Unlike the previous meeting, in which Democrat Murphey came out verbally swinging at Republican Sheffield, most of the back and forth was between the three panel members and the candidates.
The candidates asserted similar positions on issues that have been hashed out - how to tame the beast that many say TxDOT has become and what to do about health care. But the two men disagreed over voter ID, school vouchers and Bell County water needs.
Murphey asserted that Sheffield was backing a voucher program in which parents could use state money to send their children to private schools. Telegram managing editor and panel member Carroll Wilson asked Sheffield exactly where he stood.
“I never said I was in favor of school vouchers,” Sheffield said. “I said I was about school reform. I did say at one time I think that school vouchers in urban areas probably needed to be experimented with. We need to make sure every child gets the education they deserve.”
Wilson posed a follow-up question.
“You just said that you never said you supported it. But you did say you supported it in experiments in large cities.”
You’ve also taken a lot of money from a San Antonio man who is probably “mister vouchers” in Texas, Wilson said. “Does that tell us anything at all about where you stand?”
Sheffield said the question was unfair.
“I’m going to be my own person when I go to Austin. Just because someone gave me a donation, or endorsement does not mean that’s always the way I’m going to vote,” Sheffield said. “If that’s the concern, maybe we should be talking about the teachers unions or the other unions that support my opponent. I really believe education needs to be looked at, needs a reform. We’re spending now twice as much money as we did 10 years ago and we’re not seeing the result.”
Murphey followed up with a statement about the endorsements he received from teachers and others.
“There’s three . . . and I’m just tickled to death that they’re supporting me, although they are of modest means and will be known to everyone here in a week or so.”
Regarding vouchers, Murphey said, “I am against school vouchers. It’s taking public money and putting it into private institutions . . . and I’m against that.”
Murphey then held up a voters’ guide for the April 8 runoff election in which Sheffield beat Martha Tyroch and pointed out Sheffield strongly favored school choice, which is another term for vouchers.
Regarding water, Sheffield said Bell County is sitting on a gold mine. Murphey said that water was not technically Bell County’s. The Army Corps of Engineers and other entities have a large say in where the water goes.
Sheffield and Murphey strongly disagreed regarding the requirement for voters to produce a picture identification before they get their hands on a ballot. Sheffield said other parts of Texas were rife with problems.
“In Harris County there’s thousands of people on the voter role that were felons. There’s cases of voter fraud in Dallas County. Every citizen has the right to vote, at the same time who’s voting? There’s nothing wrong with a photo ID. When you go to the grocery store to cash a check, when you go to the airport. South of the border they have a better voting system in Mexico than we do in Texas. I think voter ID is a very good thing.”
Murphey said voting is a sacred right.
“Our Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has not prosecuted one case of voter impersonation since he’s been the inspector general. Not one. And there have been only 14 cases nationwide,” Murphey said. “Under no circumstances should any American citizen be deprived the right to vote, especially our seniors. They may not have an ID card. They may not have a driver’s license.”
The Bell Freedom Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan corporation hosted the event. Board member Ralph Gauer said they chose Belton for its central location and held the event at 7 p.m. because he thought more people could fit that part of the evening into their schedule.
fafflerbach@temple-telegram.com
