Smith's online bill cited in bids to unseat him

WASHINGTON — Republican long-shot candidates are citing high-tech discontent over Rep. Lamar Smith's proposed government regulation of the Internet in an attempt to knock off the 13-term incumbent in the primary election.

Even two Democrats, seeking to win their party's nomination, have cited the proposed regulatory bill in their hopes to defeat Smith in the general election this fall.

But Smith, 64, has a campaign war chest of $1.3 million and has represented the Hill Country congressional district that includes North San Antonio since 1987. He will be hard to unseat in the 21st Congressional District on May 29, political experts say.

Smith was author of the Stop Online Piracy Act, which was designed to protect U.S. film, recording and intellectual property rights but opposed by Internet providers as censorship.

The bipartisan legislation was pulled after it was attacked by Google and other social media giants.

“Lamar Smith is completely out of touch with Texans. He will hurt Texas business,” said Richard Mack, 59, of Fredericksburg.

Richard Morgan, 24, a former software engineer in Austin, cited Smith's SOPA bill as a reason he is running in the Republican primary, as well Smith's long tenure in office.

“He's been in Congress longer than I've been alive,” Morgan said.

But Mack has only $18,774 in his campaign coffers, and Morgan $6,512, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Smith, meanwhile, dismissed their criticism as misguided attacks.

“A lot of what is said about SOPA is not accurate,” Smith said.

“I still think it is a serious problem for foreign websites to counterfeit our products and steal our intellectual property, but we need broader consent on how to address the problem and I recognize this,” said Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Smith said he is running on his record and hopes voters will compare that with the records of his opponents.

Mack is a former Arizona sheriff and Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate. He said he has received support from Data Foundry in Austin and Rackspace in San Antonio, both high-tech firms in the district.

Morgan said he quit his job to run for office. He, too, claims support from high-tech firms and their displeasure with Smith's SOPA bill as momentum for his campaign.

But Smith also has high-tech support. He received $2,500 campaign contributions from Lanham Napier, the Rackspace chief executive officer, and Napier's his wife, Dacia.

Smith is expected to win the primary handily.

“There aren't anywhere near enough single-issue SOPA voters to derail Smith in the primary,” said David Wasserman, a House elections analyst with the nonpartisan The Cook Political Report.

In the Democratic primary, two candidates are vying for the nomination: Daniel Boone, a retired Air Force psychologist, and business consultant Candace Duvál.

Boone, 76, of Canyon Lake, a descendent of the Kentucky pioneer, ran unsuccessfully for the State Board of Education and was defeated in the 2008 Democratic primary for Texas House District 73.

He filed last year as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican, but switched to the congressional race because he didn't have the money to run a statewide campaign.

Both Boone and Duvál have raised less than $5,000 each, according to FEC records.

Both cite Smith's SOPA bill and their opposition to it in their campaign literature.

Boone pledges to serve for just two terms if elected.

“That's the problem now,” he said. Politicians like Smith “have been in Congress too long.”

This is Duvál's first run for office. The Austin resident, 46, collected 912 signatures to get on the ballot — she needed 500 — and says Congress needs more women serving there.

“I haven't met one person who is happy with Mr. Smith,” she said. “Even Republicans, especially Republicans. Smith is not there for his constituents.”

But Duvál's policy prescriptions are general.

“If it's oppressive,” she said recently, “I'm against it.”

Although the 21st Congressional District is solidly a GOP district after redistricting, the Democrats say they see a path to victory.

For Duvál, it's cobbling together Democrats, Libertarians, women and Latino voters.

Boone said he wouldn't run if he didn't think he could beat Smith.

“In the general election, people vote for issues,” he said.

gmartin@express-news.net