By John Moritz, Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 10, 2005
11 Jun 2005 // Gov. Rick Perry is lending his endorsement to an organization established by two indicted associates of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay that is promoting amending the Texas Constitution to ban gay marriage.
Perry, who this week was quoted as saying that gay war veterans returning to Texas should live elsewhere if they wish to marry, touts the gay-marriage ban in a video link on a Web site operated by the Texas Marriage Alliance.
The Web site was set up by a Vienna, Va., consulting firm operated by John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, the DeLay associates under indictment in Texas on charges of violating campaign-finance laws during the 2002 election. Both are charged with money laundering, and Colyandro also faces 13 counts of unlawful acceptance of a corporate political contribution.
Luis Saenz, who heads the Republican governor's 2006 re-election campaign, said there is nothing improper about Perry's involvement with the organization.
"The governor was asked to help, and he helped," Saenz said. "The governor supports the amendment, and he has made clear that he believes in the idea that marriage is a union between one man and one woman belongs in our constitution."
Texas voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to adopt a constitutional amendment that says the state may recognize marriages only between one man and one woman.
Kelly Fero, a Democratic operative in Austin, said Perry's involvement with the DeLay associates raises questions about the governor's judgment.
"It would seem that Governor Perry is as careless with his associations as Tom DeLay was," Fero said. "I guess the people will have to determine whether it's a good idea for their governor to be in league with two individuals who are the subject of an ongoing legal investigation."
The Perry video shows the Texas Capitol and the Governor's Mansion, then cuts to the governor in shirtsleeves.
"Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman," Perry says. "This is your chance to protect marriage from fringe groups and liberal judges that would undermine marriage to fit their radical agenda."
Colyandro and Ellis were key players during the 2002 election cycle, which gave Republicans control of the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. Both were involved with Texans for a Republican Majority, a spinoff of DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority.
The men are accused of violating a 100-year-old Texas law that bars corporations from spending money on campaigns except to pay administrative costs such as office rent and utilities. Both have denied wrongdoing, and DeLay, R-Sugar Land, has not been charged.