What Do Republican Voters Want?

By Bill Zeeble, KERA News

Dallas, TX –

The three-way primary battle over the Texas GOP gubernatorial nomination could be the most contentious in recent memory. This Thursday at 7pm, KERA will present a live, televised debate with Senator Hutchison, Governor Perry, and Debra Medina. Voters statewide will get a chance to see all 3 candidates at the same time tackle some of the states' toughest issues. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more on what GOP voters want to hear

The Dallas Safari Club convention is among the best places to scope out big-game hunting rifles, gun-friendly conservation groups, and bedrock Republicans. Thousands attending this just-ended 4-day gathering were overwhelmingly Anglo, middle, and upper middle class. Many Texans in attendance, including Haskell Stricklen, mentioned a leading voter concern this election year.

Haskell Stricklen: Right now the unemployment situation in Texas is what's foremost on most Texan's mind, even though we haven't been hit quite as hard as the rest of the country has.

At 8 percent, the state's most recent unemployment rate is higher than it's been in 2 decades. But, as the State's Workforce Commission has frequently said , that figure is 2 points lower than the national average. Even in these recessionary times though, that's not good enough for Catherine, of Fort Worth, who did not want her last name mentioned.

Catherine: I'm looking for some changes inside our state. We need more growth, we need more border security.

Catherine was not the only Republican whose top concerns marry the struggling economy to border security, and immigration.

Raj Paul: I want to hear what they're going to do about immigration. I'm an immigrant, but I emigrated legally. I'm from India.

Raj Paul, of Houston, is a small businessman with a booth at the convention.

Raj Paul: I think we're going broke taking care of the illegal aliens. I think there's plenty of room for them to come in as long as they come in legally. I stood in line for 7 years. Why should they just walk in?

Raj Paul's friend Bob Dtlefsen, from Waco, shared the concern over illegal immigrants, and added another to his list; transportation.

Bob Dtlefsen: Interstate-35 is just a disaster. And it's in the worst repair. We definitely need the state highway department straightened out. Those people, they don't seem to report to anybody and I think there needs to be a lot of accountability there.

Transportation has been a hot issue among the gubernatorial candidates. Senator Hutchison has attacked Governor Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor proposal and his plans to build new roads by hiring foreign contractors who'll be paid through long-term tolls. In turn, Perry has attacked Hutchison's own transportation plan, unveiled last week, as offering no new roads nor any way to pay them. Debra Medina has attacked both, saying they both rely too much on big government.

For Kim Blalock, it's not a real GOP contest if no one talks about taxes. That's HIS issue.

Kim Blalock: We're paying entirely too much property taxes. I'm for the candidate that says no to some of these things. Eventually property taxes and school taxes and hospital taxes and Junior College taxes will eventually - that's going to get so high that people - what we going to do? Where's the ceiling? Where will it stop? My property taxes goes up $10,000 to 12,000 a year and they haven't improved my neighborhood one bit. Now how the hell can that be? Eventually, we're just taxed do death. This bureaucracy we're paying for is ridiculous.

What's Brian Bernardo looking for from the state's GOP candidates? The small business man from Bridgeport says it's the one who offers the smallest government.

Brian Bernardo, Bridgeport Guns & Ammo: The decision will not be made based upon "who's going to give me what," but basically, which is going to give me the least. Which basically means going to cost me the least.

Bernardo, like many voters we talked to at the Safari Club Convention, says he's undecided in this race. On Thursday, he and the other hunters and sports enthusiasts can put the 3 candidates in their sites, to see how they measure up in the debate.

KERA Channel 13 will televise the live, hour-long debate beginning at 7pm Thursday. You can also hear it here on 90.1. Then join us Friday for Morning Edition for more on debate fireworks. At 6pm on 90.1 we'll bring you a special half hour: the Texas Debates and the Republican Primary.

For more information, click to: http://texasdebates.org/

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