By Amarillo Pioneer Publisher's Committee
Republican primary voters in Texas’ 13 Congressional District advanced two candidates to the July 14 runoff in March in the crowded race for Congress. Former lobbyist Josh Winegarner and former Physician to the President Ronny Jackson punched their tickets to the runoff, outpacing a number of other well-financed and well-known challengers in that contest. Since that time, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other events, both of these candidates have been campaigning across the massive district in hopes of earning the Republican nod in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon).
Throughout this extra long primary campaign cycle, we have learned much about the character, qualities, and priorities of both Winegarner and Jackson. We have also learned the strengths of both candidates and the weaknesses of both candidates as they hope to take Thornberry’s seat in Washington.
Because of the intense pressure of the campaign, the best and the worst in the candidates have shown through. With all of this in mind, the ballot on July 14 might say Ronny Jackson or Josh Winegarner, but the real choice is actually much more complex.
During this campaign, both candidates have had to answer for certain things in their records. For Jackson, voters were interested in hearing an explanation for the allegations raised by Democrats in the U.S. Senate during his confirmation hearings when he was President Trump’s nominee to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2018. Jackson has been open about these allegations and has been willing to sit down with voters to explain what happened during his nomination process.
For Winegarner, voters have sought an explanation on his record as a lobbyist. Winegarner never gave a solid answer during the primary election, and the scrutiny over his record only intensified once it was revealed this month that Winegarner lobbied to continue NAFTA and to prevent country-of-origin labeling in defiance of Trump administration priorities. Still, Winegarner has never given a true explanation for his record and has instead deflected at every turn. In an interview on KFYO in Lubbock, Winegarner said the story was “completely misleading and untrue” despite documentation. He has repeated this over and over again, going so far as to call these stories “fake news” instead of providing evidence to counter what was contained in disclosures filed with the U.S. Senate by his employer, the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, in 2017. In an editorial this month, we even offered Winegarner the opportunity to submit an op-ed for publication explaining how these stories were “fake news,” but Mr. Winegarner never responded to our request.
The fact that Mr. Winegarner has been running from his record alone is problematic, but the issues with Winegarner’s campaign go far beyond just his lobbying record.
For the past month, Winegarner has been continually attacking the military service of his opponent, including attacking Jackson for his promotions while in the U.S. Navy and for his 25 years of active duty service, which kept him out of the 13th Congressional District for that period of time. Jackson is a native of Levelland, and spent his life in the Texas Panhandle before attending Texas A&M University and joining the U.S. Navy. Jackson served active duty in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, using his medical knowledge to save lives on the battlefield. He was later assigned by the U.S. Navy to serve in the White House, where he finished his career with the U.S. Navy.
Winegarner has continually been attacking Jackson for being a “move-in” candidate without explaining to voters that Jackson only retired from the U.S. Navy last year and immediately after doing so, moved back to the Panhandle, to Amarillo. Jackson was not able to control where he was stationed while on active duty service and Winegarner has simply been using this point as a cheap attack line to create fear among voters who are concerned about Washington influence.
Attacking any veteran’s military service would be problematic enough, but Winegarner has upped these attacks to a near disgusting level. He has attacked Jackson as a “big city carpetbagger” for serving outside of the Texas Panhandle while in the U.S. Navy. He has criticized Jackson for being a “move-in” candidate for choosing to reside in Amarillo after his retirement from active duty service, and has made accusations about Jackson’s voting patterns while on active duty military service, not factoring in the difficulties of absentee voting while serving on active duty in a foreign land.
After Jackson explained that his ballot was lost in the mail while on active duty service in 2016, mentioning that he was in Afghanistan for before the election, Winegarner said he was “not asking for an apology, just a straight answer” on Jackson’s voting.
If Josh Winegarner was concerned about giving voters a “straight answer” then he would have already explained himself on his lobbying record, but instead, his call for a “straight answer” was only used to shield himself from the political liability caused by his disrespectful and disingenuous attacks on Jackson’s military service.
