MORE PROBLEMS FOR LOCAL DEMOCRATS

There they go again... Predictably, the local Democratic Party has come to a crossroads on one of their many crises. Liberty County Democratic Party Chairman Nancy Archer called a press conference Saturday and announced that she was "not" going to declare Ken Morrison ineligible despite several efforts including a letter from Liberty County, Judge Phil Fitzgerald stating Morrison was not a resident of the county and that time was running out if Chairman Archer wanted to give Liberty County voters a viable option.

In the attached documents readers can see very clearly that Judge Fitzgerald was very businesslike and lacked any tone of vindictiveness in what appears to be his effort to avoid further embarrassment for Chairman Archer and the Democratic Party. In response, Chairman Archer took a cheap shot at Fitzgerald for initiating action for removal of the candidate running for the office he sought and lost in the primary. She did that by assuming when Fitzgerald pointed out that she should appoint a replacement after removing Morrison that he was talking about himself. Even in her angry response to Fitzgerald she admits he never mentioned the idea he was interested in being the replacement candidate. Nevertheless, according to her own press release, the Chairman rebuffed or ignored Fitzgerald at every turn.


In an odd twist of logic, Chairman Archer blames Fitzgerald for not filing a lawsuit to remove Morrison during the primary. The Chairman and her fellow Democrats are responsible for primary applications and for signing off on the results of an election. The County Judge and Commissioners and the County Clerk have more responsibilities in the general election. Therefore, Chairman Archer implying Fitzgerald missed his chance must be in reference to his candidacy in opposition to Morrison. (Fitzgerald lost to Morrison by 429 votes in the March primary). But what candidate wants to be perceived as someone who has to file a lawsuit to win an election. Most candidates would rely on the County Chairman to turn away ineligible candidates.

Months ago Liberty Dispatch decided to pass on filing anything about the Democrat Party’s County Judge candidate from Kingwood. Pictures were taken of what appeared to be a travel trailer used for camping or hunting that the Democrat’s primary winner for County Judge, Ken Morrison, claimed was his residence and his future home site. He was not present at the trailer at that time nor has he been present at the trailer during subsequent visits. Questions were asked about his background and his claim to a strong church connection in the county. But when all was said and done, Liberty Dispatch decided if the leadership in the Liberty County Democratic Party wanted to try and peddle this kind of politics… they would learn the hard way that voters are much smarter than they think and much more alert to game playing than in the past.

Liberty Dispatch, along with some of the people who send in comments, was left with the idea that if Morrison is a resident and eligible, who is ineligible to run for Liberty County Judge. And why on earth would voters in this county elect someone from Kingwood that most people not only have never heard of, but that most county residents don’t know anyone in the county that had even heard of Ken Morrison before the media announced in January of this year that he was the Democratic hopeful to defeat their embattled incumbent.

This election has had an extra dose of political maneuvering with former campaign manager of Rusty Hight’s, Liz Beausoliel, being caught red handed in an attempt to steal Judge Cain’s mail and make it look like he was the one doing something wrong as a prime example but not the only one. Mrs. Beausoliel, wife of former Assistant Country Attorney Mark Beausoliel and former Liberty County Democratic Party Chairman, has not been indicted yet, but busy federal investigators are rumored to be finishing up their work on her case and a case involving the embattled County Judge Phil Fitzgerald (also a Democrat).

Michelle Merendino, also an ally of Judge Rusty Hight, allegedly is another example of some of the recent activities of local Democratic activists. Although Merendino was badly beaten in the Republican primary by District Judge of the 253rd, Chap Cain, it is rumored that Merendino, a tenant of The C.T. “Rusty” Hight Trust and someone who has been given public defender cases (by Hight) worth thousands of dollars a year, was encouraged to run in an effort by Hight to have an influence in both political parties. When Merendino signed up to run against Cain, Hight’s father-in-law (Lester Ray Wisegerber) was the Liberty County Republican Party Chairman. Since then Hight’s connection has been beaten badly in a County Chairman’s election where voters aggressively rejected the incumbent. This may have been the first party chairman in history famous for saying “It really doesn’t matter what party you were in.” Unlike the average voter - party chairman are responsible for electing as many from their party as they can. The result of that county chairman’s race indicates voters knew Republicans needed to go back to having a strong leader rather than someone who promoted people in the other party.

And now today we have another interesting County Chairman speaking up in ways that could leave her party without a legitimate candidate for the chief executive office of the county. Today she says she is “pleased and proud”. That sounds like one vote Mr. Morrison can count as in the bag!


Letter from Liberty County Judge, Phil Fitzgerald to Nancy Archer


Statement of Liberty County Democrat Chairperson, Nancy Archer