This story is about a Craddick D going up against a real democrat:
For nearly 13 years, Rep. Dawnna Dukes has been a fixture in East Austin Democratic politics. But now she faces angry Democratic criticism over her tactical support for House Speaker Tom Craddick and for failing to deliver real results to her district and a primary challenger in the form of attorney Brian Thompson.
"If the narrative from the Dukes campaign is that, 'I did this for my district; I supported Craddick so I could get on the committees I need to be on to bring something home,' well, what has she done?" asks Thompson.
"I'd heard rumors that there was some anger in the community over her voting record," he said. "I'd also heard rumors about her general absenteeism, not just from the Capitol but the community itself."
But the issue on which Thompson is targeting Dukes most strongly is her connection to Craddick and her failure to pass meaningful legislation. "It's not just her speaker vote," he said.
"It's the fact that she failed to vote to fully fund [the Children's Health Insurance Program], that she voted against ethics reform time and time again, that's she's voted against environmental bills."
Thompson accepts that explaining the sometimes esoteric workings of the Lege will take a lot of block-walking. "We're going to get out on the ground and explain to voters who don't know the harm that having someone like Tom Craddick as speaker and having someone that supports Tom Craddick as speaker as representative does for this community," he said.
Dukes has received several large donations from industrial political action committees, including the Craddick-connected HillCo PAC. Dukes pointed out that many Democrats, including Valinda Bolton, took HillCo cash. But after the $25,000 it gave Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the next three biggest donations were $10,000 each to Dukes and her fellow Democrats for Reform Kino Flores and Kevin Bailey.
All three face primary challenges – Bailey from Armando Walle, a former staff member for U.S. Rep. Gene Green, and Flores from educator Sandra Rodriguez. All three face the same accusation that Thompson levels against Dukes: "If you sell your soul to the devil," he said, "you need something to show for it."
