Dean Crump and Kel Seliger/Screenshots via YouTube
A quick look through Texas Ethics Commission records shows that before running for a seat on the Amarillo City Council, Dean Crump’s only political involvement was as a campaign donor for former State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo).
Seliger, who retired this year after a string of controversies, received a donation from Crump and his wife, Nicki, during his 2014 campaign for re-election. In that campaign, Seliger received a donation of $500 from Crump and his wife, according to a filing made with the Texas Ethics Commission.
In that election, Seliger would narrowly win re-election against former Midland Mayor Mike Canon in a campaign that saw a spotlight placed on Seliger’s liberal positions and associations with Texas Democrats. Seliger would continue to lean harder into his association with Democrats in the final years of his term, even filing a sworn declaration in federal court in 2022, accusing his Republican colleagues of violating the Voting Rights Act during redistricting to lessen the voting power of Hispanic and Black voters in the state.
After making the filing in federal court, Seliger later admitted that he did not actually believe what he said in his sworn declaration.
“It was prepared by Senator Powell, and I think it says [the redrawing of SD 10] is a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act,” Seliger told Texas Monthly. “I don’t really believe that, but I signed that thing for Senator Powell and certainly it was the only opportunity to forward my feelings about my district.”
Seliger’s detractors were quick to jump on his statements that he did not actually believe what he wrote in his declaration. One critic, attorney Tony McDonald, even accused Seliger of committing perjury by making the statement.
“‘I was mad at [Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick] for redistricting me so I did a little perjury in a federal lawsuit to help the Dems,’” McDonald’s tweet reads, rewording Seliger’s statement.
Beyond this controversy, Seliger created some controversy at the beginning of his final term after the longtime Panhandle lawmaker was stripped of his committee assignments by Patrick after making an offensive comment about a female staffer in Patrick’s office.
On his way out of office, Seliger was one of just a handful of Republicans to endorse the Democrat who was running against Patrick in 2022, accountant Mike Collier.
This new information regarding Crump’s donation further cements the City Council candidate’s attachment to the Amarillo establishment. Crump has employed Norfleet Strategies as the primary consultant on his campaign, which has also been a consultant used by both local establishment candidates and Amarillo Matters PAC, a committee that endorsed Mayor Ginger Nelson and was formed, in part, to support Seliger’s bid for re-election in 2018.
Crump is running for City Council Place 1, facing six opponents in the May 6 election. Those opponents include Kelsey Richardson, Ray White, Sherie Wood, Chip Hunt, and Josh Craft.