Print Version
E-mail This StoryCurrently held by US Rep. Sam Johnson, a Republican, the race has drawn many contenders from throughout the district, which includes McKinney, Allen, Plano, Frisco, Carrollton, Dallas, Garland, Murphy, Parker, Richardson, Rowlett, Sachse, and Wylie.
Johnson will face McKinney resident Harry Pierce and Wayne Avellanet in the Republican primary election. Ronald Minkow of Plano is running against McKinney resident Tom Daley in the Democratic election.
Pierce said on Friday that he is serious about addressing the state and county’s immigration issues and wants to focus on core governmental issues.
?I’m hearing feedback from people who are saying it’s time for the long term politicians to step down or be voted out of office. People are worried about immigration issues, the rising costs of healthcare and lack of healthcare availability for people who cannot afford it,” Pierce said.
He would also like to curb spending on frivolous issues, if elected.
“We have uncontrolled spending on things that are not even important, such as arts projects and studies. We’ve paid for people’s pet projects, such as how animals react to different things in studies. Who needs to know that?” Pierce asked.
He personally likes Johnson but thinks the congressman is not doing enough to get the job done, Pierce said.
“This country is hurting. I respect my incumbent congressman. Sam has been there for 16 years. Sam votes the right way and writes bills, but we need someone to do something more than the norm,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to stop voting for people because they’re nice guys. I just don’t think Sam has done enough to bring about the long term needs,” Pierce said.
He believes that President George W. Bush has not done enough to fix the growing number of illegal immigrants that entering the country, he said.
“Bush has not done a good job on immigration because he has not enforced the laws of the United States of America because he’s voted for his own likes and dislikes. If he wanted to, he could have done something about immigration in 30 days,” Pierce said.
If Pierce were elected, he would work to gather 200 of his fellow Republican representatives and then march in a protest at the White House to tell the president that the American people that the country’s borders need to be protected.
‘We know that many illegal immigrants here are from countries that have a large amount of terrorists groups. We need to know who these people are. George Bush seems to be more concerned about people in other countries than he does about Americans, and we got people in our own country that can’t pay their own house payments, health insurance or afford to buy medicine,” Pierce said.
If Bush does not fulfill the oath of office to protect the American people, then Pierce said the American people will take action against Bush and will impeach him.
Though he is running as a Republican, Pierce said that he is not solely about his party - he’s about the country and his district.
“A lot of people vote for Sam because they feel they have to support Sam because he is a war hero. Let me tell you there were 56,000 war heroes in the Vietnam War that never came back home,” Pierce said.
Pierce served in the US military for 10 years in the Air National Guard and then in the Air Force Reserve. He worked as a pilot for 28 years for Trans World Airlines.
He has been waiting for someone to do something a little more to address the immigration issues in North Texas, growing healthcare costs and overspending for the last 16 years, he said. It if it takes marching on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC to get the job done, then he will do just that to get it done, he said.
Daley, who is taking time off from his job as an attorney to run for congress, said the reason he is running for office is because he has spent the last 20 years as a beneficiary of a generous country and wants to give something back. Both Democrats and Republicans who live in district 3 have called him to tell him that they are not currently being represented by Johnson, Daley said.
“After 20 years I’ve decided if I’m going to work this hard that I want to give back to people. A lot of people see a need for public infrastructure in district three and a need for mass transportation in McKinney, Allen and throughout the district. For example, there are a lot of people who live in McKinney who are driving to Plano to ride the DART rail to get to work,” Daley said.
A lot of people in congress have spent their time polarizing an untenable system, he said.
He thinks that American troops will not be in Iraq for 100 years, referring to what Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, (Rep.) recently said, and will not be able to immediately come home tomorrow, Daley said. He also does not think America has an obligation to stay in Iraq after troops leave the country, he said.
“What is the American interest there? America’s interest in Iraq is oil and maintaining the regional political stability. I think we need to bring the troops home now. I don’t think we have an obligation to stay in Iraq and have our troops fight a civil war where people are fighting because they are different religions.. A civil war is a personal decision. I don’t shoot my neighbor because they’re a different religion than me or if a different political party than me and if someone starts a civil war then that is a personal decision,” Daley said. “There are solutions to these problems and I’ve always been a firm believer in leveling the playing field.”
People are also worried about access to healthcare and the economy, he said.
“There are a lot of reasons that people don’t have access to healthcare and we need to identify the problems in a set of integrated phases,” Daley said.
Daley’s Web site is www.tomdaleyforcongress.com.
The 46-year old Wayne Avellanet of Plano, who has authored financial books and is a CFO controller in a local business, is also running in the Republican primary election. He is adamantly opposed to the Iraq War and would vote to bring the troops home immediately and divert some troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to help hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden and members of the Al Qaeda terrorist group, he said.
