We asked for you to give us questions and you did, overwhelmingly. Many had the same questions, a few different. We've decided to pick three plus several generic questions and here they are:
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
1. What makes you feel you are qualified to become a United States Senator?
2. What have you done in the past to help out Republican Candidates?
3. Who has endorsed your campaign?
4. Who are your major donors?
5. Name a Republican you disagree with and why?
6. What have you done to help the Tea Party?
7. Where do you fall on ethanol subsidies, do you believe agribusiness subsidises should be cut and if so which ones would you cut?
8. Where do you stand on sanctuary cities? What is your plan for border security?
9. What would be your number one piece of legislation you would try and get passed?
10. Where do you plan on having offices, what cities? (this is for the rural blogs in Texas who feel they don't have access to the current Senators)
11. Did you support Governor Rick Perry, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, or Debra Medina for Governor?
12. If someone wanted to donate to your campaign but you disagreed with their beliefs, would you accept their campaign donation?
13. How many terms do you plan to serve, what are your thoughts on term limits?
14. What are your thoughts on social media?
15. Other than Reagan, who in conservative ideology most influence(d) you?
Ted Cruz: (info@tedcruz.org)
1. You have made a cornerstone of your campaign the fact you are an Hispanic running with your father’s legacy of moving to the United States on one hand and a man who has fought for the constitution on the other. Two questions related to this, number one – your father learned English but it’s been reported that you haven’t learned Spanish – true? Second, do you believe the founding fathers created a document, the constitution, that has upheld the test of time and has a procedure for amendments or do you believe it is time for America to have a Constitutional Convention? If you are for a Con/Con, explain why.
2. You decided initially to run for Attorney General to succeed Greg Abbott, a couple of questions related to this. Your campaign of being a prior Solicitor General is significant in your strategy. One, does the SG argue cases in front of the Supreme Court that the AG asks him/her to – and thus were you just doing your job? Following up to that, do you feel you are taking credit away from AG Greg Abbott and leaving him little to run on himself someday? The most important questions related to your first race are your contributors. One is Peter Thiel who was an early investor in Facebook. Two points to this, one Mr. Thiel is a libertarian who has been a strong advocate for Gay Rights and is working hard to overturn California’s Prop 8 that defined marriage. He has helped significantly the organization GOProud and is trying to take the Republican party away from social issues. Mr. Thiel donated a quarter of a million dollars to your AG’s race. All of that being said, can you explain to the Republican Primary voter why you are receiving such strong support from a man who wants to overturn state’s laws regarding the defense of Marriage? The second point is his ties to Facebook, which leads to question #3.
3. You have long mentioned you have a significant following of Facebook fans. Your campaign spent large sums of money purchasing Facebook ads and received donations from an early investor of Facebook at the same time. Do you A) feel this is a conflict of interest and B) can you talk about how state funds cannot be transferred to federal races yet you have transferred fans accumulated while in a state campaign to a federal campaign?
David Dewhurst: (physically mailed, no email listed on website)
1. Can you fully explain your actions related to the TSA Anti-Groping bill, it is said you are the one who killed the bill – one that was fully supported by both the House and Senate. What happened?
2. You obviously have a large personal wealth, how did you accumulate your wealth and have you used it to help other Republican candidates both in Texas and across the country?
3. You will be 66 years old, which means you would be 72 at the conclusion of your first term, what do you say to the Texans who want a Senator who can serve multiple terms and be effective for the state?
Tom Leppert: (campaign@tomleppert.com)
1. Given your recently joining the Republican party, besides your endorsement of Governor Perry just prior to the General Election – what other Republican candidates have you endorsed?
2. It has come out that you donated large amounts to Ron Kirk, a Democrat, when he ran against Republican John Cornyn for the Senate. Three questions, President Bush campaigned for Mr. Cornyn with a rally on the night before the election – how do you square supporting Ron Kirk when President Bush was fighting for a Republican Senate? Second, how do explain donating to a Democrat over a Republican? Third, How do you expect to work with a Senator you worked against in the election?
3. The Texas Republican Primary voter tends to be staunchly conservative, but your record as Mayor was moderate at best while some say liberal. Running for Mayor, you sought and received endorsements from the SEIU and ACORN, two groups conservatives are diametrically opposed to. You worked to get a government owned hotel that increased the debt on the citizens of Dallas. You voted in favor of a tax increase in your first budget as Mayor. You hired an openly gay chief of staff and marched in gay pride parades. Yet today; you campaign as a tax fighter, against increasing debts, for family values and against same sex marriage. Two questions, especially on the last issue, what do you tell Chris Heinbaugh in relation to your belief he should be able to marry and how can one trust you to be conservative when you’ve governed very liberally as a Mayor?
Michael Williams: (info@WilliamsForTexas.com)
1. You have been running for the Senate for some time now, and prior to that you were a member of the Railroad Commission – how come your campaign hasn’t gained much traction from the fund raising side of it?
2. You have endorsed some liberal Republican candidates, most significantly Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani is for gay marriage & for abortion rights. Two questions, are you for gay marriage and abortion rights and if not, how can you support someone who is.
3. Follow up to that would be do you think the Republican Party should no longer concentrate on social issues and simply focus on fiscal issues?
Roger Williams: (physically mailed questions and submitted them online through their portal)
1. You are arguing that the voters need to elect a business man as their next Senator, do you feel this is the only reason voters should select you? This has been the single most sent in question related to your candidacy, and that is why should we elect a car dealer owner from outside of Fort Worth?
2. What does the Secretary of State do, is it just ceremonial and how does that make you qualified to be a United States Senator.
3. Texas saw some victories and some losses while you were chairman of Victory Texas, how did that prepare you to run for Senate and how do you explain the losses.
Note: we showed you which email address we sent our questions into. We are working on getting staff emails for campaign managers because we feel the generic mailboxes won't be answered. It will be a good test to see if they actually use this email.
