Dippel Demands Trigger Disqualification of State Rep Candidates

The Bastrop County Democratic and Republican Parties worked jointly to put on the Bi-Partisan Candidate Forum held today at the Bastrop High School. The forum represented amicable cooperation between the parties to present both candidates for the offices of State Representative - District 17, District Judge - 423rd District Court, Sheriff, and County Commissioners for Precincts 1 and 3. The candidates were able to inform the public on their positions on issues pre-selected from questions submitted by the public.

Marring the spirit of cooperation was the melt-down that occurred at the start time of the forum between the candidates for State Representative, causing the forum organizers to pull that office from the forum. Donnie Dippel, Democrat candidate for State Representative, refused to speak at the forum unless Tim Kleinschmidt, Republican candidate for the same office, would agree not to tape the event. This despite the fact that the event was a public forum being taped by others, and that there was no forum rule saying that taping could not occur. Dippel's campaign insisted it had an agreement with the forum organizers that there would be no taping besides media, but the organizers had made no such agreement. Instead, a member of the forum organization committee had heard the concerns from Dippel's campaign in the early stages of planning, but there was no follow up to the discussion and no assurances were given by the committee. The Kleinschmidt campaign was not amenable to taking orders from the Dippel campaign, so the issue was not resolved amicably.

Faced with a stand off between the campaigns at the very time that the event was to start, the forum organizers voted that the State Representative race would not be featured at the forum unless the candidates could reach an agreement as to taping. By the end of the event, no agreement had been reached, so the candidates did not speak.

As your chairman serving on the organization committee, I respectfully lodged a strong vote of dissent to the decision of the forum organizers. I argued that the Kleinschmidt campaign was violating no forum rule, and last minute demands on the organizers were inappropriate. I favored policing no cameras, leaving the forum open for all candidates to participate in, and if one candidate chose not to participate under those circumstances, that was their choice. My view did not prevail. I believe as a result the forum organizers inappropriately penalized Tim Kleinschmidt where he had violated no rules and was prepared to speak without pre-condition. At the same time, the organizers were not partisan in their decision, but were concerned whether allowing one candidate to speak with another refusing was fair. It was my view that changing the rules of participation at the start of the event was unfair.

I look forward to working with the Bastrop County Democratic Party again on similar future events. From this experience, we will be better armed to deal with last-minute gamemanship.

Albert L. Ellison, Chairman
Bastrop County Republican Party