Democrat Sam Murphey charged duplicity against his Republican opponent Ralph Sheffield for his response to an online questionnaire regarding illegal immigration.
Sheffield’s camp said it was a clerical error.
And sometime during the heated debate, the controversial response was changed on the Web site.
“We made a change to Ralph Sheffield’s response today at his request,” wrote Sara Brady, Political Courage Test director. “The change we made was to check the response indicating he supports financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.”
Earlier in the campaign, both candidates answered an online questionnaire regarding issues from gun control to taxes to crime. Tuesday afternoon, Murphey handed out copies of his opponent’s answers. Highlighted in yellow, Murphey pointed out the box Sheffield had failed to the check
“My opponent, despite his talk on the campaign trail, has clearly answered questions to the contrary when he’s filled out questionnaires from groups that want to put out information to voters in Texas,” Murphey said. “You come back in our district and you go on the campaign trail and stump and ... you don’t bring it up that you don’t think the employers should get off without facing some kind of penalty.”
Sheffield’s campaign manager Will Franklin said there were several errors in the original response the campaign turned in last summer. He said he thought they had been corrected more than a month ago.
Speaking from his campaign headquarters, Sheffield pointed to his stance against illegal immigration through various campaign forums going back to last winter. He said Murphey’s assertion he was saying one thing on the campaign trail and another on a questionnaire was a “slanderous lie.”
Murphey also attacked Sheffield for his Texas Restaurant Association membership. A former TRA president, Sheffield received the group’s endorsement and $33,000 in campaign contributions. Murphey said the TRA thwarted legislation in 2007 that if enacted could revoke business licenses of those who are found guilty of employing illegal immigrants.
“First of all, TRA wants to see immigration reform as well,” Sheffield said. “But they want to see it in a way we’re getting it back to more green cards. What we want to be careful of - employers are put in an unfair burden to run their business. The last thing any organization is going to do is say, ‘Hey, we want to see illegals over here.’ It puts a drain on our infrastructure. It hurts our schools.”
With six days left before the election, Sheffield and Murphey can be expected to continue to tangle in this high-stakes race. The state Democratic Party has eyed this seat as one of five they want to “flip” so they can gain a majority in the House. But the Republicans have owned this seat for more than two decades and donors have poured $153,000 into the Sheffield campaign since the last campaign finance report was released just 22 days ago. Of that, $21,000 was from Texans for Lawsuit Reform and $15,000 more from a previous donor, Houston home builder Bob Perry. Murphey reported raising $138,000 for the same period, including a $51,800 in-kind donation for direct mail from Texans for Insurance Reform.
