Fairly/Photo by Noah Dawson
During our primary election forum held earlier this month, we asked Republican Texas House District 87 candidate Caroline Fairly to address an article linking politicians who had endorsed her to donations made by her father, Alex Fairly. Below is the full question and answer.
Question: “According to the Hansford Informer, your father Alex Fairly has donated millions of dollars to local and federal candidates over the past few years. Some have alleged that this shows that your father is attempting to buy you a seat in the Texas House. How do you respond to these allegations?”
Answer: “Thank you. So, a few things, um, it’s kind of two separate topics: my father Alex and some of these endorsements. First off, um, you know, people have asked me this about ‘hey, these endorsements you have, whats going on when them?’ Really, the reality is I’m very proud to have all of them. I have them from Senator Cruz, Ronny Jackson, Senator Kevin Sparks, I have it from the local Amarillo Police Department, Fire Department, local Mayor Cole Stanley, I have local mayors in Stratford, in Dumas, who’ve, who have endorsed me. Um, and, and really, this question, this question is not for me, this question is for them. And, what I really think is, are we, are we challenging the integrity of Ted Cruz and Ronny Jackson and Cole Stanley, and these mayors. And, and really, the question is to them, and to ask them why.
And, really, the other part of this is my dad. I, I’m very proud of, of him. I’m really proud of what he’s done in Amarillo. I mean, he took a stand on principle when others didn’t. And he had a voice for people here, here in Amarillo who didn’t have a voice. And, ultimately, what he did was very inspiring. And, the reality is, most people love him. Like, I’ve knocked on over 500 plus doors. Um, and, most of the time, I knock a door, the person answers it, ‘are you, Alex and Cheryl Fairly, are they your parents?’ and 99% of the time people say ‘oh my goodness I love what he did, I love what he did for Amarillo, I love what he did for us, he saved the city.’ Um, even Democrats sometimes have told me ‘I love your dad.’ Um.
“But, the thing is is that my dad’s not running for House of Representatives. I’m running for House of Representatives. I’m the one who has travelled 4,000 miles outside of Amarillo, Texas. I’m the one who has knocked on 500+ doors. I am the one who has gotten these local endorsements from Cole Stanley and these small towns. I’m the one who was interrogated with questions for 40 minutes from Senator Ted Cruz, which I will tell you was very intimidating. And he asked me, he said ‘Caroline,’ said ‘Caroline,’ said ‘Last question: what do you want to be remembered as in Austin?’ I said, ‘Senator Cruz,’ I said, ‘I want to be remembered as someone who was willing to not sell out to the Austin people and to the lobbyists and to the way of life, and to stand on principles and values.
“And, the other part of this is, you guys, a lot of you in this room I’ve met with. We’ve had coffee, we’ve had meetings, and, and, you know my heart. You know why I’m running. You know I care about conservative values. You know I, I believe in the West Texas Panhandle way of living. You know that I, I care about listening to your concerns and questions. You know that, um, I, I genuinely care about the people here in the panhandle, and I care about being a voice in Austin. And, at the end of the day, I am the one who will represent you in Austin. And I would be so honored to be able to do that, because we have to make sure that we get people in Austin who will be an advocate for these conservative values that we all believe in.”
We also asked fellow District 87 candidates Cindi Bulla and Richard Beyea tough questions. You can read Bulla’s response to a question about a Democrat she had given money to here and Beyea’s response to a question about his support for a historically large Perryton ISD bond here. Jesse Quackenbush, the other candidate running in the Republican Primary for District 87 declined to participate in our forum. Whoever wins the primary is expected to face Democrat Timothy Gassaway in November to replace outgoing incumbent Four Price.
We also asked tough questions to Texas House District 86 candidates John Smithee and Jamie Haynes. You can read their responses by clicking their names.
The primary election is set for Tuesday, March 5th. Early voting is February 20th through March 1st.