Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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September 19, 2007

Wade Gent to seek Texas House post

Special to the Review

Kaufman attorney Wade Gent announced his candidacy for the Texas House of Representatives in the March Republican primary.

Gent, 33, narrowly lost his first bid for the post in 2006, coming within only a few votes of a shocking upset over incumbent Betty Brown.



“I am humbled by the number of supporters in both Henderson and Kaufman Counties who have asked me to run again,” said Gent. “I am especially honored by the number of folks joining our team who supported my opponent in ‘06.”

Gent’s campaign will focus on stopping illegal immigration, reforming the school tax structure and strengthening the public education system.

“It’s time for our area to have a new energetic leader in Austin with fresh ideas and an innovative approach to the role of state government,” Gent said.

Gent favors abolishing the school property tax in favor of a broad sales tax on non-food items, a concept supported by the Republican Party of Texas.

“The Austin politicians brag about fixing the property tax problem, but I don’t know a single person whose taxes actually went down this year,” Gent said. “Meanwhile, they keep increasing the size of state government, the size of the state budget, and the size of their own pensions while we foot the bill.

“The key to helping Texas families survive this crisis is to reduce our reliance on skyrocketing appraisal values. The sales tax is fairer because everybody pays it," Gent said. Illegal immigrants and drug dealers whose children fill our schools but who pay no school tax under the current system would be included for the first time under my plan.

“In addition,” Gent continued, “we must do what the federal government has failed to do and stop the free flow of illegal immigrants coming across our southern border.My opponent and her friends in Austin have a proven track record of resisting meaningful immigration reform to please their big-business campaign contributors, who rely on cheap illegal labor to make record profits at our expense.”

Brown, one of a handful of legislators loyal to controversial Speaker Tom Craddick, previously criticized what she called the Austin insiders, and signed a written pledge to serve only four terms as State Representative. She is currently serving her fifth term, and Gent predicts that will be an issue with the voters.

“A pledge is a promise to the voters,” Gent said. “She broke that promise, and now she’s trying to wiggle out of it on a technicality. It’s not right, and the voters deserve better. Our representative is taking orders from other politicians, and it has become evident that her friends from Houston and Midland are more important to her than the voters here at home.”

In May, Craddick refused to allow a bipartisan vote which could have replaced him as speaker, sending the house into chaos by declaring his own power to be “absolute.” The move alienated him from many republicans, who felt he had overstepped his authority.

“Ms. Brown is playing a game of ‘Simon Says’ on our nickel, and Tom Craddick is ‘Simon.’ Whatever Simon says, Betty Brown does.”

Gent, a general practice attorney, is president of the Kaufman County Young Republicans and is a charter member of the Kaufman County Republican Men’s Club. He has a Business Economics degree from Texas Tech University and a Juris Doctorate from Texas Wesleyan University, and was a banker in Kaufman and Gun Barrel City before attending law school.

A fourth-generation Kaufman native, Gent lives in Forney with his wife of nine years and their two young children. He and his family attend Fellowship Baptist Church in Forney. He is active in the Forney and Kaufman Chambers of Commerce and on the Forney Planning and Zoning Commission.

An active Rotarian and experienced trial attorney, Gent is also a Municipal Judge for the City of Forney

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