by BRAD ROLLINS

It has been said often enough by now that it’s conventional wisdom if not cliché: Hays County is a solidly purple county – that is, comparable parts Republican red and Democratic blue.

Perhaps never before has the truth been more starkly contrasted than in 2010, when two Hays County residents running in high-profile races for state office hail from different ends of the political spectrum.

Former State Rep. Rick Green, who last made the news when he punched his successor in the face outside a Dripping Springs polling place,  has fielded an insurgent campaign for the state’s Supreme Court.

GREEN

In a six candidate field in March’s Republican Primary, Green came in first, drawing 212,788 votes, or 18.9 percent. In Hays, his home county, he won a plurality of 41.2 percent.

Green faces Fort Worth family judge Debra Lehrmann in the April 13 runoff; the race has been cast as a microcosm of the GOP’s internal struggle between moderates and conservatives following Barack Obama’s election as president and unease of the Bush years.

True to form, Green is unabashedly not just the conservative but the tea-partying, Founding Father-quoting darling of the potent mix of religion and libertarianism that runs strong in Texas’ Republicans. He touts the endorsement of Chuck Norris and, posthumously, Charlton Heston, the Moses-playing actor who in his later years represented the National Rifle Association.

In a vacuum, judicial races might be decided by comparison of qualifications and education, but Green has turned the race on its head with a populism-enfused version of principles he thinks will decide the race.

“I do believe that people are looking for patriots, not politicians. They want servant leaders with a track record of fighting for individual liberty and I’ve been fortunate to be given many opportunities to do that for the last two decades,” Green told the Hays Free Press.

“Americans, and especially Texans, are tired of politicians who think they know better how to run our lives than we do. More people than ever are studying the Constitution and the Founding Fathers and getting back to the formula that made America great. The more voters like that, the better chance our team has of victory both in the runoff and in November,” he said.

The state’s newspapers have scoffed at Green’s candidacy, calling into question his constitutional reading and recalling the perceived ethical lapses that contributed to his narrow defeat by Patrick Rose in 2002. Green, however, has sought to use the opposition to his favor calling media opposition evidence that “they only tackle the one carrying the football.”

Green said, “The media has been criticizing me for being a Christian who believes Founders like Thomas Jefferson were brilliant men that created the greatest nation in history. Most Texans agree with me in those beliefs, so when the media mocks our values or distorts my record, I do think it helps the voters to know I’m the one that shares their values. Texas voters have figured out that if you get endorsed by the Statesman, Chronicle and Morning News, you are most likely not the people’s candidate.”

BELL-METEREAU

Coming at you from a completely different perspective, San Marcos resident Rebecca Bell-Metereau is the Democratic Party’s nominee for the District 5 seat on the State Board of Education. The district stretches from Waco in Bell County to northern Bexar County and much of the Hill Country.

A Texas State University English and film professor, Bell-Metereau is running against what she calls the extremism of incumbent Ken Mercer, who supported recent changes to the state’s textbook curriculum that became a national phenomenon after being ridiculed on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Last year, Mercer supported continuing requirements that high school science teachers cover “weaknesses” in the theory of evolution, characterizing the theory as having a “bad history of lies” in its support.

Bell-Metereau said, “I want to bring the board back to the business of education and take the politics and personal beliefs out of the discussion. The focus needs to be back on education – particularly getting our students the best 21st century education – not try to go back to the 1950s which seems where some of the board members are stuck. Or maybe the 1850s – it’s hard to tell some times.”