There’s been a little flack, lately, about Borris Miles - a candidate for Houston’s District 146- making contributions to the campaigns of Rick Perry, Carole Keaton (Rylander) Strayhorn, and others. Want to guess what party he’s affiliated with? Perry, et al are all GOP. Guess which party Miles is. Did you say Republican? You’re wrong.

So the flack, of course, has been about a liberal contributing to the campaign fundsof some of Texas’ GOP leaders. A mailing list, of which I’m a member, has discussed this, recently. The conversation began by someone bringing up Miles’ contributions. A campaign staffer for Miles (and member of the list) quickly responsed to the thread. Here’s the highlights of his response (paraphrased):

• Yes, Miles did make donations to Rich Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Carole Keaton (Rylander) Strayhorn. The donations totaled around $8,000 (eight thousand).
• Miles’ contributions to Democrats, compared to his GOP contributions, are at around a 10-to-1 ratio ($10 Dem, for every $1 GOP)
• Miles’ contributions to the GOPers were out of good business sense, as Miles operates a successful business that falls within a highly regulated industry (insurance).
• Miles has contracts (through his company) with the state, the federal government, some school districts, and Houston’s community college system.
• Many, many people consider such contributions “the cost of doing business.”
• This isn’t a secret, Miles has been up front about this in candidate forums and meet&greets

In short, this is a non-issue. Miles has made contributions that are in line with his business, and in line with what thousands of people do every day. He has been up front about his contributions, and the amounts, from the beginning.

So let’s stop all the junk before it starts, yeah?

Technorati Tags: Borris Miles, Houston, District 146, Rick Perry, campaign funds, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Carole Keaton Rylander, Carol Keaton Strayhorn, Campaign Contributions