I got an email about the anti-toll road San Antonio Toll Party endorsing David Van Os for Attorney General, which got me to wondering about a question I'd asked before, namely "How successful will some of the downballot Democrats be in getting Strayhorn Republicans to split their tickets more than once?" I don't have an answer to that, but if you look at their complete list of endorsed candidates, you'll see that it's fairly bipartisan, with Democrats Hank Gilbert and VaLinda Hathcox being listed as Good Guys, and Barbara Radnofsky getting an A to Kay Bailey Hutchison's C. If nothing else, that will give me a starting place for future precinct and county vote comparisons.

While I believe that toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor will be an issue that will work against candidates like Rick Perry, I don't have a handle on how much influence groups like SA Toll Party actually have. They claimed credit for Nathan Macias' GOP primary win over State Rep. Carter Casteel, but it's a little hard to separate their influence from James Leininger's kilobucks, so who knows? Like I said, I'll be sifting through the data once it's available.

Click the More link for some press releases by Van Os, Gilbert, and the Texas Democratic Party regarding the Trans Texas Corridor.

Van Os press release:

"If elected to serve as Attorney General of Texas, I solemnly promise that I will use every legal means available to me by that office to bring to a halt and/or invalidate the unconstitutional and illegal project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor." ~ David Van Os, from written oath filed in public records at county courthouses

David Van Os' candidacy for Attorney General has been endorsed by the San Antonio Toll Party, a leading non-partisan grassroots citizens' organization in the statewide efforts to stop the state government's current plans to seize Texans' private lands and property through forcible eminent domain for the construction of giant toll roads that will be operated by wealthy private companies from Spain.

Toll Party Regional Director Terri Hall of San Antonio stated, "Mr. Van Os is committed to stopping the Trans Texas Corridor and urban toll road debacle. He sees the total disconnect between government and those they're charged with representing. He's a fighter and has filed sworn affidavits vowing to fulfill his promise to stop the privatizing and tolling of our public infrastructure. ... Mr. Van Os is featured in a documentary film "Truth Be Tolled" http://www.truthbetolled.com where his comments at TxDOT public meetings brilliantly codify everything that's wrong with this Governor's transportation policies and how we the PEOPLE can stop it."

Van Os has completed 247 of his planned campaign stops at every one of Texas' 254 county courthouses. He files in the public records in each courthouse a written oath of his intention to stop the Trans-Texas Corridor. He began his 254-county trek in April.

Van Os stated, "The Trans Texas Corridor is a monstrous explosion of greed and arrogance. It represents a profound disrespect for Texans' lands and properties. It is an insult to the very character of our beautiful state, and Texans everywhere are outraged."

Van Os continued, "Article 4, Section 22 of the Texas Constitution mandates that the Attorney General shall do everything necessary and proper to prevent any private corporation from demanding or collecting any species of toll not authorized by law. The contemplated magnitude of forcible eminent domain, coupled with the magnitude of the billions of dollars of profit for the European companies, in my opinion makes this abominable project unconstitutional in Texas. If elected to serve as Attorney General I am going to use every legal means available to me by that office to bring this unconstitutional project to a halt."

"I'm placing my intentions in the public records, in writing and under oath, because I want my fellow Texans to know exactly what I intend to I want them to know that I mean what I say," Van Os further noted.

Hank Gilbert, Democratic Candidate for Agriculture Commissioner, joins with Texas Democratic Party leadership to bring the issue of the Trans-Texas Corridor to the forefront of campaign issues.

Gilbert attended more than 20 of the 55 TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) meetings speaking about the negative effects of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) on agriculture, "The worst thing is the initial phase of the Trans-Texas Corridor, TTC-35. Under its recommended route, it is going to take over 100,000 acres of the best growing soil we have--blackland soil. This is where we grow corn, milo and cotton. It is also good grassland that is essential in the production of beef cattle. TTC-35 will take a lot of that grassland out of production, which hampers our overall beef market."

Gilbert emphasized, "The eminent domain legislation that enables the state to take land for the TTC was sponsored by my opponent who was in the senate. His legislation provides for the state to take land by eminent domain when the state and the landowner cannot agree on an appraised value." The land taken for the TTC will be leased for 50 years to a foreign company who is partnered with Zachry Construction of San Antonio.

Gilbert has traveled extensively across Texas attending TXDOT meetings regarding the TTC. He shares the frustration of many landowners who have tried to get answers at these meetings.

"I have posed many questions to TXDOT in the meetings dealing with their 4,000-page study. TXDOT spent millions of dollars on environmental impact studies for this project. And they ignored every one of those studies. I have a problem with that. Every Texan should have a problem with that."

Gilbert also expressed concerns about water rights connected with the TTC. "There are big water transmission lines within this corridor. When the state takes the land it will also get the rights to water under the land. What's going to happen to this water?" Gilbert said, "Is this water going to be sold or bargained to the highest bidder? This is the best-kept secret of this corridor and one subject TXDOT is not talking about at all."

Today, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie called for an investigation into a possible sweetheart deal involving the Trans Texas Corridor and a well known Republican insider, former Railroad Commissioner Barry Williamson. Chairman Richie called on Attorney General Greg Abbott and the appropriate bipartisan legislative committees to investigate information that indicates Williamson may have received inside information regarding the Trans Texas Corridor that directly profited his land acquisition company, Wilson Holding Co.

"The more we find out, the more Rick Perry's Trans Texas Corridor appears to be a money-maker for foreign companies and Perry's campaign contributors, and a bad deal for Texas taxpayers," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie.

"Texas taxpayers deserve to know who is profiting from the TTC and how much they stand to gain," Richie added.

In 2005, Barry Williamson established a land acquisition company, Wilson Holding, Inc., to profit from the development of Rick Perry's much-touted Trans Texas Corridor. In documents filed with the SEC, Wilson Holding, Inc. cited specific highways that are expected to become part of the TTC. However, those plans have not yet been made public by the Texas Department of Transportation, meaning Williamson apparently had inside knowledge of the TTC construction path.

Additionally, Williamson's PAC has contributed tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash to Rick Perry, Tom Craddick, David Dewhurst and a number of other Republican candidates. Furthermore, Barry Williamson once lobbied for the Texas Energy Center, funded in part by Rick Perry's slush fund—the Texas Enterprise Fund.

"What exactly did Barry Williamson know and when did he know it? How many other Perry contributors are receiving similar information? Texans deserve an independent, bipartisan investigation to get to the bottom of these unanswered questions," said Richie.