for that. But if we don’t get that, then getting a better Republican to replace Mercer is still an improvement. If you or someone you know lives in SBOE District 5 (your voter registration card should indicate this) and are of the Republican persuasion, please check out Tim Tuggey for the primary.
My preferred outcome is also for a democrat to win this seat and I think Rebecca Bell-Metereau is just the person for the job. She is a teacher, has volunteered in Texas public schools, has two grown daughters who attended public schools and is the moderate, informed, rational candidate that the State Board of Education desperately needs. While Tim Tuggey may seem like a “better Republican,” he is a lawyer, not an educator. It also seems clear that for Tuggey, being elected to the SBOE is a stepping stone to higher political office. I doubt that the same is true for Bell-Metereau.
Thanks for pulling for Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Kuff. We are doing everything we can to get the word out in the primary, but $30,000 raised to date is a drop in the bucket in a district that’s more than twice the size of a Congressional. Expect to see some mail from us, and folks who are in the district can display a yard sign. Email adam@voterebecca.com and he’ll figure out how to get it to you.
Rebecca’s regularly buzzing down to events in San Antonio from her home in Hays County, Comal is right next door, and husband Pierre commutes daily to Guadalupe, where he’s a professor at Texas Lutheran, and, of course, Rebecca is up at our Austin office working the phones at least three days a week. We are also regularly in Caldwell. Bell and the five counties to the west (Burnet, Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, & Llano) are less frequents stops, but we’d love to hear from good Democrats anywhere in the district who can help spread the word.
That’s a big difference between Rebecca and her three primary opponents: none of the three gentlemen raised any funds in the most recent reporting period covering the first three weeks of January, while Rebecca has raised over $10,000 in the same time frame. So in addition to Rebecca being an articulate, well-qualified educator, she’s the only Democratic candidate taking the campaign seriously. If one of her opponents wasn’t named for a famous frontiersman, we’d be a bit more relaxed about this. We just hope we’re reaching out to enough people and that enough are paying attention so that this year’s version of Gene Kelly won’t spoil the dance.
Let’s not resign ourselves too quickly to settling for the better of two Republicans. Judge Bill Moody got 45% within District 5 in 2006, and his entire campaign was based on a walk from El Paso to Beaumont. While I can’t say “he didn’t set foot in the district,” because he certainly did, he didn’t spend 14 months working his heart out in the 12 counties like Rebecca has and will continue to be doing if she’s the nominee. Closing the gap between 45% and 50%-plus-one, isn’t easy, but I’ve been involved with plenty of campaigns that have overcome steeper odds, and Rebecca is the only Democrat who can do so.
And her website, of course, is http://www.voterebecca.com.