Austin Native, Carly Fiorina Names Texas Leadership Team, Stage Snafu
Allies of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Monday named more than two dozen Texas Republicans who are backing her presidential bid, making her the first 2016 candidate with a leadership team in Texas.
Former Comptroller Susan Combs, who had previously endorsed Fiorina, is leading the 26-member team, the first of its kind for a White House hopeful in Texas. The team was announced by CARLY for America, a super PAC working to put Fiorina, an Austin native, in the White House.
Among the team’s members are elected officials like state Rep. Patricia Harless of Spring and Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne as well as other prominent women in state politics, including Carolyn Hodges, former president of the Texas Federation of Republican Women. The team is also made up of Texas business leaders such as Paula Mann, founder of Sunbelt Telecommunications; Carol Nichols, founder of Circle C Ventures; and Kristin Kaufman, Founder of Alignment Inc.
The announcement of the team came a day after Fiorina addressed a national meeting of women business owners in San Antonio. She was scheduled to visit the state Sunday to Tuesday, with private events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Riding high in the polls after back-to-back breakout performances in the debates, Fiorina has a number of powerful fans in Texas politics. Among them: Gov. Greg Abbott, whom she campaigned for last year, and former Gov. Rick Perry, who lavished praise on her even when they were rivals in the presidential race.
The full team:
Susan Combs, former comptroller (co-chair)
Susan Adzick of Dallas, vice president of sales for McLane Company
Erin Botsford of McKinney, CEO and founder of The Botsford Group
Cathy Brock of Houston, Republican activist and strategist
Tricia Conover of McKinney, former vice President of SAP
Laura Ehrenberg-Chesler of San Antonio, Co-CEO of Crossvault Capital Management
Patricia Harless of Spring, Republican state representative
Cyndee Herrin of Celina, land developer
Carolyn Hodges of Houston, former president of the Texas Federation of Republican Women
Celeste Hubert of Austin, political strategist
Martin Hubert of Austin, former deputy comptroller
Andi Hughes of Dallas, Republican activist
Kristin Kaufman of Dallas, founder of Alignment Inc.
Paula Mann of Celina, founder and former CEO of Sunbelt Telecommunications
Maribess Miller of Dallas, former managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers
Buddy Minett of Frisco, real estate broker
Cynthia Montgomery of Dallas, former banker
Carla Moran of Lubbock, Republican activist and strategist
Karen Newton of San Antonio, auxiliary chairman of the Texas Federation of Republican Women
Carol Nichols of Dallas, founder of Circle C Ventures
Julie Parsley of Austin, former public utility commissioner and former solicitor general
Linda Spina of McKinney, former sales executive for IBM
John Tate of San Antonio, attorney
Toby Tate of San Antonio, community leader and philanthropist
Beth Van Duyne, mayor of Irving
Kay Weeks of Dallas, real estate agent
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
Fiorina Braves Stage Snafu to Pitch Outsider Experience
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Sunday braved the collapse of part of the stage here to pitch her outsider experience to a national meeting of women business owners, telling them the government and politicians in both parties are making their jobs more difficult than ever.
“The reason it feels harder for you now is because it is,” the Republican presidential hopeful said in an evening address to the National Women’s Business Conference. “We’re destroying more businesses than we are creating. We are destroying the chance … for a woman coming along behind you to do what you have done.”
The solution, Fiorina suggested, is to put an entrepreneur in the White House as opposed to just a manager, who has to “operate within the status quo.” Fiorina, who has been running as a candidate untainted by the dysfunction of Washington, D.C., also used her remarks to blast a “political class” that has stifled economic growth across the country.
“There are many good politicians, but what is the business of politics? Words,” Fiorina said while discussing immigration reform. “That is not your business. That has never been my business. Our business is results.”
About 10 minutes into Fiorina’s remarks, the floor-to-ceiling curtains behind her began wobbling and seconds later collapsed on to Fiorina as well as a few other women on the stage. Once it was clear no one was hurt, the crowd made light of the situation, some joking about Fiorina “bringing down the house.”
And the stage just collapsed on @CarlyFiorina in San Antonio. Everyone appears OK. pic.twitter.com/PFzWtui4ks (Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) September 27, 2015)
“Trump!” an audience member shouted out, referring to Fiorina’s chief antagonist in the GOP field.
“Trump, Hillary — it could have been lots of people,” Fiorina replied as she took the stage again. Later in her remarks, she appeared to take a shot at the flamboyant billionaire, saying leadership is “not about your office. It’s not about your helicopter. It’s not about your ego.”
Her campaign confirmed later Sunday evening she was not hurt in the stage snafu. It was not immediately known what caused the incident.
Shortly after the collapse, Fiorina began taking questions from the audience and received some of her loudest applause while explaining she would compete with the “big boys” if elected president.
“News flash: I’ve been competing with the big boys all my life,” Fiorina said. “In fact, this is more of a unique experience for them than it is for me.”
Fiorina’s appearance in San Antonio was the only public event in a three-day swing through the state that is expected to also include private events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She is scheduled to leave Texas on Tuesday.
Fiorina, who was born in Austin, has been drawing praise from Texas Republicans including former Gov. Rick Perry, who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month, and Gov. Greg Abbott, for whom she campaigned last year. Fiorina has secured the endorsement of former Comptroller Susan Combs, who recently praised the former executive for standing up to Trump.
Dona O’Bannon, a member of the conference since 1974, said Fiorina was well received Sunday by an audience with varying political views, not all in line with the GOP’s.
“I think at least 50 percent of the audience agreed with everything,” O’Bannon said, before acknowledging the most memorable moment from the event. “I’m sorry that the pole came down and almost killed her.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