After he had been thoroughly rebuked for his round of attacks by veterans in Amarillo, including by several of his former March primary opponents who have since endorsed Jackson, Winegarner instead doubled down on his attacks, launching a brand new ad attacking Jackson, using allegations raised during his nomination process, which Jackson has already thoroughly discussed with voters.
Throughout this campaign, Winegarner has shown a clear lack of judgment on how to communicate with voters and contrast with his opponent. Instead of contrasting his record with his opponent’s, it is the publisher's committee's opinion that Winegarner has simply attempted to burn down the military service of Jackson, all in hopes of winning votes on Election Day based upon fear and innuendo.
Winegarner and his cronies are not done, though. Amarillo Matters, the campaign arm of the Amarillo establishment, has run ads about “keeping our elections local” and is expected to spend more money in the contest while Winegarner tries to scare voters with the allegations of Jackson being a carpetbagger. Another super PAC supported by Winegarner's employer is now also attacking Jackson for his military service.
Winegarner, Amarillo Matters, and the establishment cronies who are attempting to scare voters into believing Jackson is a carpetbagger due to his military service should be ashamed of themselves.
However, simply calling for Winegarner and Amarillo Matters to be ashamed of themselves is not enough in this election. If voters truly want to show they do not care for these kinds of despicable, tribalistic attacks created by political consultants solely to scare voters and keep the establishment in power, then they must send a big message on Election Day.
Dr. Ronny Jackson’s service in the U.S. Navy and his platform are extremely promising in this election. Jackson is promising to go to Washington and represent the 13th Congressional District in a way which will prioritize the needs of the District, including job creation and rural issues. Jackson has shown a willingness to meet every voter in the District and has attracted huge crowds in cities like Amarillo and smaller communities like Hereford, alike, simply by showing up, being present, and speaking to the issues which matter to voters in their communities.
Whether your concerns are about fiscal matters, agricultural matters, defense and veteran matters, or anything else facing our country today, Jackson been willing to sit down and have the conversations voters have been searching for in the sea of noise created by his opponent and his supporters, such as Amarillo Matters.
Ronny Jackson is not part of the political establishment and has shown himself to be unafraid of challenging establishment figures like Thornberry and U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-Helotes) in this election.
Jackson has also been willing to challenge the traditional status quo of campaigning, which typically tells candidates to be aloof on the issues and refuse to answer when calls for accountability come in the next election cycle. Unlike his opponent, Jackson has told voters exactly how long he plans to stay in office, committing himself to a ten year term limit, and has even pledged that he will not return to Washington as a lobbyist when he leaves office.
Jackson has been unafraid to take on the big challenges in this campaign and to challenge the establishment and the status quo. That matters when picking a new person to represent us among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
If voters want to reject Amarillo Matters and the playbook of the establishment, which apparently allows for a candidate to attack another candidate’s military service when they fall behind in the polls, then there is only one option. Republican primary voters in Amarillo and Texas’ 13th Congressional District only have one option if they want to reject the establishment, reject Amarillo Matters, and send a clear message that unsubstantiated negative campaigns, which have become the hallmark of the Amarillo Matters and establishment playbooks, will no longer be tolerated in Amarillo.
With all of this in mind, our publisher’s committee recommends Dr. Ronny Jackson for U.S. House District 13 in the July 14 runoff.
Amarillo has an incredible chance at this moment to show the political establishment that we will no longer tolerate the kind of unsubstantiated negative campaigns produced by establishment candidates and organizations. If you want to send a message to Amarillo Matters and the establishment, then please make sure you get out to vote for Ronny Jackson for Congress.
Election Day is July 14. Early voting will run from June 29 through July 10.
Please note: A publisher’s committee endorsement does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Amarillo Pioneer’s advertisers or staff. An endorsement of one candidate in a primary does not represent a criticism of other candidates running unless otherwise stated. Endorsements may be offered in additional primary races. A primary endorsement does not necessarily indicate a general election endorsement, as local general election endorsements will be handled on a case-by-case basis.