Nancy Archer’s or Bill Buchanan’s “State of Mind”

On Saturday August the 21st in a called press conference, Liberty County Democratic Party Chairman Nancy Archer and Bill Buchanan had an argument very similar to one Bill and I had when I was the Republican County Chairman years ago. I am now pleased to know that I must have won that argument because Bill and his staff were expressing the point of view he disagreed with back then. One of the questions asked makes a very important point. Here is the basic question:

“How can Liberty County citizens have any confidence in what Nancy Archer is presenting as ‘facts’ when the main source she quotes, the election lawyers at the Secretary of State’s office are telling you Kenneth Morrison is a resident and the lawyers someone else talked to in the same office are saying he definitely is not.”

In a conversation with Bill in the side yard at KSHN when I used that same reasoning with him years ago, Bill's response was to turn red in the face and ask if I was calling him a liar. Nancy Archer did not respond the same way. But that was a legitimate question for Bill to ask of me and it is a legitimate question for us to ask of Archer. But let’s ask the question in a bit more artful way:

“Since you are the one who provided the information to the people you talked to at the Secretary of State’s office, how do we know that the way you provided information didn’t help convince the lawyers to give you the answer you wanted?”


This was my response to Bill years ago. It frustrated him and he stormed into his building fuming about me questioning his integrity. Bill was a great deal more diplomatic with Archer Saturday, but now perhaps he can relate to the frustration I felt when trying to get to the heart of the matter.

Bill is right. Nancy Archer’s conversation with the Secretary of State will NOT be backed up by anyone at that office if a person calls there. They will tell you they responded to the information she provided. Bill is also touching on an important point when he tries to engage Archer about her only other source. When Archer refers to any prior lawsuits and interprets them to prove she is right, that is her interpretation. In a court of law a judge could interpret that entirely different or a judge could point out that cases Archer uses to “prove” Morrison’s residency in Liberty County do not apply.

Archer should get credit because she continually refers to always wanting a court to rule on the question of Morrison’s residency. Unfortunately, that is effectively what she has done. She did it when she accepted Morrison as a candidate. She is still doing it now. Archer may want to relieve herself of responsibility by saying she immediately offered Fitzgerald the opportunity to challenge Morrison's eligibility or by pointing to the words “may” or “shall”, but who is she really looking out for by passing the buck like that. So what if the election laws do not say “shall”, if you believed Morrison is not a resident then you are on the frontlines and should have defended your party and the voters of this county by challenging Morrison.

What observers may learn from listening to Bill challenging Archer is that she wanted someone other than Fitzgerald to be County Judge. Or she at least wanted Fitzgerald challenged and she was willing to look the other way if Morrison was her only option. Again, that conclusion is worthy of consideration because Archer’s own desires could easily affect her views of case law and her conversation with lawyers on this matter.

That leaves us with all of the information Fitzgerald provided and Bill kept trying to get Archer to analyze independent of her other arguments. Listeners may have to distance themselves from their opinions of Fitzgerald’s handling of FEMA money or opinions they have formed about Bill’s political involvement (or even their opinion of me or Nancy Archer) to consider with an open mind the whole question of Morrison’s residency.

But it is ultimately the voter’s “state of mind” not Morrison’s or Archers. The deadline has passed and this may or may not ever go before a court. This may never be decided on a legal basis. So the question now is how will the voter let this all affect their decision in November? Those who were already voting for Republicans or voting specifically for Craig McNair will obviously not let this affect the way they cast their ballot. But those who are still considering how they will vote are left with those questions Bill was asking.

Kenneth Morrison, as seen in pictures on this website, had a travel trailer put in at the most westerly edge of Liberty County. But does that constitute residence? He voted in Harris County just weeks before he signed up to run for County Judge in Liberty County. He claimed as his homestead a home in Kingwood in the same time frame. The only thing Morrison can stand on to claim residency is his “frame of mind” according to Nancy Archer. Nancy and her husband left here and spent thirty years (she says) in Virginia and Archer says her husband always considered himself a Liberty County resident and always voted here. But they did not live in Virginia and run for Liberty County Democratic Party Chairman. And there was no court challenge or investigation to determine whether or not John Archer voted in both places.

Kenneth Morrison consider the feelings of many in Liberty County and rather than just asking alegal question he should be graceful and step down. If he does not Nancy Archer’s decision to not fight this legally allows voters the opportunity to get the last word. If Morrison loses, that will make the point moot. If he wins, this county and its politics could be the focus of the entire state.

By Richard Pegues