Leander City Runoff Gets "Ugly"

[#TexasPolitics365]

Two runoff races for Leander City council have taken an ugly turn, with personalities clashing and accusations flying.

Local media reports that Leander City Council runoff candidate Mike Sanders was rebuked as "very unethical" by Texas Republican Party Chairman Lt. Col. Allen West in a March 12 email. 

The email was in response to Sanders sending West a secret recording he had made of Council member Annette Sponseller, who had run against him in the three-way May 1 municipal election. He is in a June 5 runoff with another candidate after both defeated Sponseller.

Fellow council runoff candidate Donnie Mahan, who is seeking a different seat than Sanders, recently posted a video urging residents to not vote for Sanders, because of his conduct during the campaign, even though he is a fellow Republican.

Members of the Williamson County Republican Leaders Organization declined to endorse either Sanders or Mahan at their Monday meeting, despite both candidates facing Democrats in the June 5th runoff.

In a Tuesday post on Facebook, Sanders decried the ugliness of the campaign, specifically alluding to Mahan's video.

"The ugly side of politics has been out on open display in Leander during this election.

Those who have set out to attack my credibility in this election have caused great harm to the Republican Party in Williamson County with their deceit and gossip.  They have unwittingly caused harm to their own reputations while seeking to dirty the name of an honorable man.  Perhaps the party will learn from this experience that it is not wise to call just anyone a "Republican."

Someone who has campaigned for numerous conservative Republican candidates through the years should not be counted the same as someone who has never campaigned for any Republican in their entire life.  "By their fruits you shall know them."

(Full story here)
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