Editor’s note, April 25: KERA has received numerous queries about whether the station played any role in a commercial released last week by the campaign of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Texans have asked whether we gave permission for the campaign to use images of our reporter asking a question during KERA’s Jan. 27 debate. They’ve asked whether our reporter agreed to appear in the Dewhurst ad. The answer to both is an emphatic “No.” The campaign did not ask KERA for permission to use the footage, and when the ad was released on April 16, KERA immediately objected. The Dewhurst campaign responded by saying it would not pull the ad. We've posted the full debate question, answer and follow-ups to provide context for the brief clip that’s seen in the ad. You can see them, and the full debate, below.
Our original post: Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's campaign released a television ad Wednesday that criticizes his opponent, State Sen. Dan Patrick, for not repaying his personal bankruptcy debts in the 1980s.
The ad features footage from the Jan. 27 "Texas Debate: The Race For Lieutenant Governor," filmed at KERA's studios. The debate moderator, KERA’s Shelley Kofler, is shown asking Patrick about the bankruptcy. You can watch the Dewhurst ad, called "Mother of All Debts," and Patrick's full response to the question during the debate, and read the Patrick campaign's response to the ad.
Here’s the Dewhurst campaign ad:
Here’s the entire exchange between Kofler and Patrick from the January debate:
And here’s the full debate:
The runoff between Dewhurst and Patrick is May 27.