“Of all of the people in the district I was the only person who is opposed to the war. I think the War in Iraq is a noble cause, but at this point we’re policing a religious civil war with a lot of local tit-for-tat gang war killing. I’m supporting the troops by providing a legitimate plan,” Avellanet said.
He has done a lot of research about the war with veterans of the Iraq War, he said. He has garnered support from the online veterans group www.votevets.com.
He personally likes Johnson but said that he is a rubber stamp for the Bush Administration. If elected, he will be able to deal with the large amount of detail that is involved in bills and the job of being a congressman, he said. He would also work to fund additional law enforcement personnel who would work with local police departments whose jobs would specifically revolve around detaining illegal immigrants and transporting them to immigration services to get them out of the US, he said.
“That is a congressional issue because the US government should secure the border,” Allevanet said.
Allevanet said he is also focused on the improving the economy and believes the war is causing harm to the economy, as they directly affect each other.
He would be in favor of scaling down the use of the H1B visa that allows companies to hire foreign workers in lieu of hiring US citizens, which is degrading the standard of living for American workers because it bypasses the normal market procedure because companies pay immigrants less, Avellanet said.
“This is wrecking companies like EDS. I support the principles of capitalism. The H1B visa become the conduit for where the back offices of large companies start outsourcing their call center jobs overseas to places like India. It facilitates it,” Avellanet said.
He doesn’t believe that America should have a national healthcare system because that is not included in the Constitution, he said.
Avellanet’s Web site is www.wayneallevanet.com.
This is the first time that military veteran Minkow has run for office in any political race and the teacher is getting a little help from some of his former students along the campaign trail. Andrew Toele, who is one of Minkow’s former students, created a page on the Web site www.facebook.com for Minkow’s campaign in the last two weeks. The address is Mr.Minkowforcongress.com. His Web site is www.ronminkowforcongress.com.
Minkow, who is 69, has had more than 200 people visit his Facebook site and who have contacted him, he said.
He is running because of the lack of responsiveness and accountability from congress and Johnson, he said. He likes Johnson and thinks he is a good man, but thinks there are many bills and issues that Johnson has simply not shown up for to vote for, Minkow said.
“He’s on the social security committee and social security is in sorry shape. Congress has really done nothing to fix it and it may not be there for future generations,” he said.
Minkow served in the US military from 1962 to 1982; 17 years of that was in the army and three was in the US Marine Corp. After serving in the military he became a stock broker, and finally ended his career as a teacher and taught sixth grade science at Hendrick Middle School in Plano.
Mary Joan Boidock is running unopposed as a Green Party candidate in the November election.
Johnson could not be reached for comment on Friday night for comment.
U.S. Representative Ralph Hall (Rep.) will also face Gene Christensen of Celina; Kevin George, of Celina; Joshua Kowert, of the Sherman area; and former Frisco mayor Kathy Seei, in the Republican primary.
In the Democratic primary for House District 4, Glenn Melancon, a Sherman college professor, will run against VaLinda Hathcox, of Sulphur Springs.
Other people who have filed to run in the March 4 primaries include:
Republican: State Rep. Ken Paxton, of McKinney.
Libertarian: Robert R. Virasin.
Republican: State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, of Parker.
Republicans: Precinct 1 Commissioner Phyllis Cole, of Plano; Matt Shaheen, of Plano; and Douglas Reeves, of Plano.
Republicans: Precinct 2 Commissioner Joe Jaynes, of McKinney, and Celina Mayor Corbett Howard.
Democrats: Victor Manuel, of McKinney
Independent: Will Smith, of Allen, has filed to be on the ballot in November for the Precinct 3 commissioner seat. Smith can collect signatures from March 5 to May 8.
Republicans: Paul Elkins, of McKinney; Billy Lanier, of McKinney; Novaline Varner, of McKinney.
Republicans: Precinct 2 Constable Joe Barton; Billy Meeks Jr., of Wylie.
Republicans: James DeCoux, of Allen; Charles Presley Sr., of Richardson.
Libertarian: Rodney Caston.
Republican: Johnny Todd, of Frisco.
Republican: Sheriff Terry Box, of McKinney.
Libertarian: Brent Friedman.
Republicans: Kenneth Maun, incumbent, of McKinney; Karl Voigtsberger, of Richardson.
Libertarian: Randy Kohn.
Republicans: Charles Sandoval, incumbent; Suzanne Wooten, of McKinney.
Republican: Robert Dry Jr., of McKinney, incumbent.
Republican: Chris Oldner, of McKinney, incumbent.
Republican: Johnnie Glenn Lewis, incumbent.
