FreePac Successor Bares Fangs for 2006 Campaign
Candidate Questionnaire Uses Religion to Divide Texans, Sets Stage for Vicious General Election Campaign
August 25, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUSTIN A far-right political action committee that smeared moderate Republican legislative incumbents four years ago appears to be gearing up for another vicious political campaign, the president of the Texas Freedom Network said today.
Heritage Alliance PAC known as the Free Enterprise PAC, or FreePAC, in 2002 has released a new candidate questionnaire that sets the stage for a new smear campaign against political and religious moderates, TFN President Kathy Miller said.
“It’s clear that the extremists at the Heritage Alliance once again want to use religion to divide Texans for political gain rather than address issues that families really care about, like strong public schools, health care and good jobs,” Miller said. “And the group’s leaders have already demonstrated their willingness to smear anyone who dares to disagree with them.”
FreePAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2002 on mailers and other fliers attacking six moderate Republicans including the state’s acting lieutenant governor at the time, Bill Ratliff. The fliers, described by many observers as “political pornography,” included photos of men kissing and accused the moderates of supporting the “radical homosexual agenda,” the discussion of sexual acts in schools, and assisted suicide.
Heritage Alliance PAC released its new candidate questionnaire today. The questionnaire demands that candidates reveal whether they believe “in traditional Judeo-Christian values” and that the authority to be an officeholder comes from God. It also quizzes candidates on their “religious affiliation,” their “spiritual values,” whether they attend religious services regularly and what they think about gay and lesbian parents adopting children.
Dallas retiree Richard Ford founded FreePAC and is the president of Heritage Alliance. According to the Texas Ethics Commission’s records, Heritage Alliance PAC reported $59,450.86 on hand in July 2000.
