Some seven candidates in next March’s Republican primary—including a challenger to incumbent County Clerk Peggy LaGrone—and State Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) addressed a meeting of the Republican Party of Upshur County in Gilmer Monday night.

More than 50 persons attended the gathering at La Finca Mexican Restaurant. Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd was keynote speaker.

While Ms. LaGrone, who is seeking renomination by the party, was absent, another GOP candidate for her office, Tina Smith of Diana, was among those addressing the group.

The Upshur GOP’s Executive Committee censured Ms. LaGrone by a 15-2 vote in June, and while the incumbent clerk was never mentioned by name at Monday’s meeting, County GOP Chairwoman Brenda Patterson apparently referred to the censure when she told the gathering, “The party has had to deal with some very difficult issues involving the actions of a public official.”

Mrs. Patterson, Hughes, Byrd, and another candidate who spoke, 12th Court of Appeals Justice Bryan Hoyle, all plan to seek reelection in the primary. Other candidates who addressed the meeting (besides Mrs. Smith) included Cole Hefner, a candidate for Pct. 2 county commissioner; and John Melvin Dodd, running again for county judge.

Mrs. Patterson—who received a standing ovation when party member H.D. Bailey told her from the floor that “we’re proud of you, Brenda”—called the office-seekers who were present “the best of our candidates.”

Mrs. Smith, of Diana, has worked in various nursing capacities for Good Shepherd Medical Center in Longview since 1987, and now works for its home health agency.

Introduced by Pct. 1 County Comm. James Crittenden (who has long feuded with Ms. LaGrone), Mrs. Smith complained that “the minutes (kept by Ms. LaGrone’s office) are not...up-to-date.” She said that the last online minutes posted were from April.

Mrs. Smith also said she has worked as a precinct judge and in case management, and that she understands the importance of accuracy in documenting. She pledged that “legal documents will be handled professionally” if she is elected.

She and Hefner urged those present to use a paper ballot when voting. She said that would ensure an accurate count if there was a problem with the election.

(Ms. LaGrone’s decision to have election judges rather than county employees transport voting machinery has been criticized by Mrs. Patterson. While the GOP chairwoman asserts that using county workers ensures security of the equipment, Ms. LaGrone has said it puts too much liability on the county, and has denounced her censure).

Another candidate to speak, Dodd, said, “I want to bring a little civility to the commissioners court, and I think we can do that.”

“We can show dignity, and respect to every elected official,” said Dodd, who ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Democat County Judge Dean Fowler in 2006. Dodd also said he shared Reps. Hughes’s and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert’s political philosophy, and that he looked forward to working with the two Republican county commissioners, Crittenden and Pct. 3 Comm. Lloyd Crabtree. (The seats of the two commissioners, who were both present, aren’t up for election in 2010.)

Hefner, seeking the Pct. 2 commissioner post now held by Democrat Joe (Buddy) Ferguson, said that as he got more involved with politics at the precinct level, the commissioner post “just seemed to present itself as an important position.”

“I want to control the spending. I want to keep the taxes low,” he said.

In addition, Hefner said he favored nighttime meetings of the court and verbal reading of the minutes from its previous meeting.

He pledged to “control the (county’s) money even more conservative than I control my own.”

Byrd, who devoted the overwhelming majority of his talk to praising military veterans and discussing Veterans Day, said “My office is not mine. It is your office.”

Byrd said State District Judge (and former Gregg County District Attorney) Bill Jennings, who recently died unexpectedly, was his “mentor” (when Byrd was an assistant district attorney under Jennings). Byrd said Jennings counseled him, “Always do what you think is right...Do your very best.”

“I will always live up to those words,” Byrd pledged, drawing a standing ovation.

Meantime, Mrs. Patterson’s candidacy went unmentioned until near the meeting’s end, when Comm. Crittenden endorsed her re-election and told the audience, “Don’t believe everything that some writers put in the paper” about her.

Mrs. Patterson then told the audience she got to do “what I love to do” as county chairwoman.

Rep. Hughes, a Mineola attorney, had told the audience earlier that “government should do a very few things, do them well, and get out of the way.”

While ackowledging economic difficulties in the state, Hughes maintained that “we’re much better off than the rest of the country.” He said that in 2008, half of all the new jobs in the nation were created in Texas, which is now “home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.”

Hughes also addressed the national political scene, saying “I suspect we’re all a little nervous about” what he termed “so-called” health care reform. But, “by God’s grace,” nothing has occurred on it yet, he said, and “I think we can push ‘em back in Washington.”

He also said that especially in Washington, “I think many (elected officials) forget who they work for.” But he praised Congressman Gohmert (who wasn’t present).

Judge Hoyle, of Longview, spoke only briefly, saying he had been on the Tyler-based appellate court three years and “I hope to have your support again in the future.” He noted the court serves 17 counties.

In his keynote address, Byrd said citizens can learn lessons from Veterans Day, which he noted was set for Nov. 11 because that is the date on which World War I ended.

“All of us can learn from their bravery, their courage and their sacrifice,” the district attorney said, pointing out that his father was a Vietnam veteran and that both his grandfathers fought against Japan in World War II.”

Byrd said American soldiers saved “strangers they will never know by name.” But he implied that he thought the media gives good servicemen too little recognition.

He quoted one unnamed “media mogul” as saying that good soldiers’ individual stories “do not sell.” Added Byrd, “That is, they don’t make money.”

Byrd said American soldiers had been killed that day in Iraq and Afghanistan, but “they were not the lead story at the 5:30 news.”

He also drew a standing ovation when he said that it was the actions of soldiers who had flag-draped coffins that had allowed protesters to have the freedom to burn that same flag.

“Remember our veterans and give them thanks for what they have done for you,” Byrd urged.