Another day, another Texas Parent PAC endorsement. Today’s lucky winner is Dallasite Allen Vaught, who is running against Bill Keffer in HD107. This race hasn’t really been on my radar – for whatever the reason, I just haven’t heard that much about it. What I have heard about Vaught is pretty good, and between excitement over his candidacy and the recent trends in Dallas County, some people think this is a good pickup opportunity for Dems, even though the district isn’t quite as purple as some other targets.
Here’s the press release (Word doc):
“As an Army captain and attorney, Allen Vaught has proven he will effectively fight for families and for freedom,” said Texas Parent PAC board member Pam Meyercord of Dallas.
“He has the leadership skills and collaborative temperament desperately needed in Austin right now to solve our state’s important problems.”
[…]
“Allen Vaught represents the mainstream views and interests of families in East Dallas,” Meyercord said. “Unlike the incumbent, Allen Vaught will be a partner with parents and a true advocate for the needs of our children’s neighborhood schools.”
Texas Parent PAC board member Ellen Jones of Euless said House District 107 is one of the most important races in the November 7 general election, and the statewide parent group believes Vaught is clearly the better choice.
“Allen Vaught will be part of the solution at the state capitol, not part of the problem,” Jones added. “It’s time for a change. Dallas families deserve to have a legislator who represents the needs of the community, not someone who votes based on his own extremist ideology.”
Vaught grew up on a ranch west of Fort Worth in a family of teachers and ranchers. He received a bachelor’s of business administration in accounting from Baylor University, where he also was a member of the Baylor football team. His juris doctorate degree was earned at South Texas College of Law.
As an attorney, Vaught represents patients with cancer and other health problems related to exposure to environmental toxins in industrial settings and oilfields. Vaught is especially empathetic because he was a roughneck on drilling rigs to pay for college, and he comes from a family with a long history of working in the Texas oilfields.
A U.S. Army reserve captain, Vaught served in Iraq for a year fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He commanded one of the first units to enter Fallujah and was assigned to rebuild that city and win the hearts and minds of its citizens. Vaught was responsible for operating the local government, including training the local mayor and council on democracy and parliamentary procedure, rebuilding and supervising nearly 200 schools, and working with local managers to ensure that hospitals and water and sanitation systems were equipped and operating.
After six successful months in Fallujah, Vaught was transferred to focus on rebuilding and pacification of Sadr City in the Shia Muslim part of Baghdad. Vaught established relationships with hundreds of tribal leaders in that area. While transporting two daughters of a local tribal leader to an American hospital, his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device and small arms ambush. Vaught’s back was fractured and one of the discs in his lower back was torn in the fight. He was awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve.
Pretty impressive, I think. Congrats to Allen Vaught, who joins Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Joe Heflin as endorsees. Tune in tomorrow for another episode, as I know there’s more coming.
UPDATE: DallasBlog covers the press conference.